Cleaning Your Rolleicord Shutter

[q.g._de_bakker]

Lighter fluid is a solvent, not a lubricant. The lubricants and all that was stuck to and in them are dissolved when you flush the mechanism with lighter fluid, and are then spread all over any part the lighter fluid bath reaches.<br>After the lighter fluid evaporates, there will be a film of lubricant and dirt all over.<br>And as luck works, the bits of the shutter than need lubrication will have most of it washed away.<br>You can get a non-working (!) shutter going giving it a solvent bath (i have done so, i will admit, myself). But only as a stop gap solution, after which the thing really needs to be taken apart, cleaned and relubed again. That's lots more work after a lighter fluid treatment than if you had the shutter cleaned and relubed straight away, i.e. before giving it a lighter fluid treatment.<br><br>Nail polish remover contains acetone or an acetone like solvent. That is great for dissolving nail polish, plastics, paint (blackening on shutter blades - the "gunk"...) and such. It degreases finger nails to the point of making them brittle. Which is remedied by dissolving fat, grease in the nail polish remover.<br>So when you use nail polish remover instead of pure acetone, you will again be leaving a film of grease behind on everything you 'cleaned' using the stuff.<br><br>Lighter fluid should be used to fuel lighters. Nail polish remover to remove nail polish. Neither are camera or shutter repair tools.

[jeff_guthrie]

Thanks for taking the time to post the tutorial, it takes a bit of courage to get inside a Copal shutter and try to clean it

up. But on the other hand, your method is not one which I would recommend doing. These shutters require certain

parts to be dry (oil free), while other parts are going to require the right type of lubricant to the right places.

 

To do the job more correctly, the shutter should be completely from the front standard, and the self timer and slow

speed mechanisms removed. These can be put into film containers filled with lacquer thinner to soak out the old

lubricants. The release levers and small parts can also be removed and cleaned the same way. I also remove the

shutter and aperture blades for proper cleaning as well. Taking it all apart is easy enough, putting it back together is a

bit more of a challenge. A little watch lubricant applied with a syringe to the link points and axles is necessary for these

parts to move smoothly.

 

The first time I took a leaf shutter apart, I never got it all the way back together. Taking pictures step by step as you

take the shutter apart will make reassembly easier. The second time I attempted the job, it went a little better, the

shutter actually fired at most of the speeds. Now having done it a few times, it only takes a couple of hours to do the

job properly.

 

Next time you might jump a little further into the deep end, you are halfway there already.

[steve_mareno1]

<p>It's been a year and a half since I visited this site. Today, I was doing a web search on something else, and this posting came up. Gotta say, except for JDM, who always posts intelligent and well mannered writings, the other responses to my little tutorial here are ridiculous.</p>

<p>The only reasons I wrote on this forum in the past was either to share some tips w/ others, or to ask advice (that part didn't work so good). I'd hate to see someone get the wrong information from some of these comments on this tutorial, so let me correct things, and then I can go away and maybe revisit in another year and a half :} Or not.<br>

<br /> First, the camera featured here has worked beautifully since this repair, and has been working faithfully ever since. Second, I understand mechanical things. I'm a retired automotive dealership tech, and was factory trained at Toyota. I also have experience in other dealerships such as Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Nissan, and Mazda (first factory trained Mazda tech in my state, back in the day). I was certified by the National Automotive Institute for Service Excellence, have a certificate of training and work experience as a machinist and layout man, and also a certificate in air conditioning and refrigeration. In short, I can build a Rolleicord if necessary, except for the optics. I'm not saying this to convince anyone here of anything, but to assure others that perform web searches on camera repair that I know what I'm about. For the uninformed, who will undoubtedly respond (I know this forum) that none of this concerns cameras, I'd like to point out that a mechanical object, is a mechanical object, is a mechanical object. It's not rocket science, it's just common sense in most cases. <br /> <br /> Probably 90% of the shutter problems on these old cameras is a result of oil on the aperture blades, which causes them to stick. In the camera above, I suspect that lubricants had leaked onto the shutter blades and gotten cooked onto them by heat (left in a car in the summer perhaps), or simply over the course of time. Usually, a flush w/ lighter fluid (a rather benign solvent compared to what's available) fixes the shutters if duly wiped clean w/ lots of Q-Tips. You only have to unscrew the lens elements to do this. There's no need to disassemble the camera any further. Don't try blowing them out w/ canned air, because some tiny springs could be blown out.</p>

<p>After cleaning the blades on this one w/ the stronger chemical, the speeds were checked w/ an electronic tester, and found to be within spec. The camera exposes film properly. As a note, aperture blades are made of hardened steel in most cases, and lighter fluid or even stronger solvents will have no effect on the metal. They are not coated, and if they were back when the camera was made (I have found no evidence that they were), the coatings would have been long gone by now anyway. Aperture blades do not need coatings. On some cameras, the blades are made from plastic, so lighter fluid MAY not be an appropriate cleaner. But please note, the lighter fluid in the photos above resides in a plastic can from the manufacturer, so draw your own conclusions on this one. The shutter above was not given a full CLA because it did not need one. When you bring your car into a repair facility and the tech runs some tests and suggests a valve job, they don't overhaul the whole engine. They only repair what's wrong. Run as fast as you can from techs that suggest unnecessary repairs in order to run up your bill.</p>

<p>Most of these old cameras are very simple, light-tight boxes for film. They're easy to design, build, and maintain. Don't be put off from doing your own repairs. It's easy, and will save you a lot of money that could otherwise be better spent on Tri-X, or a new lens for your enlarger. There's always the satisfaction of a job well done too.</p>

[steve_mareno1]

<p>I meant shutter blades in the above post, not aperture blades.</p>

[ashoketewari]

<p>bravo bravo!!!<br>

this is inspiring me to buy a Rolleicord sold for parts/not working and get to work!! </p>