Oil for shutter?

[Paul Goutiere]

I've worked on a few Compur shutters in the last ten years. I've tried a few easy fixes, and one or two of these has worked. The easy fix was merely to soak the shutter in lighter fluid overnight, slosh it around a bit occasionally, then dry between two pieces of paper towel. This worked twice. Just so you know; it can take a day or two to dry thoroughly!!

The best job is to completely disassemble the shutter, taking the shutter blades out. (making it somehow that you put them back in the same place later preferably.) I then clean the blades individually with pure alchohol. Put the shutter back together the same way as you took it apart and make sure everything is as clean as you can make it.

The shutter blades are ferrous so they can easily become magnetized, so you may want to consider this. I use a tape head demagnetizer. I do not use lubrication on the shutter blades anywhere but I have on one occasion used a bit of soft pencil (graphite) on the pivots. Go easy on the graphite as it can work it's way to the lenses.

The other areas like the escapement mechanism I use a fine watch oil like Moebius (http://www.ofrei.com/page246.html) applied with the tip of a toothpick. The main shutter spring I use stuff called Nyoil (http://www.micro-tools.com/store/ite...ItemCode=NYOIL) applied sparingly.

I think in many cases it would be nice to have a new shutter spring but I don't know where to find such things for small shutters. I anyone has a resource I'd like to know of it.

[Paul Goutiere]

I have a synchro-compur that works perfectly straight out of a naptha bath. All speeds work and are accurate. However once the naptha evaporates overnight, it becomes sticky again. This leads me to think that it might work if I oiled it. What kind of oil is best to use for a shutter, that is resistant to gumming up? I wonder if ATF would be good.

I have used naptha, but I'm not sure if the stuff I used didn't leave some kind of waxy residue. I prefer lighter fluid and isopropyl alcohol.

[bliorg]

I have used naptha, but I'm not sure if the stuff I used didn't leave some kind of waxy residue. I prefer lighter fluid and isopropyl alcohol.

FWIW, naphtha doesn't have wax in it. And Ronsonol lighter fluid is naphtha. And isopropyl alcohol absorbs moisture from the air, and consumer-available IPA contains substantial water straight out of the bottle. I wouldn't use it in a shutter. YMMV.

[Paul Goutiere]

FWIW, naphtha doesn't have wax in it. And Ronsonol lighter fluid is naphtha. And isopropyl alcohol absorbs moisture from the air, and consumer-available IPA contains substantial water straight out of the bottle. I wouldn't use it in a shutter. YMMV.

The naptha, I've used has a waxy residue, you may have something different. Ronsonol for whatever reason doesn't leave a residue. I have had better results, for whatever reason with lighter fluid.

Isopropyl alcohol, from the drugstore, the "pure" stuff, the stuff I can get, does not have any appreciable amount of water. Alcohol will attract water, so what? Some camera repair people actually use water and detergent to clean the mechanism. You make sure the mechanism is dry. I like to use the alcohol directly on the shutter blades, I can see the stuff dry.

If you do something different with good results, good, do it. This is how I do it also with good results.

I am only passing on what I have found works for what me.

[bliorg]

Suit yerself.