Author |
Message |
Tcpen
Tinkerer Username: Tcpen
Post Number: 1 Registered: 02-2011
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Thursday, February 24, 2011 - 07:11 pm: |
|
I have a Canonet QL17 with an escapement that has gummed up after being unused for many years. It will work fine if I heat the camera next to my furnace register, but once the camera cools down the escapement will not work at all. In the past I have had good luck flushing escapements with a bit of Ronsonol lighter fluid. What is the least intrusive way I could get to the escapement (even using a syringe if necessary) and squirt a bit of Ronsonol on it? |
Monopix
Tinkerer Username: Monopix
Post Number: 198 Registered: 11-2008
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Friday, February 25, 2011 - 02:04 am: |
|
I have a manual at http://www.scribd.com/doc/48744175/Canon-Canonet-QL17-Repair-Manual which might help but no personal experience. |
Gez
Tinkerer Username: Gez
Post Number: 263 Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Friday, February 25, 2011 - 03:31 am: |
|
The problem is due to oiled shutter blades, the cleaning approach will depend on the model. Is yours the full sized version or the compact G111 version? |
Neuberger
Tinkerer Username: Neuberger
Post Number: 32 Registered: 01-2010
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Friday, February 25, 2011 - 08:11 am: |
|
Plus: what's on your mind anyway, some sort of sustainable repair or are you just trying to make that camera fit for half a dozen rolls of film, as that and nothing more is what you will get by pouring solvent into a frozen-up mechanism IMAO. |
Tcpen
Tinkerer Username: Tcpen
Post Number: 2 Registered: 02-2011
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Friday, February 25, 2011 - 08:41 am: |
|
The shutter on this GIII will always open and close at a default speed, so the blades do not appear to be sticking. Hence, I assumed that some part of the escapement is sticking, rather than it being oily blades. The escapement will work without fail if the camera is warmed up, timing properly for 1/4 second, etc. Once the camera cools down, the escapement does not engage, but the shutter will still open and close at all speed settings, and the Bulb setting still works fine. Ideally, having a professional do a CLA would be the best fix, but I have had good long term success clearing out the escapements of my Canon IIb and a Leica IIIf by flushing the escapement with Ronsonol, so it seemed worth a try. |
Neuberger
Tinkerer Username: Neuberger
Post Number: 34 Registered: 01-2010
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Friday, February 25, 2011 - 09:02 am: |
|
I have done that to cameras going to be shelved, just to make sure they were mechanically ok, but the ones I use for picture taking usually undergo a kind of routine cleaning process, including a careful wash of the escapement, but in that case I usually take things apart, as I am afraid of wetting unwanted areas (glass lenses, Rfs etc) with too much liquid/solvent. Unfortunately I have no practical experience with shutter problems of the GIII, I do know from experience that the older "conventional" lines of vintage Canonets is easier to work on. |