Cleaning a stuck aperture ring with a drop of lighter fluid worked a little too well on this old Minolta.

I tried it on a 50mm f/1.7 lens from the 70s, and the ring got so loose it now spins freely with no click stops, so I guess I learned that even a tiny amount can totally dissolve old grease (has anyone found a good, thick replacement grease for this job?).

3 comments

3 Comments

fox.julia23d ago

Remember my buddy did the exact same thing to his dad's old Pentax lens. He used way too much and it just washed everything out, gears and all. Had to send it to a specialist who basically rebuilt the whole aperture mechanism.

jake_wells1223d ago

So my friend did this with his grandpa's old Canon lens, right? He used that lighter fluid trick and the whole click mechanism just gave up. Turns out the fluid got behind the ring and washed out this tiny bit of sticky grease that was holding a little spring in place. He spent an hour with a toothpick trying to get the spring back in its hole (it was a nightmare). Ended up using a super thick synthetic grease for bike parts to stick it back in, and now the ring works but feels kind of mushy.

anthonynelson23d ago

Got a different take from my own mess-ups. That free spin usually means the click-stop ball bearing got unstuck and fell out, not just grease loss. Found mine stuck to the magnet in my parts tray. A tiny dab of synthetic grease on the ball and its spring, plus cleaning the detent track, fixed it right up.