Hot take: ultrasonic cleaning isn't always the right answer

I keep seeing posts in here about dropping everything in an ultrasonic cleaner and calling it a day. But I had a Nikon F2 shutter that came out worse after a 3 minute cycle at 40kHz, the blades started sticking in a way they never did before. I tested it on a beater Canon FTb first and saw the same thing, the oil redistributed unevenly. Over the last 6 months I've tracked 4 different cameras that had new problems show up right after ultrasonic treatment. Has anyone else seen this or am I just unlucky with my cleaner?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamesc7911d ago

My $60 Amazon special cleaner definitely messed up a Pentax Spotmatic I was working on last winter. The shutter timing went from within spec to all over the place after a 5 minute bath, and I noticed the same oil spreading issue you mentioned on the mirror box. I've got a beat up Minolta SRT-101 that had a perfectly clean meter cell before I tried cleaning it, and afterwards there was this weird film on the glass that took forever to wipe off. So yeah, I'm with you 100%, people treat ultrasonic cleaning like a magic fix but it can absolutely make things worse depending on the camera and how dirty the original problem was.

gray31411d ago

@jamesc79 you're right, people think a sonic cleaner is some magic bullet but it's like those cheap car washes that leave scratches in your paint. There's no substitute for taking your time and doing it by hand.

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kevin_williams10d ago

That "weird film" you mentioned I've seen too, soaking a rag in isopropyl and doing it by hand fixed it right up.