[rollei_list] Re: OT: Question re shutter CLA and Ronsonol
- From: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 19:52:02 -0800
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ardeshir Mehta" <ardeshir@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2005 2:56 PM
Subject: [rollei_list] Re: OT: Question re shutter CLA and
Ronsonol
>
> On Wednesday, January 12, 2005, at 08:21 AM, Richard
> Urmonas wrote:
>
>> Nooooooooo. No solvent. Either have a proper CLA done,
>> or put up
>> with it as it is. Putting solvent inside just moves the
>> gunk around.
>> You may get the shutter working OK for a while, but it
>> will soon gum
>> up again. Further the solvent could move gunk onto the
>> shutter blades
>> in which case you will have to send it for a proper CLA.
>
> I FULLY agree.
>
> That said, however, in the case of my 3.5 Tessar-equipped
> Rolleiflex
> K4/50 Automat, whose shutter I gummed up by stupidly
> injecting WD-40
> into it (guys! Learn from my mistakes!), I can still
> loosen the shutter
> to work just PERFECTLY by injecting a small quantity of
> Ronsonol into
> it. (I am lucky in the fact that this early model has a
> slot on the
> lower left side of the lens, through which Ronsonol CAN be
> injected
> into the shutter mechanism).
>
> I can even flood the shutter with Ronsonol, and then drain
> the excess
> out through the slot - but then Ronsonol gets on the lens
> elements.
> (Not to worry, it all evaporates eventually, leaving not a
> wrack
> behind). So I've been using just a few drops of Ronsonol
> lately, so as
> not to get any of it on the lens.
>
> The effect of loosening up the shutter lasts only for a
> few hours, but
> that much time still allows me to shoot a roll, or indeed
> quite a few
> rolls, before it starts gumming up again!
>
> So until I can afford to ship the camera off to Harry for
> a full
> overhaul - maybe in a month or two, maybe more - I can
> still USE the
> camera.
>
> Cheers.
>
>
I think you were darn lucky! First of all that the WD-40
didn't get all over everything and secondly that a squirt of
Ronsonol fixed it.
Ronsonol is quite pure Naphtha. It IS suitable as a
shutter cleaning solvent, I used it, but only on shutter
parts when the shutter has been opened up. Generally I
follow it with a flush of 99% Isopropyl alcohol.
Unfortunately, the best cleaning solvents for shutters are
now either environmental hazards (trichlor) or are just
plain too toxic to use in any sort of casual manner (carbon
tet). A shutter can sometimes be cleaned without a total
disassembly but its difficult to get all the residue off the
shutter blades. Because they operate with no clearance and
no lubrication shutter blades are particularly sensitive to
residue.
Most shutters are intended to be lubricated in a few
specified locations. Compur shutters require a very small
amount of fine oil, like watch oil, on the trunions of the
speed controller gears and a touch of very light grease on a
couple of sliding parts. Ilex shutters are intended to run
dry. If a Compur is properly cleaned it should run dry, the
lubricant increases its life. Modern synthetic lubricants
are very much longer lived than the older ones made from
animal fats but don't last forever.
Instructions for cleaining Compur shutters is widely
available in the form of reprint factory guides. Information
on Kodak and Wollensak shutters, and a few Ilex shutters is
harder to find but available.
The problem with shutter cleaning on a Rollei is that one
must partially disassemble the camera to get the shutter out
and putting everything back afterward. That's a lot of work.
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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