Was skeptical about ultrasonic cleaning until I saw it save a 1950s Argus C3

I always figured ultrasonic cleaners were overkill for most camera gear. Then last month a guy brought in a C3 that was absolutely crusted with old lubricant and who knows what. Couldn't even advance the film. Tried my usual methods for a few days with no luck. Finally borrowed a friend's cleaner, ran it for 15 minutes with the right solution, and the thing moved like new. Felt dumb for resisting it so long. Anyone else have a tool they ignored for years that turned out useful?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_john3d ago

@shane170's tip makes me wonder if anyone's tried tossing a toaster in there yet.

aliceharris3d ago

Oh man, that's exactly what happened to me with a sticky shutter on an old Pentax. Ran it through the ultrasonic and it was like magic, totally saved me from having to fully tear it down.

shane1703d ago

The ultrasonic cleaner at 40kHz for 3 minutes did the trick on my old Yashica. Just make sure you use distilled water with a tiny drop of dish soap, not tap water with minerals that can leave residue on the shutter blades. I dried mine with a can of compressed air from arm's length right after, and the stickiness was gone.