Old timer at the shop swore by lighter fluid for sticky shutters

Had a Canon FTb with a sticky shutter hanging around for months. Guy named Dave at the local camera meetup in Denver said to try lighter fluid on the shutter blades. Told me to apply a tiny drop and let it evaporate. Worked like a charm after I let it sit for 15 minutes. Anyone else use lighter fluid or is that a known hack I just missed?

2 comments

2 Comments

gibson.mark19d ago

Dave knows what he's talking about, I've done the exact same trick on a couple of old Pentax Spotmatics that were sitting in a box for years. The lighter fluid works because it cuts through the old sticky residue without hurting the metal blades or leaves a bunch of gunk behind like some other chemicals will. I was real nervous the first time I tried it, thought I was gonna wreck the whole shutter mechanism. But it evaporated clean and the camera came back to life, clicking away like it was brand new again. Real good feeling when you finally get a stubborn old camera working again and don't have to spend a fortune on a repair.

fiona_lane19d ago

My first Pentax Spotmatic came from a flea market for 15 bucks and the shutter was totally locked up. @gibson.mark is right about that lighter fluid trick, I tried it on three different old cameras and it worked every single time. The key is using a tiny amount on a Q-tip and being patient while it soaks in for a minute or two. I was shaking the first time I did it on a nice vintage camera but the fluid evaporates clean with zero residue. Nothing beats the sound of a sticky shutter snapping back to life after years of sitting.