Shoe Goo to repair shutter pinhole? Really?

crawdiddy

crawdiddy

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Yes, I've seen the recommendation about repairing Leica M shutter pinholes (caused by setting my camera down with lens at maximum aperture in bright sunlight, with no lens cap) with Shoe Goo.

First of all, I believed it in theory, but doubted the likelihood until it happened to me.

Well, now I've purchased the 'goo, but I'm surprised to find it's clear, and appears to dry clear. Before I goo up the shutter of my $1k plus camera, I want to check one more time.

Is this REALLY an acceptable repair? I understand it will not increase the resale value of my M6 Classic. But is it actually effective?
 
I used somethin called "Star brite Liquid Electrical Tape" and applied small drops of it to the hole with the tip of a tiny screwdriver. It is solid black in appearance and has worked very well - fixed three holes in my Canon IV-Sb shutter. Just remember to let it cure thoroughly before winding or releasing the shutter.
 
ChrisN said:
I used somethin called "Star brite Liquid Electrical Tape" and applied small drops of it to the hole with the tip of a tiny screwdriver. It is solid black in appearance and has worked very well - fixed three holes in my Canon IV-Sb shutter. Just remember to let it cure thoroughly before winding or releasing the shutter.
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Cool. Thanks for the suggestion. I found a link for it.
 
ChrisN said:
I used somethin called "Star brite Liquid Electrical Tape" and applied small drops of it to the hole with the tip of a tiny screwdriver. It is solid black in appearance and has worked very well - fixed three holes in my Canon IV-Sb shutter. Just remember to let it cure thoroughly before winding or releasing the shutter.
Click to expand...

Hmmm...that's a good idea. I've been thinking of trying some of that liquid rubber, the kind used for dipping tool handles in, to fill in some tiny light leaks in the bellows of my 1912 Conley 4x5.
 
marke said:
Hmmm...that's a good idea. I've been thinking of trying some of that liquid rubber, the kind used for dipping tool handles in, to fill in some tiny light leaks in the bellows of my 1912 Conley 4x5.
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That should work ok. I used this stuff to fix the bellows on my Speed Graphic.
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
I have to agree. I have personally F--cked up a few costly items over the years trying to save money by fixing them myself. I don't try that anymore, its cheaper to pay a professional in the long run.
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I appreciate the advice, Chris and aperture64. I'm a bit reluctant. But I'm also thrifty. As long as I don't make it worse, I might as well.

About the only way I could make it worse would be to apply it too thick, or allow insufficient time for curing.

That's interesting about black Goo. I only found clear, but I'll look again. Or else try the liquid rubber or Mars stuff.

Thanks again to all for advice.
 
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The other way to patch a hole is to cut a small piece of shutter fabric from the curtain of a defunct SLR or whatever, and glue it over the hole with contact cement.
 
Dear Dan,

It's sometimes astonishing (and sometimes horrifying) just how crude a repair can be, and still work fine. Provided you use the right material -- and I haven't the faintest idea whether this includes Shoe Goo or Liquitex or contact glue for sticking a patch on -- I don't think you'll make it worse, and there's a certain macho bravado in fixing things this way.

My own inclination would be to try the cheap fix, but to regard it as temporary and keep an eye on it to see if it goes sticky or hard or comes off or otherwise misbehaves. Then probably after 10 years you'll think, "Oh, yeah, meant to do that properly, one day."

Cheers,

R.
 
Roger Hicks said:
Dear Dan,

It's sometimes astonishing (and sometimes horrifying) just how crude a repair can be, and still work fine. Provided you use the right material -- and I haven't the faintest idea whether this includes Shoe Goo or Liquitex or contact glue for sticking a patch on -- I don't think you'll make it worse, and there's a certain macho bravado in fixing things this way.

My own inclination would be to try the cheap fix, but to regard it as temporary and keep an eye on it to see if it goes sticky or hard or comes off or otherwise misbehaves. Then probably after 10 years you'll think, "Oh, yeah, meant to do that properly, one day."

Cheers,

R.
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Roger-- Yes, I find that satisfying also. It's fun to pretend to be an engineer. Next time the camera needs a CLA, I can consider replacing the curtain. Until then, I have a functioning M6, and I only spent 10 quid to fix it.
 
Hi crawdiddy,
I had a similar experience 3 years ago and fixed the shutter of my MP with the liq. electrical tape, no issues so far. What ever you use it needs to stay somewhat flexible or it will tear out again. I would repair it again anytime, there's nothing to loose, either you sent it in right away or try to fix it and be lucky. Just keep your hand steady 😀.

Here the old thread : http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30572
 
A few years ago I mended a tiny hole in the shutter curtain of my Nikon S2 with some kind of black acrylic sealer from the hardware store. I had to buy a half kilo tube and used a drop on a toothpick. It works great.
Jacob
 
For what it's worth, I was for sometimes in DIY large format camera and the best stuff to paint bellows with seems to be a paint used by car enthusiasts to repaint the side of tires (is it the same as "latex paint"?), I bet it is great also for this kind of repair. The only downside is that probably the smallest amount you can buy is several thousand times what you need for the job. 😀

GLF
 
icebear said:
Hi crawdiddy,
I had a similar experience 3 years ago and fixed the shutter of my MP with the liq. electrical tape, no issues so far. What ever you use it needs to stay somewhat flexible or it will tear out again. I would repair it again anytime, there's nothing to loose, either you sent it in right away or try to fix it and be lucky. Just keep your hand steady 😀.

Here the old thread : http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30572
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, icebear. Btw, do you remember the lens in question and the aperture? Ive read some posts indicating it requires > f2.8, but I'm not sure how exact this could be. In my case, I was using Jupiter-8 (50mm f2). The Jupiter-8 does not have aperture detents (click stops), so it was easy when setting the camera down to turn it to max aperture.
 
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