My repair mentor told me to dunk a sticky shutter in lighter fluid

Old timer at the shop swore by it for cleaning old leaf shutters. Tried it on a Kodak Retina that had been sitting for ages. The solvent actually dissolved some gunk inside but the lubricant was completely stripped off and now the shutter runs way too fast. Has anyone else had luck with this method or is it just a recipe for ruining things?

2 comments

2 Comments

xena_murphy2d ago

Read somewhere that lighter fluid works because it's basically a fast evaporating solvent, not because it's magic. The problem is it strips EVERYTHING including the factory grease which is what controls the speed. You basically turned that Retina into a dry skeleton. Lighter fluid can be okay for cleaning glass or getting old oil out of the mechanism but you ALWAYS have to put new lubricant back in after. Otherwise the shutter runs wild like you found out. Heard a guy on a camera forum say he uses it to clean the aperture blades but then follows up with a tiny drop of watch oil on the pivots. Without that step you're just making a mess.

mason.mary2d ago

My first Retina was a IIIc and Zippo fluid left it so gummy I had to send it out to a guy in Michigan who basically had to rebuild the whole shutter assembly. @xena_murphy is spot on about the factory grease being the real governor there, not the spring tension.