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Jayd
Tinkerer
Username: Jayd
Post Number: 44
Registered: 06-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 17, 2009 - 02:30 pm: | 
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I Find the use of naptha lighter fluid and what a few recomend gasoline as cleaning solvents for camera gear work etc. too smelly and dangerous so I have been using and like the much less flamible mineral spirits sold as paint thinner and parts cleaner and if you get the oderless kind it does not even smell much: it's not truely odorless. Another option I like on things I can rinse with water is Castrol Super clean it will remove just about any petroleum based product and many others.
What do you all think ?
Jay |
Gez
Tinkerer
Username: Gez
Post Number: 87
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 17, 2009 - 03:20 pm: |
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Here's my choice.
Cleaning aperture & shutter blades: lighter fluid.
Removing perished seals: isopropyl alcohol.
Cleaning lens surfaces and front surface mirrors: lighter fluid & deionised water on a soft tissue.
Removing dirt on focussing screen: methanol on a cotton tip.
Removing fungal strands: ordinary window cleaner, works but not always.
Removing black corrosion spots on chrome: ordinary white vinegar.
Removing dirt on chrome: bath cleaning cream. |
Tom_cheshire
Tinkerer
Username: Tom_cheshire
Post Number: 10
Registered: 04-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 17, 2009 - 05:17 pm: |
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My lineup: (a) isopropyl alcohol for bright chrome (don't let it spill on paint). (b) lighter fluid on Q-Tips for general cleaning of dirt on chrome. (c) few squirts of dish washing detergent in spray bottle of water for general cleaning using Q-Tips. (d) 5-56 electronics cleaner spray for degreasing shutters, etc. (e) lens cleaner fluid for cleaning lenses. If that doesn't work, use spit. |
Markus
Tinkerer
Username: Markus
Post Number: 124
Registered: 08-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 17, 2009 - 09:00 pm: |
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Something I just learned recently from Lucas here on this forum is engine degreaser for removing really gummed up grease off the gears at the bottom of a Fed's shutter. |
Sauli_särkkä
Tinkerer
Username: Sauli_särkkä
Post Number: 53
Registered: 03-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 18, 2009 - 12:15 am: |
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I mostly tend to use isopropyl alcohol, but at times it seems that xylene is more effective. The last time I had to use xylene was a Mamiya 35-III; removing what seemed to be vulcanite from the body. Did the trick a little better than isopropanol, but wasn't anywhere near "easy". Terrible odor as well. I tried gasoline as well, but the smell is something so terrrible, that I much rather use isopropanol or xylene to get things done.
-Sale |
Arnoldharris
Tinkerer
Username: Arnoldharris
Post Number: 41
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - 10:12 pm: |
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Naptha, from the big yellow and white can from the local hardware store. Cheap, effective, ubiquitous, foolproof. It's what I use to clean hidden but built-up oil crap from shutter mechanisms and blades. Works every time. |
Jayd
Tinkerer
Username: Jayd
Post Number: 50
Registered: 06-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 25, 2009 - 06:35 pm: |
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When using Isoropl alcohol look to make sure your getting 90% the 70% has a lot of water in it and does not work so well. |
Mac
Tinkerer
Username: Mac
Post Number: 3
Registered: 12-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 28, 2009 - 09:42 pm: |
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Denatured alcohol and Ronsonol lighter fluid. |
Casual_collector
Tinkerer
Username: Casual_collector
Post Number: 4
Registered: 04-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 29, 2009 - 04:58 pm: |
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Darn, I just bought 70%. My experience at work is that 99% will soften some plastics, ie, the grips on my Victorinox pocket knife. It also removes some paints. |
Tom_cheshire
Tinkerer
Username: Tom_cheshire
Post Number: 33
Registered: 04-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 29, 2009 - 05:04 pm: |
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Whatever happened to carbon tet.? Anyone ever try Carbona spot remover? |
Mndean
Tinkerer
Username: Mndean
Post Number: 148
Registered: 08-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 29, 2009 - 10:59 pm: |
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Carbon tetrachloride? Oh, a great chemical. Lock someone in a closet and dump a bottle through a hole in the ceiling and watch the fun! I think it was a little too hazardous even for the '70s. If you used it too often, your liver would jump out of your throat screaming, "no mas!" leaving you in a hell of a mess. A chemical we're much better off without in general use. |
Jayd
Tinkerer
Username: Jayd
Post Number: 63
Registered: 06-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 30, 2009 - 08:09 pm: |
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Casual makes a good point I had not thought to much about non metal parts. One has to keep in mind the part being cleaned, and the lenght of time in the cleaner I have had bare aluminum corrode from to long in denatured alcohol. It was a long time several days. But the alchol ruined the finsih and caused pretty severe pitting.I've also found that Castrol Super clean will cause corrosion to start immediately on aluminium if it's not coated with something like oil oor silicone the cleaner oxidizes it.
Jay |
Rick_oleson
Tinkerer
Username: Rick_oleson
Post Number: 896
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 30, 2009 - 10:10 pm: |
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Carbon Tetrachloride is a banned substance, available (if at all, any more) only for controlled laboratory use. It was replaced, for most purposes, by 1,1,1-Trichloroethylene, which is now ALSO a banned substance. Next in line is Tetrachloroethylene, aka Perchlorethylene, which you can still buy in spray cans as "Nonflammable Brake Cleaner" at auto parts stores.
In addition to the obvious health concerns, all of the above are SEVERE stress cracking agents for Polycarbonate, which is the most common plastic material used in camera bodies... a whiff of these chlorinated solvents can be instant death for a modern camera. Many other solvents, such as paint thinner, xylene, lacquer thinner etc, are not stress cracking agents but are dissolving solvents for many common plastics. All of these should be strictly avoided if there is any chance of plastic parts in the camera you're working on.
I have found some particularly nasty hardened lubricants that I could clean up only with Xylene - but I would consider that a very last resort, both for the fumes and the risk of damage to plastic parts. I wore rubber gloves when handling it, and ended up with cracks in the gloves.
Alcohol is generally OK, high concentrations may mar some plastic surfaces ... but it is generally not as effective as a degreasing solvent as Naphtha. It is great, however, for removing Sharpie ink ... so if you have something that Naphtha doesn't want to clean up, you might try alcohol.
I don't use gasoline for cleaning anything but carburetors, and only then if I don't have something better available.
The relatively unique property of Naphtha (chemically, it's Nonane, but you're not likely to see it by that name) is that it is both an effective degreasing solvent AND safe for use on all plastics that I've tried it on (and that's a pretty fair sampling). Other solvents in the same family, including faster-drying Heptane, share this property, but they are either hard to find or have other issues such as not existing as liquids at room temperature.
I have not yet encountered any problems with CRC "QD" Electronic Cleaner, which I have used occasionally since I could no longer find Heptane .... but it is a blend, and I don't trust blends as much as pure chemicals because each component will have its own compatibility issues, and the more components in the solvent the more checking I have to do.
In some cases you can degrease with water and detergent, depending on what you're working on ... but I have not found another solvent that has as good a combination of safety and effectiveness as Naphtha. |
Kkl122002
Tinkerer
Username: Kkl122002
Post Number: 65
Registered: 05-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 31, 2009 - 03:15 am: |
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I am still using naphtha in some cases, but going to change too. I started using pure ethanol for cleaning.
I don't really enjoy naphtha light fluid because it leaves the smell on the area. A very period of long time is needed to remove all these smell. And all repair process need to have my ventilation fan on. |
