Talked to an old Leica repair guy yesterday

He told me I was cleaning shutter blades wrong. Been using lighter fluid for 10 years. He said just use Ronsonol and a tiny brush. Anyone else been doing it the wrong way this whole time?

3 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

3 Comments

veramartin2mo ago

Told the same thing by a Leica tech years ago. @dakotal16 I've seen that exact outcome too with people soaking blades too long. Lighter fluid has additives that leave residue if you don't use the right kind. I use a drop on a q-tip, then a dry one right after to wipe off any excess. Never had any issues

6

the_spencer2mo ago

Tried that same Q-tip method after wrecking a lens with too much lighter fluid years ago, works perfect every time now.

3

dakotal162mo ago

My buddy Gavin wrecked a perfectly good Pentax 6x7 doing this exact thing. He soaked the shutter blades in lighter fluid for like 20 minutes. They got all sticky and slow after that. Ended up needing a whole new shutter assembly. Cost him like $300 and a month wait. I saw the repair bill and it was brutal. Now he just uses a dry microfiber cloth and blows out dust with canned air.

4