Warning: that 'simple' CLA cleaning trick ruined my Yashica shutter

I picked up a Yashica Electro 35 from a flea market in Portland last month, CLA seemed fine. Saw a tip on another forum about using lighter fluid on the shutter blades to clear sticky residue. Tried it once, seemed okay for a few shots. Two days later the blades started dragging and now the timing is way off. A retired repair guy in Seattle told me the fluid gets under the blade coating and softens it over a couple days. He showed me under a scope, the coating was peeling. I thought I was saving time and money, now the shutter needs full replacement parts. Has anyone else had this happen with lighter fluid on older leaf shutters, or is there a safe solvent that actually works without eating the coating?

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hannah32028d ago

That lighter fluid thing gets thrown around like it's harmless, but it's not. Same thing happened to my old Konica autoreflex, the blades started sticking after a few days and the coating looked all bubbled and weird. Naphtha is fine for cleaning metal parts but it's too harsh for those coated blades, it seeps under the edges and just wrecks them. So no, you're not alone, this is a known trap. Only thing I'd use now is a dry brush or maybe a tiny bit of Ronsonol on a q-tip, but even then I'd be real careful and never let it sit.

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