Nikon f100 and n80 textured rubber surface sticky

[chuck]

I have a F100 and a N80 that have been stored and not been used since 2004. Recently I took them out, and found the rubbery textured

surfaces on both cameras have become sticky. Wiping them with moist tissue or cleaning pads does nothing to get rid of the stickiness. I

assume it has to do with the natural aging of the material.

 

Is there any thing that can be done to cure the surface and remove the stickiness?

[Hector Javkin]

<p>I had the same problem years ago with an N70 (called an F70 in Europe, I think). Repeated wiping with alcohol (making sure not to get it on anything except surface to be cleaned) eventually did away with the stickiness. I wish I hadn't spent the time, as I no longer shoot with that camera, and it's worth almost nothing on the used market. If the stickiness doesn't stay on your hands or get transferred to the rest of your equipment, I wouldn't clean it, or undertake the effort only for the F100.</p>

[mervyn_wilmington]

<p>It is a chronic 'condition' of some Nikons of this period. It happened to one of my f90s, but not the other. To use the camera with this condition is very unpleasant. I, too, got it off with alcohol and careful scraping. It didn't actually take too long. I think I put a little polish on the resultant plastic. It looked fine then.</p>

<p>I'm sure this has been examined on the web before!</p>

[Ian Rance]

Chuck, with the F100 (but not the F70 or F90) the sticky back

syndrome can be somewhat ameliorated by leaving the camera in

an open area for a week or two. I have an F100 that is kept in a

camera bag and suffering from this. Leaving in the open air has

reduced the stickiness by at least 90%.

[mervyn_wilmington]

<p>I, too, tried keeping the f90 in the open air for a couple of weeks. It did improve, but was still unpleasant in use.</p>

[John Seaman]

<p>I de-sticked a D70 by cleaning with alcohol, then masking off the sticky rubber and sprayed it with that stuff used for waterproofing suede or fabric shoes, It seemed to work for me but do it at your own risk.</p>

<p>With the F90X / N90S sticky backs I found there's no alternative to laboriously scraping as much of it off as possible with the thumbnail (ouch) then attacking the residue with alcohol again.</p>

<p> </p>

[bebu_lamar]

<p>I think the rubber covering of Nikon camera of the period my F5 included is a very poor choice.</p>

[jim_momary]

<p>One purported cause of this is that a user of the camera had some insect repellent on their hands at one point (DEET is the culprit). Apparently it causes the rubbery polymer to soften and get tacky.</p>

<p>I have an N90s and an F100 that do not show this, nor do I use DEET. 3 of my friends have N90's and they were in the woods a lot, covered with DEET. Their cameras became sticky gooey messes. 2 of them have replaced the rubber coverings (available online from a few sources).</p>

<p>An aside - At my factory, when I switched to a synthetic oil for a polishing operation, every piece of polycarbonate within walking distance of the machine began to stress crack within a week and eventually needed to be replaced. We switched to a different fluid too. Wonderful world of chemistry :o)</p>

<p>While my statistical sampling of cameras above is small, I've seen that same story on the web in a few places. Just might be something to it. And, I have NOT seen Elvis. </p>

<p>Jim</p>

[Mary Doo]

<p>This issue has been discussed multiple times before - but the first I head about its affecting the F100.</p>

<p>I remember mainly because I had this problem with an F80s that was stored in its original box for a long time. Now I wonder if lack of air circulation can be the cause. Why not try Ian's suggestion of leaving them out of the box for a few weeks? I have had 3 F100s and never had a problem; but they were never inside a box for an extended period of time.</p>

<p>Anyhow, I "fixed" my F80s with hair spray. The result was a beautiful shiny F80s, albeit a bit too shiny to look "Nikon". Wish I used the non-shiny type.</p>

<p>Here are the two prior threads for your reference:<br /><a href="/nikon-camera-forum/00bMU8" rel="nofollow">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00bMU8</a><br /><a href="/nikon-camera-forum/00cpAD">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00cpAD</a></p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

[erik_christensen3]

<p>I have a F90, which had the same issue, as it was stored in a warm and humid cabinet without much air-circulation.<br>

I took it out and stored it on a shelf in the office, and it is fine again.</p>

 

[Richard Williams]

<blockquote>

<p>Chuck, with the F100 (but not the F70 or F90) the sticky back syndrome can be somewhat ameliorated by leaving the camera in an open area for a week or two. I have an F100 that is kept in a camera bag and suffering from this. Leaving in the open air has reduced the stickiness by at least 90%.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Me too. In my case the stickiness on the F100 was confined to the camera back - the front grips were fine. A D70 stored in the same bag was affected more generally. I wondered at the time if any of the polymers in the closed bag (the lining, or the foam inside the dividers, the neoprene straps, or a plastic mesh cover) could have contributed to the effect by outgassing in a confined space. Certainly airing on an open shelf for a couple of weeks helped a lot - the F100 went from unpleasantly tacky to perfectly usable. Of course if you've had DEET or something on your hands, all bets are off. The pre-F5 cameras like the F90 and F70 look like they have a different sort of rubber coating, which might not behave the same way. I'd certainly try just airing first. </p>

[bebu_lamar]

<p>But the covering on old Nikon's (i.e. F, F2, F3) do not suffer the same problem. They may be too slippery but I rather take that than a gooey mess.</p>

[stephen t]

<p>I found that 70% isopropyl applied with a rag takes it off with no ill effects. DON'T use 91% or denatured alcohol. </p>

[mwmcbroom]

<p>My brother in law works in the plastics industry and he has a name for this condition. It's called "plasticizer migration" and it's where components of the "rubber," which really isn't rubber but a synthetic look-alike, begin to separate, and one of these components becomes a sticky -- or sometimes oily-feeling -- residue.</p>

<p>I've owned a couple of N80s, still own one in fact, and I'm familiar with this problem. I bought one from an online auction house and when it arrived it was unpleasantly sticky. Rather than trying to treat it with alcohol or nail polish remover or some other likely damaging substance, I instead quickly noticed that, the more I handled the camera, the less sticky it was. And in fact, after just a few days of handling it -- and I don't mean all day long, but just picking it up and fiddling around with it for five or ten minutes -- almost all of the stickiness was gone. And now, here it's been a couple of months since I bought it and there is no trace of stickiness at all. However, I'm thinking that if I were to put it up and not touch it for a year or two it might become sticky again.</p>

<p>Here's another sure-fire way to get rid of the stickiness. Lightly (and I mean *lightly*) dust your hands with flour before picking up the camera. The flour dust will transfer to the camera and will elminate the stickiness where it has transferred and if you applied a fine coating of it to your hands the way I recommended, it won't really even show on the camera. And even if it does, all it will take is a little light rubbing on the camera, and it will disappear. Or at least its whiteness will, but the stickiness will stay gone.</p>

<p> </p>