Found a 1960s repair manual that says to fix shutter speeds with a pencil eraser

Picked up a beat-up Nikon F service guide at an estate sale in Tacoma. Page 34 literally says to rub the slow speed escapement gear with a rubber eraser to clean it. Tried it on a beater body I had sitting around and the 1/2 sec speed actually stopped lagging. Anyone else run into old school tricks that actually work?

3 comments

3 Comments

david_reed2212d ago

I used to roll my eyes at stuff like "rub it with a pencil eraser" because it sounds like something a grandpa made up. But I tried it on a beat up old Spotmatic that had a sticky slow speed, and it legit fixed the 1 second setting after I worked it back and forth a few times. The eraser grit is just fine enough to polish off that old gummy lubricant without scratching anything. Kinda makes you wonder how many cameras got tossed because people thought old tricks were just jokes. I'm definitely less quick to laugh at the weird advice in those manuals now lol.

patricia3212d ago

David, you mentioning "I'm definitely less quick to laugh at the weird advice" reminds me of the time I found a note in an old Canon manual about using lighter fluid to free up a stuck mirror. I was desperate with a broken FTb and figured I had nothing to lose, so I dabbed a tiny bit on the foam behind the mirror and it somehow loosened it right up. Its funny how sometimes the sketchiest looking fixes turn out to be the real deal.

nina_taylor12d ago

david, that "gummy lubricant" thing is spot on. I've got an old Pentax SV that had a sticky self-timer arm, and the manual for it said to use a dab of lighter fluid on a q-tip and dab it on the pivot point. Felt like a hack, but that Naphtha in Ronsonol actually dissolves the old grease without damaging the brass underneath. Worked way better than the usual degreaser I'd try.