Found out the hard way that old Pentax K1000 light seals turn to goo after 30 years

I had a customer bring in their dad's old K1000 last week that sat in a closet since the 90s. Opened it up and the light seal foam had basically melted into this sticky black tar all over the mirror box and film chamber. Took me like 2 hours with isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs to get it cleaned out. Anyone else deal with this specific gooey mess from 80s cameras? I ended up ordering new foam strips from a place in Ohio for $12, hope that holds up better.

3 comments

3 Comments

ericb662mo ago

Oh man, that gooey black tar is basically the camera's way of saying "I gave up on life" ... nothing like scraping someone else's melted foam out of a film chamber for a couple hours. At least you only paid $12 for the fix, I've seen people spend more on fancy foam kits that probably melt just as fast.

ericb666d ago

Had a Canon AE-1 with that same tar problem. Spent two weekends scraping and still found black goo on my fingers six months later. That $12 shop fix is a steal compared to what people pay for the "satisfaction" of DIY. It's the same with everything nowadays - lawnmower repair, bike tune-ups, even changing car oil. Everyone thinks they'll save money doing it themselves but forgets their time is worth something. Sometimes paying a little upfront saves a lot of headache down the road.

smith.ray2mo ago

Had a buddy try to clean his own foam with rubbing alcohol and a q-tip, ended up smearing it into every crack and the shutter wouldn't fire for a week. So @ericb66 is right, sometimes the $12 fix from a shop is the best deal you'll get.