Always thought ultrasonic cleaning was overkill until I got a junker Pentax that wouldn't fire

Spent 3 hours with brushes and solvent on this K1000 shutter assembly, still sticky. Ran it through a $80 eBay ultrasonic tank for 10 minutes and it fired perfect. Anyone else sleep on ultrasonic cleaners then get converted?

3 comments

3 Comments

lindal136d ago

Did you use a specific cycle or just run it once? I've been eyeing one of those cheap tanks for months but kept thinking it was a gimmick. Faith_thomas your story with the X-700 is exactly what I needed to hear - that's the same model I've been fighting with, except mine cost me 30 bucks and still won't wind on after three rounds of lighter fluid. I'm ordering one tonight off Amazon, the 600ml with the timer, cause if it can unstick a seized up Minolta it can handle my junk drawer of beat up cameras.

the_sam4d ago

Three rounds of lighter fluid is nothing compared to 15 minutes of ultrasonic, faith_thomas proved that.

faith_thomas6d ago

I bought a dented Minolta X-700 for 15 bucks at a flea market last summer. The shutter was completely seized up from old lubricant that turned to glue. I tried everything - lighter fluid, naptha, even heat from a hair dryer - nothing worked. Then I threw the body in a cheap ultrasonic cleaner I got for my jewelry and ran it for 15 minutes with some dish soap. Dried it out with a hair dryer and it's been shooting perfect ever since. That machine saves so much time on these old cameras it's crazy.