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Canon QL17 - self timer stuck


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have you tried gently pushing the self timer lever along with your finger to get it to complete the cycle? if you can get it to finish this way, i would then resist at all costs the primal urge to set the self timer (this applies to all leaf shutters, not just the canonet - but the canonet shutter is much harder to reach for service than most others.)
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Richard speaks the truth. I have a very nice little screw in self timer I learned clear back in High school with my dads Paxette the self timer is a show stopper. SO even though I have a couple dozen cameras with leaf shutters and self timers I never even try one.
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Radio Shack sells a chemical in a pressurized can that is used to clean electronics. It evaporates in seconds after flushing out gunk and other debris. I've used it frequently on Rolleicords where the shutter mechanism it stuck. Usually, the open area below the bottom lens traps debris and the lubricant causes it to stick to the mechanism. I've purchased a handful of Rollies off ebay that were advertised as having broken shutters and had them working five minutes after opening the package. It works just as well on the timer mechanism.

 

The product comes in two forms. One is with a long plastic nozzle like WD-40 and the other has long bristles on it. The second one just oozes the chemical out while the first really blasts a stream under pressure. I would recommend the second choice.

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One area of difficulty with the Canonet shutter is that you cannot easily get to it: there is some distance between the outer housing that you can see and where the actual shutter is. If you do manage to get some liquid into it from the outside, you will probably have it all over the place, including the inner lens surfaces.... so be prepared to remove the lens elements to clean them afterwards.

 

Personally, I don't think the self timer is worth it.

 

:)=

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Stuck self timers are not a rare find with Canonets. The problem is that the self timer is very hard to access since the shutter is mounted 'upside down'. I.e. you have to disassemble the lens barrel completely to get access to the self timer gears. I once tried this - and was very happy I had a spare front assembly to swap.
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  • 2 years later...

Follow up:

 

Perhaps I spoke too soon :( Although the shutter did get unstuck, I now notice black specs on the inside front

lens element (and possibly on the rear element) when I open the shutter in bulb ("B") mode with the camera

back open. I think it's specks of dust that dislodged when I cleaned the shutter. I think I used too much cleaner.

 

I don't think the black specs were there before, but I'm not totally sure as I can't see them very well when the

shutter is closed, so I simply may not have noticed them before getting the shutter unstuck. I don't think they

are fungal in nature (although, I have never seen lens fungus), so I assume that it's dirt dislodged from the

cleaning.

 

I am guessing that the only way to clean this out is to disassemble the camera. Any hints that don't required

take-apart are appreciated.

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