Appreciation post: That weird 'freezer trick' for a sticky shutter actually worked on an old Nikon

A guy brought in an FM2 last month with a shutter that would hang up, especially in the cold. I was ready to pull it apart, but he mentioned he'd read online about putting the whole camera body in a sealed bag in the freezer for 15 minutes. I was totally skeptical (it sounded like a great way to get condensation in everything), but we tried it on his camera as a last resort before the full tear-down. After it warmed up for an hour, the shutter fired cleanly for a whole test roll. I'm still not sure I'd do it on anything with electronics, but for a purely mechanical jam, it bought us some time. Has anyone else had a weird 'folk remedy' for a camera issue that actually panned out?

3 comments

3 Comments

vera_lewis212d ago

Whoa, hold on. That freezer trick makes me really nervous. In my experience, forcing old metal and lubricants to contract that fast can cause more stress than it fixes, even if it seems to work at first. You're right about the condensation risk, but my bigger worry is it just moves the problem around inside. I've seen similar quick fixes on old tools that came back way worse a month later.

diana51212d ago

Tbh @vera_lewis2, I just used a ton of penetrating oil and gentle heat on my stuck vise, worked fine for years after.

nancyj1112d ago

Actually read an article by a machinist who said the freezer trick is a last resort for a reason. The metal can get brittle, especially if it's cast iron and already has hidden cracks. His point was that heat and oil work with the metal, not against it, letting things expand and seep in slowly. That sudden cold shock just tries to brute force it apart, and like Vera said, might just break something you can't see. Seems like the slow way is the safe way for old tools you care about.