Had a weird breakthough with a stuck shutter at a flea market last Saturday

I was at the local flea market near Austin poking around old cameras when a guy selling vintage Rolleiflexes mentioned he uses a drop of lighter fluid on stuck blades. I always thought it was too harsh but he showed me his method. He let the fluid sit for exactly 2 minutes before blowing it out with compressed air. I tried it on a junker shutter I've had sitting for 6 months and it worked first try. Has anyone else had good luck with lighter fluid or do you stick to Ronsonol specifically?

2 comments

2 Comments

derek_brown285d ago

Used to think lighter fluid was way too aggressive for old shutters. Always stuck with the q-tip and isopropyl alcohol method, which takes forever and barely works half the time. Saw a guy at a camera swap meet do the exact same thing with Ronsonol on a Compur shutter that looked totally seized up. Damn thing fired like new after. Tried it myself on a junker Agfa I had given up on, used the cheap stuff from the gas station not even Ronsonol. Two minute soak, blow it out, and it worked. Changed my whole view on it.

harperschmidt5d ago

Blow compressed air from the other side first to push the gunk out instead of deeper in.

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