Tried using a hairdryer on a sticky shutter blade and it actually worked

I had this old Canon AE-1 Program that had shutter blades sticking at slow speeds, like below 1/60. I was about to rip it apart and try cleaning the blades with lighter fluid, but then I remembered my buddy in Phoenix saying heat can loosen old gunk. I grabbed my wife's hairdryer on low and hit the shutter area for about 90 seconds from a foot away. After it cooled down, I fired off some test shots and the thing ran smooth through every speed for the next hour. Has anyone else tried a dumb trick like that and had it save you from a full tear-down?

3 comments

3 Comments

rowan9692d ago

Well I'll be, sometimes the simple fixes are the ones that work best. I've done the same thing with an old Pentax Spotmatic where the mirror was hanging up. About two minutes of low heat from a hair dryer on the lens mount area freed it right up. Just make sure you don't hold it too close or you might soften the foam seals or the mirror bumper. Let it cool completely before you start firing the shutter again.

morgan.rose2d ago

Maybe it's just me but I'd be careful with that hair dryer trick on newer cameras. The Pentax Spotmatic is all metal and built like a tank, but a lot of those 80s and 90s plastic bodied cameras have foam that's way more sensitive to heat. I've seen people soften the mirror bumper on a Canon AE-1 Program by accident with even a low setting held a bit too long. The heat can also warp the plastic lens mounts on cheaper cameras if you're not super careful. Idk, it's a solid fix for old workhorses but maybe test on a junker first before trying it on something you care about.

murphy.aaron2d ago

Heat can melt the old foam and gum up everything worse.