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Camera One
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2004 - 12:28 pm: | 
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I have just ordered a Cannon AE1 light seal replacement kit. Can anyone provide a resource for how to instructions for removing the old seals and applying the new ones?
I believe these are peel and stick.
Thanks, Camera One |
Jon Goodman
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2004 - 02:05 pm: |
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Where did you buy it? I can't imagine somebody selling a light seal kit without instructions. Even the $6 kits I sell have detailed guides with about 18 pictures.
Jon |
Jan Dvorak
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2004 - 05:41 pm: |
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I made myself a tool out of an old ice cream stick, filed down to fit inside the grooves of the camera. Using wood is ideal in my opinion, since it will not scratch the camera. It is quite a messy job, but persevere and you will succeed!
Using seals which are 'peel and stick' might not be a good idea - assuming that by 'peel and stick' you are referring to seals that already have a self-sticking glue attached to one side. You will find that it will be just about impossible to place the seals inside the grooves.
Jon's kits are the best.
Good luck,
Jan |
Scott
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - 07:40 am: |
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I always start by dipping a little brush in acetone (it's shaped like a paintbrush, but very tiny and made for womens' cosmetics. Look on the make-up shelf- they come in all shapes and sizes) and carefully saturating all the old sealing material all around. That softens it up enough to scrape it out. I also like to use a sharpened ice-cream stick to scoop and scrape.
Getting a narrow strip of self-adhesive material seated into the bottom of a deep, narrow channel is pretty tedious. One way is to seat it where you want it, and then hold it there while you pull off the backing.
Myself, I have found that you often don't need any baffle material on the upper and lower sides of the film door. If the groove IS so narrow and so deep, then probably you don't need any light-sealing material there. For example, on the old (early 60s) Minolta rangefinder cameras I like to use, the edge of the door fits pretty deep into the channel, so I just clean out the grooves and put baffle material along the door hinge only. Some cameras need it on the latch side, too. I get no discernable light leaks. But it seems there originally WAS baffling mateial there..
I've found that sometimes, when I've put baffle material into deep grooves, it puts too much tension on the door hinges, and makes the door hard to latch. |
Jim Brokaw
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - 03:10 pm: |
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I clean out the old foam by using isoprapanol alcohol, the 91% or 99% stuff seems to dissolve foam pretty well, without risking eating into paint or plastic. Acetone will definitely dissolve old foam, but it can also attach plastic and some paints, so be cautious if you use that... I dribble in small amounts of the alcohol from the bottle I store it in, which originally contained my saline contact lens solution. This bottle holds 16oz and has a nice small hole tip (which pulls out for filling the bottle). The small hole tip allows for putting in only a small amount of alcohol right in the groove. I use either a carved down chopstick and/or an old 'micro jewelers screwdriver' to scrape out the old foam goo. After scraping out most of the goo I dribble in some more alcohol then swipe an old business card folded into 1/4 size, use the fold edge as a scraper/swiper through the slot and you will get it clean as a whistle and dry it out.
I don't really like the pre-adhesive foam. I bought some from MicroTools when I was just starting out, and its OK for some places, but after cutting it into narrow strips its just too hard to handle getting it into the slot with the adhesive backing right. I have much better luck using plain foam, either from Jon's kits or the WalMart Foamies (which are a little thick and stiff for some places though). I cut the foam into a roughly 2mm x 2mm x 'length as required' and then pre-fit it into the channel. I cut it using a paper cutter, one of those with the swing-down handle, it does a good job. After the pre-fit I pull it out, dab in a few spots (about every 3/4" or so) of Pliobond and then reinsert the foam strip. Sometimes I use a wooden toothpick tip or screwdriver tip to help push the foam into place in the slot.
I found some little plastic tips at a hobby shop that fit onto the nozzle end of the Pliobond tube and are small enough to allow for dropping just a dot of glue right in the bottom of the slot. As you stuff the foam in it smears out the glue for good coverage, so you only need a few dots. Plus the foam tends to stay in the slot due to being wider than the slot by a little, it just naturally stays in place. You really only need the glue at the ends to keep them from springing up. |
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