I finally figured out why my shutter speeds were always off

For like 2 years I was cleaning shutter blades with isopropyl alcohol and wondering why they kept sticking. It took a guy at a shop in Portland to tell me that alcohol strips the lubrication and makes things worse. Now I use naptha lighter fluid and a tiny drop of sewing machine oil. Anyone else waste time on the wrong cleaning method before?

3 comments

3 Comments

torres.riley7d ago

Wait, you were using ISOPROPYL? Like the rubbing alcohol from the drugstore? Holy moly, no wonder your blades were seizing up - that stuff is basically a solvent that eats the factory lube right off.

kellyallen7d ago

Wait, how long were you running them like that before you figured it out? Did you notice it getting worse each time you cleaned them?

sandragrant7d ago

10 bucks says the factory lube dissolves completely after the first soak and then you're basically dry-running the bearings. @torres.riley did you end up checking if the bearings were pitted or just gummed up?