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That moment a shutter spring flew into my coffee cup
I was working on a beat up Pentax K1000 in my basement shop last Wednesday, trying to replace a broken shutter curtain spring. Got it almost seated when the thing slipped out of my tweezers and pinged straight into my travel mug of black coffee sitting on the bench. I just sat there staring at it for a solid minute, wondering if I should fish it out or call it a loss. Decided to dump the coffee through a sieve into a jar, rinsed the spring with distilled water, and dried it off with a heat gun on low. Put it back in and the camera actually fired correctly after that. Anyone else ever had a part take a swim in something gross and still work fine?
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faithpatel6d ago
Read somewhere that beer works as a rinse for electronics too.
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sandragrant6d ago
Man, that's brutal. I had the exact same thing happen with a tiny screw from a lens mount on an old Nikon FE. It bounced off my workbench and landed right in a glass of orange juice I had sitting there. I just stared at it for a few seconds, then fished it out with a chopstick. Rinsed it with isopropyl alcohol, dried it with a hair dryer, and it threaded right back in with no issues. So yeah, as long as you dry it fully, it usually works again. Faithpatel mentioned beer, which I guess would be fine too if you don't have alcohol handy. Just make sure nothing is sticky after you clean it.
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