matty
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Post by matty on Jul 9, 2014 6:25:40 GMT -5
I picked up a can of Lazer Air Duster from Poundland recently thinking it was a compressed air can and that it would be useful for blowing dust off lens etc. Tried it out when I was trying to free a stuck mirror return on my Spotty F. Turns out to be an alcohol based solvent, blasted out the dust and cleared the mucky lube all in one go. Handy little addition to the toolbox, especially as it has a long nozzle to get into tricky corners.
Matty
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Jul 9, 2014 14:00:43 GMT -5
matty,
For what it is worth I have been very cautious about using alcohol on my cameras ever since an experience I had several years ago.
I was cleaning up a lovely old folding camera when I swabbed the aperture blades with Q Tips dampened with alcohol.
They immediately turned to gelatine. Completely ruined! They did eventually solidify but not to their original shape.
Since then I have only used lighter fluid which has never given me any trouble.
But for glass surfaces I much prefer the mist created when I exhale which happens after every inhalation..
I have yet to see an aerosol can of air that does not spray some of its propellant as little drops of liquid.
That is okay for the camera body but I am not too sure about the lenses and mirror and prism.
Mickey
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matty
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Post by matty on Jul 9, 2014 14:35:18 GMT -5
Cor, melting camera bits, I had heard of problems with plastic shutters but not on old school shutters. I'll keep its use to metal bits, it did do a cracking job on the mirror return on the Spotty though.
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Jul 10, 2014 0:24:51 GMT -5
Cor, melting camera bits, I had heard of problems with plastic shutters but not on old school shutters. I'll keep its use to metal bits, it did do a cracking job on the mirror return on the Spotty though. matty, I thought they were steel but I was wrong. They must have been some kind of man made material. Mickey |
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Post by philbirch on Jul 10, 2014 16:24:33 GMT -5
Cor, melting camera bits, I had heard of problems with plastic shutters but not on old school shutters. I'll keep its use to metal bits, it did do a cracking job on the mirror return on the Spotty though. matty, I thought they were steel but I was wrong. They must have been some kind of man made material. Mickey I suspect if ether or similar was in the solution it could soften or dissolve celluloid which is traditionally made from cotton dissolved in ether. |
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Stephen
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Post by Stephen on Jul 11, 2014 9:02:56 GMT -5
Definitely black carbon loaded Celluloid, it was quite popular with early shutter makers for a time, but the problems came with heat, damp and solvents. The late Victorian engineers found it easier to make thin celluloid than make thin dead flat steel, and it was only as cheaper ways of making thin flat steel was developed during the first world war that steel finally took over. Some cheap box cameras in the 1930's actually used Bakelite blades to save a few pence, usually two blade everset shutters, or Guillotine types in French designs.
I think all Kodak shutters were steel, as were UK Ensign, and all German shutters in general.
Stephen
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Post by Peltigera on Jul 12, 2014 16:21:03 GMT -5
The Poundland Air Duster doesn't produce anything but air when I used it as instructed (I bought one today). Only when I tipped it on its side did it produce liquid propellant - it is very clear to keep it upright. What is worth noting is that it specifically says not to use on cameras!
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Stephen
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Post by Stephen on Jul 12, 2014 16:49:53 GMT -5
The propellant is likely to be butane or a mix with propane, and not really good for cameras, especially Digital which are in the main plastics. Freon was a much better idea, but environmentally unsound! at least Freon was basically inert.
Stephen.
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matty
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Post by matty on Jul 13, 2014 10:41:49 GMT -5
The can I picked up doesn't say anything about not using on cameras. It does say it cleans and protects electronic equipment. So not sure what it is now, it doesn't seem to have caused any problems with the Spotty but I don't think I'll use it on anything else till I can find out what is in it properly.
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