What to use for a sticky shutter.?

Hawaii Five-O · Oct 30, 2008

I found an old Konica rangefinder at my thrift shop. Everything works good but the sticky shutter. I cleaned it with rubbing alcohol and it worked good after that , but now it is stuck again. What should I lubricate it with? A little drop of WD40?

christopher walrath · Oct 30, 2008

I would be careful with it. Maybe apply it with a Qtip so you can control where it is. Make sure not to get any on the lens or the aperture as this may have an adverse affect. But since it's a thrift store special go for it. Just be careful.

monkeykoder · Oct 30, 2008

WD-40 is the last thing I'd use I don't know the best but I would think it would be a silicone or graphite lube.

Dubious Drewski · Oct 30, 2008

Yeah, I'm not sure why they even manufacture WD-40. I keep hearing all these stories about how bad it is for everything you'd want to use it on, like bike chains, folding chairs, doors, anything with non-metallic parts, etc.

monkeykoder · Oct 30, 2008

WD-40 has some really good uses. If you were to soak your bike chain in it it would get rid of a lot of the rust and dirt. It would also thin down the grease so that it is useless. Basically it should never be used as a lubricant per se but more to unstick parts that are dirty/rusty.

Josh66 · Oct 30, 2008

Water Displacement. Works great for getting a wet alternator working again.

compur · Oct 30, 2008

Hawaii Five-O said:
I found an old Konica rangefinder at my
thrift shop. Everything works good but the sticky shutter. I cleaned it with
rubbing alcohol and it worked good after that , but now it is stuck again.
What should I lubricate it with? A little drop of WD40?

Absolutely not. Never use WD40 on any camera. Don't put any lubricant on
shutter blades. The reason they are stuck is because lube has gotten onto
them from elsewhere. And, rubbing alcohol should not be used on shutters
or anything inside the camera as it contains water and will leave a residue.

The best solvent for shutters is naptha which can be easily found as
Ronsonol lighter fluid. Apply with small bits of tissue soaked in naptha
repeatedly and wipe with dry tissue to remove the the dissolved lube. The
naptha will evaporate quickly and leave no residue of its own. Repeat until
the blades are clean and the shutter works freely. Do this on both sides
of the blades if possible.

Ideally the shutter should be removed and disassembled for thorough
cleaning but cleaning in place often works if you are patient.

Which model Konica is it?

christopher walrath · Oct 31, 2008

WD40 is good as an attractant when sprayed on fishing bait. Don't know where my head was last night, though.

compur · Oct 31, 2008

WD40 is used in the movie business by stunt people. Those car chase
scenes where you see the tires spinning and smoking widely are done by
spraying the tires with the stuff.

greyhoundman · Oct 31, 2008

Ronsonol will clean the blades. It will take a number of q-tips and many shutter clicks to get it totally clean. Blades are to be totally dry in cameras, no graphite either. The S2 is known for play in the lens barrel. As long as the focus is OK, leave as is.

greyhoundman · Oct 31, 2008

There are about 5 wires that attach to the battery compartment. These can be corrodes. Plus the CDS cell is known for being weak as the cameras age.
If pushing the button makes the meter go high, then it probably has a weak or dead CDS cell.

compur · Oct 31, 2008

Hawaii Five-O said:
The shutter is working again:thumbup:, I was playing around with it last night and it started working. I figured out the camera is getting stuck in the auto mode and locks itself either with or without the battery. I also found out the light meter is not reading like it should. It works sporadically, sometimes it will read like it should and other times it won't move past F 1.8 even if I'm pointing it at the sun.

I pushed the check button on the camera bottom and the meter checks fine though, Do you think the sensor has just gone bad after 40 some years?

The wires that connect to the cell on the S2 often develop bad connections
and sometimes come loose. It's pretty easy to get to the cell to check
that. If loose or corroded, they can easily be cleaned up and re-soldered
with a fine tip iron.

The Auto S2 is a fine picture taker with a very sharp lens and an excellent
viewfinder/rangefinder.

compur · Nov 1, 2008

Hawaii Five-O said:
Thanks for the help guys, I'll have to see if I can get in there and check the wires. Hopefully its just a little corrosion on the wire.

Oh with the lighter fluid, I assume I shouldn't light it while cleaning the shutter haha

Not just any lighter fluid. Use Ronsonol (it says "contains naptha" on it)