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- Newsgroups: rec.photo
- Path: sparky!uunet!haven.umd.edu!darwin.sura.net!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!linac!tellab5!nitram
- From: nitram@tellabs.com (Marty Hewes)
- Subject: Re: WD-40 Remover?
- Message-ID: <1992Dec21.185938.2770@tellab5.tellabs.com>
- Summary: How I did it.
- Sender: news@tellab5.tellabs.com (News)
- Nntp-Posting-Host: tellab1
- Organization: Tellabs, Inc.
- References: <1992Dec16.151119.17167@bcrka451.bnr.ca>
- Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 18:59:38 GMT
- Lines: 91
-
- In article <1992Dec16.151119.17167@bcrka451.bnr.ca>, poole@bnr.ca (Thomas Poole) writes:
- > I recently inherited a camera from my parents. It is
- > a Agfa Jsolette made in Germany. I remember seeing
- > pictures of my brother and sister taken with it before
- > I was born so it has to be at least 30 years old.
-
- I believe it was made in the late forties or early fifties.
-
- >
- > Anyways, this camera is a medium format viewfinder
- > camera, with apperature, shutter speed and focusing
- > controls. Focusing involved using a separate rangefinder
- > to measure distance and then turn the front lens
- > to the desired distance. When I got the camera, I could
- > not turn the lens to focus so I sprayed it with a
- > little WD-40 and let it sit. An hour later everything
- > was working fine. The next day the WD-40 had seeped
- > in behind the lens, behind the next lens and onto the
- > shutter. (between the lens shutter). This stuff really
- > works! A little too good in fact. Now the shutter
- > doesn't work. The stuff doesn't seem to evaporate
- > and is just gumming the works up more the longer its
- > on the shutter. I've got the lenses off and tried
- > to clean the shutter but the WD-40 is all over it
- > and keeps running back. I tried using a little
- > isopropyl alcohol to dilute the WD-40 and hope
- > that it would help the WD-40 evaporate but it didn't
- > work that well. Can someone suggest something to
- > dissolve this stuff? The camera isn't worth much
- > so going to a pro is out of the question.
- >
- > Happy Holidays.
- > Tom...
-
- I have two of these. One focus ring was stiff, the
- other frozen entirely. You have already done the hard
- part, freeing up the focus ring. Now for the rest, at
- least the way I did it.
-
- 1. Remove the set screw from the focus ring that also
- acts as a stop to prevent removal. Unscrew the front
- element/focus ring all the way out. Clean it. Lube the
- threads on the focus ring with a very small dab of
- a good heavy grease. I used Lubriplate.
-
- 2. Turn the camera over and remove the retaining ring
- that holds the shutter assembly to the front bellows
- standard. This may take a spanner wrench, or care and
- a little ingenuity. Be careful not to puncture the
- bellows.
-
- 3. Once the shutter assembly is out, unscrew the rear
- element. Clean it.
-
- 4. I took the whole remaining shutter assembly, now
- sans glass, and dropped it into a metal spray can lid full
- of solvent out on the back porch. I left it a couple days.
- I took it out and fired the shutter a few times, and soaked
- it again overnight. I used a solvent from the hardware store.
- I think it was Carbo-Clor, a modern replacement for Carbon
- Tetra-Chloride. It didn't remove the paint, and I don't
- think there is any plastic in this thing anyplace.
-
- 5. I pulled it out of the solvent and blew on it while
- snapping the shutter to dry the blades. The shutter
- works fine now. This process will leave the shutter
- totally unlubricated. Most of the parts of the shutter
- work better dry. General consensus is that using a dry
- shutter will cause a little wear, but under light use,
- it's no big deal. I do bother to dis-assemble and
- lube my favorites, but I didn't bother with this one.
-
- 6. Let it dry out completely (overnight?) and
- reassemble in the reverse order. Be careful to replace
- any washers that were between the shutter assembly and
- the front standard, they are there to correct the focus.
-
- 7. Check your work by placing ground glass or thin
- paper across the film plane and checking the focus
- of an image against the focus setting on the ring.
-
- I know a repair guy that does the whole job for
- something like $25. Around here you can buy one
- of these cameras working for about that. It is a
- good learning opportunity though. Ya gotta ask
- yourself, do you feel lucky?
-
- Good Luck, and Happy Holidays.
-
- Marty Hewes
-
-