Found out that 70% of old Polaroid cameras just need a clean roller not a total rebuild

I was digging through a repair blog last night and saw that stat from a shop in Chicago, but half the guys on this forum swear by replacing the whole transport assembly every time, where do you land on that debate?

2 comments

2 Comments

milesrobinson1mo ago

Yeah totally, I fixed my dad's old one with just a q-tip and some alcohol and it worked fine.

kelly_miller801mo ago

Milesrobinson is right that a q-tip and alcohol works a lot of the time, but you gotta be careful with it. If you use too much alcohol it can drip down into the gears and cause more problems later. I actually talked to a repair guy at a camera swap meet and he said the real trick is to pull the roller out and clean the metal shaft underneath it, not just the rubber part. A lot of people miss that and end up replacing the whole assembly when the roller just needs to be cleaned properly on the axle. So @milesrobinson you were on the right track, but next time try popping out the roller first and cleaning the shaft with a dry cloth after the alcohol dries. That should get you another ten years out of it.