Film loading door of Yashica Mat124G is jammed shut.

[marilyn_gaskin]

<p>Hello all-<br>

I'm relatively new to medium format shooting, I am using a Yashica Mat 124G for a photography class I am taking at my college. I loaded a roll of film earlier today, shut and latched the loading door, and things seemed to be going well at first. Shot the first exposure, and while trying to use the crank to advance the film the crank became stuck. <br>

Figured the film was caught up somewhere so I went to open up the back door to try to straighten it out or just reload, but the Open-Close dial gets stuck halfway between close and open. The dial will not budge any further (although will dial back down to a closed position, just not towards open) and I can therefore not get the door open.<br>

The lower spool locking knob is slightly elevated, and will not rest flat like the upper one does. This definitely makes me think the film spool is not properly loaded, and has jammed itself in a way that the opening mechanism can not move. :( <br>

Any one have any experience with this, or thoughts on the matter? </p>

<p>Thanks so much.</p>

[John Seaman]

<p>I would get some WD40 or similar between the moving parts of of the door lock and work it backwards and forwards, perhaps whilst pressing the door back against the body. It should free up eventually. I think it's caused by something catching in the lock itself, rather than by a spool not being seated properly. There's no obvious mechanism why this would happen.</p>

[paul ron]

The lock knob is a cam that pulls the metal clip tight to the door. THe internal area where the locking mechanisms is not exposed inside of the camera body.

 

Try applying a bit more pressure squeezing the door to the body as you turn the knob. If the knob is still a bit sticky, a drop of WD40 under the knob should free it up as the gentlemen above recommended.

[marilyn_gaskin]

<p>WD40 did the trick, thank God I had some laying around!</p>

<p>Thank you two for your help, I really wasn't looking forward to returning this camera in poor shape. </p>

[paul ron]

Glad it worked. The 124, in fact all the yashicamats, are beautiful cameras. I'm sure you'll

enjoy it.

 

Hope you'll post some pictures soon?

[thirteenthumbs]

<p><strong>W</strong>ater <strong>D</strong>isplacment #40 http://wd40.com/cool-stuff/history will dry out and leave a sticky residue behind and builds up with repeated applications. You'll be better off to flush the lock with a degreaser such as Isopropyl Alcohol (90% best) and lube with a light weight oil such as TriFlow or clock oil. 3in1 oil dry out and leaves a residue like WD40.</p>

[mervyn_wilmington]

<p>I agree with Charles. WD 40 can be very useful, but it does, eventually, leave a sticky residue. The 'finer' the mechanism it is used on, the more likely it will cause problems. I know to my cost. Many years ago, I used it on an unusual British camera, a Periflex. The shutter mechanism includes a shaft on which a bearing runs. After a few months, that became sticky, preventing movement.</p>

[paul ron]

theres a place for everything and tge lock was one of tgem.

 

wd40 is not intended for shutters n delicate moving parts.

 

as for leaving a sticky residue, as an experiment, smear a brop of it on a glass window

pane? keep an eye on it foe a few weeks?

 

ill check back here to see what you find.. bet?

[mervyn_wilmington]

<p>I don't want to go off topic! I've used WD 40 for many, many years. I buy it 5 litres at a time. It is very useful - with care.</p>

<p>As for stickiness, a couple of month ago, a car door lock seised. I 'injected' a good deal of WD 40 into it. Much ran down the door outside. I was unwell at the time and couldn't be bothered cleaning that off. It was cleaned off last week. The residue needed some effort...</p>

[John Seaman]

<p>I only suggested "WD40 or similar" as it was the door catch, rather than some delicate part of the mechanism. And most people know what it is.</p>

[mervyn_wilmington]

<p>John,</p>

<p>I wasn't trying to knock your advice. It was more a note of caution. Many people do know what it is. Whether they appreciate the subtlety of use is another matter. Certainly, when I unfortunately used it on the Periflex many, many years ago, it was being portrayed as a wonder lubricant, used in the space industry and fit for anything.</p>

[dave_thomas8]

<p>I used a bit of silicone spray lube worked under the rotating lock knob on my 124G when I first got the camera, as it was rather tight and difficult to turn. That was 4 or 5 years ago and seems to have done the trick.</p>

[peter_simpson1]

Re: lube, I have something called ZEP 45 which is a penetrating lube with teflon. It seems to work well on things like this. Small doses, of course. Also, there's a synthetic lube (Superlube), which comes as an oil or a light grease, and that, too, seems to work on this sort of thing...latches and hinges. Just a little bit. Wave the container past the mechanism, and let the vapor deposit :-). Too much attracts dirt, and then you're worse off. WD40, I save for bike chains and rusted bolts.