Bumped into an old repair guy at a camera show who made me question my whole cleaning method

I was at the Philly camera swap last Saturday and this retired repair guy, Frank, watched me work on a beat up Nikon F2. He said I was using way too much lighter fluid on the shutter blades and that less is more with old lubricants. He showed me his technique with just a drop of naptha on a Q-tip and it worked better than my usual soaking method. Has anyone else been over-cleaning stuff like that without realizing it?

2 comments

2 Comments

violaramirez10d ago

Totally back up what Frank and Charles are saying here. I used to treat my cleaning sessions like I was trying to extinguish a house fire with lighter fluid, just drenching everything in sight. Then I fixed an old Canon FTb with basically a single drop of naptha on a microfiber cloth and it ran smoother than it had in years. It really clicks when you realize you're not power washing dirt away, you're just breaking up the old sticky residue so it can float off. Less fluid means less chance of it seeping into the mirror box or down into the lens mount and creating a whole new mess.

charlescraig10d ago

Yeah Frank's absolutely right. I used to drench my shutter blades in Ronsonol and thought I was being thorough until I gummed up a perfectly good Pentax Spotmatic. A couple drops on a Q-tip and barely any pressure, one slow pass, and it's cleaner than my old flood and pray method ever was. Now I just do the same thing Frank showed you - tiny drop, gentle wipe, let the excess evaporate on its own.