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A trick for unsticking old aperture blades seemed too simple to work
I was working on a Pentax Spotmatic with oil on the blades and read about using a tiny drop of lighter fluid on a cotton swab. I was sure it would damage the blades, but after letting it sit for five minutes, they moved freely again. Has anyone else had luck with this method on other models?
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grace_gonzalez466mo ago
That lighter fluid trick is a total gamble... I tried it on an old Minolta lens last year and it left a hazy residue on the glass behind the blades. The repair guy said the fluid can break down old lubricants and glues over time, not just the oil. You might get lucky once, but it's basically putting a solvent into a sealed space you can't clean properly.
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hunt.nora6mo ago
Wait, lighter fluid isn't a solvent for oil, it is a solvent.
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theac636mo ago
Grace's point about old glues is a good one, but I'm more worried about the shutter curtain. On some old SLRs, the same fluid fumes can reach the cloth curtain and make it brittle. I fixed a Canon FTb where the guy before me used this trick and the blades worked, but the curtain cracked a month later. It's like fixing a squeaky door by oiling the hinge, but the oil rots the door frame.
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