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That tip about soaking stripped screws in vinegar? Total fail.
An old repair guy at a camera shop in Portland told me if I soaked stripped brass screws in white vinegar overnight they'd loosen right up. Tried it on a seized shutter plate screw from a 1970s Pentax Spotmatic. Next morning the screw was still stuck and now it had this weird green crust all over the brass. Has anyone else had a home remedy backfire like that or is it just me?
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averysullivan6h ago
Read somewhere that the vinegar trick only works if there's no corrosion already locking the threads together. If the screw is already seized from old gunk or rust, the acid can't get in there to break it down. Plus, that green crust you saw is probably copper acetate or something similar, which is just a chemical reaction between the vinegar and the brass, not a sign it's working. Maybe the camera shop guy assumed your screw was only lightly stuck, not fully welded in place from decades of sitting.
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averysullivan7h ago
Yeah my buddy tried pickle juice on a rusted bike chain, just made everything worse.
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