Shoutout to the old guy at the swap meet who told me to use a drop of lighter fluid on a stuck shutter dial

I thought it was crazy advice for my 1973 Pentax Spotmatic, but after letting it sit for an hour, the dial turned freely and I didn't have to force anything open.

3 comments

3 Comments

maxburns27d ago

Old timer at the camera shop gave me the same tip for a frozen aperture ring. It's wild how well it works.

anderson.mia27d ago

No way, that's hilarious. Those old guys have a fix for everything that sounds like a weird home remedy. Next they'll tell us to fix a sticky shutter with olive oil and a toothpick.

the_kelly17d ago

Wait, olive oil? That's crazy, @anderson.mia. I'd be so scared it would just gunk everything up worse. Like, wouldn't it go rancid inside the camera body after a while? I feel like you'd trade a sticky shutter for a smelly, oily mess. Those old fixes are a total gamble.