Canonet QL17 GIII Getting to the Shutter and Viewfinder for Cleaning

[Sonnar Brian]

I've done this with 20 or so Canonets with stuck and sluggish shutter blades and stuck aperture blades. 75% success rate using Ronsonol (lighter fluid) or 99% Isopropyl alchohol.

Start, the tools I use.

Spanner (Ebay), needle-nosed pliers (Sears), rubber cork, screwdrivers

Outer ring off with the pliers to get it started, then either the spanner or fingers after the slots clear the namering. Some spanners can get into this thin slot, but not mine. The needle-nosed pliers did the trick for me.

It's off:

Namering and ASA mask as seen from the back. They fall out once the ring is out.

Front of lens, showing the spanner slots. The front assembly is in two pieces, a very thin metal ring that you see here holds the front element in. The second fixture is for the cemented pair underneath. The front element is thin, and can crack easily if you over-tighten the front ring when re-assembling. See notes below on the reassembly section.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

6 spanner slot front element. This is for the retaining ring for the front element. It is thin material, and will strip if the front section is stuck (Gooed) in place.

7 topview

8 spanner front ring, sometimes you get lucky and the whole front section comes out in one piece. And sometimes, just the front ring comes off as it is supposed to.

9 front ring loose handturn. After getting it loose, undo the rest by hand, ot use a rubber cork.

10 front element out. After the front ring is out, the element will drop out. Drop it into something soft, like lens paper.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

11 spanner slots recessed deep no room for a spanner. I've seen some repair sites advise drilling out new holes for a spanner. I use the long-thin needle-nosed pliers, bought at Sears.

12 use needle nosed pliers to reach in and grab the spanner slots.

13 to loosen the front group, if it is too tight for the spanners, use ronsonol and let it soak for a couple of hours. I squirt just a little bit into the sides. "Works for Me" a lot of times.

14 use rubber cork after loosening

15 front group out, Yaay.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

16 shutter blades

17 aperture blades

18 ready for ronsonol. Use a couple of drops on the blades. Then advance and work the camera. Go through the shutter speeds. Sometimes a drop or two is required down the self-timer lever. Let the camera stand until it is dried out, and work it again. If it is sluggish, re-apply and repeat. If it is still sluggish, try 99% Isopropyl Alchohol. Let it dry slowly. If it is working, ready for re-assembly. If it is still dead, time to disassemble. I've not gotten there yet.

19 front group reassemble with cork. Hand-tighten as much as possible, use the cork. Use the spanner for just the last bit of pressure. If you tighten it too much, the FRONT ELEMENT WILL CRACK IN HALF.

20 asa mask in, note the pin to catch the hole in the mask.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

21 screw the lens in by hand and with the cork. It is easy to break the front element on the Canonet.

22 carefully tighten do not overtighten. I like to repeat myself a lot. I broke a perfect front element the second time I did this.

23 name ring on, clicks into place. Put the thin Silver retaining ring back on using your hand to start, and the spanner/ pliers to finish. The slotted spanner can't get deep enough, which is why I use the pliers.

VIEWFINDER TIME.

The top plate comes off. Advance Lever, Rewind Crank, and three screws. You need good match for the Phillips head screws.

24 advance lever

25 rewind crank, and screws

 

[Sonnar Brian]

26 two screws

27 rubber cork will usually take off the retaining ring for the advance lever.

28 advance lever parts

29 top view lever parts. I keep these parts together in a stack, and use ice cube trays to keeo parts together in groups.

30 rewind crank, hold down with a screwdriver and unscrew the crank by hand. It unscrews counter-clockwise, like the screws. Normal direction.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

31 rewind crank off

32 take out screws

33 pull top off

34🙁redundant, not listed)

35 glass windows in the top plate are normally hazed over. I use ammonia based eye-glass cleaner on Q-Tips.

36 view finder assembly, light guard off. It is glued in place, comes off by hand. I do not bother re-gluing, usually it is sticky enough for reassembly. If not, some light glue will work. I have used a glue stick before.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

37 RF adjust screw is visible with the focus set as shown.

DO NOT CLEAN THE SEMI-SILVERED MIRROR WITH FLUID. The silvering is likely to come off. Do not clean the RF mirror with fluid, it is surface coated. The clear glass surfaces can be cleaned with fluid cleaner and Q-Tips. "Be Gentle". If a mirror is really bad with haze, I have moistened the surface with breath and very gently wiped it with a soft Q-Tip.

After cleaning, the top plate goes on. Line up the screw holes. Some pressure is required to hold it in place while putting the Phillips head Screws back in.

38 slots for advance paw, the first part of the advance mechanism. It goes in first, all the parts go in order. Tighten the retaining ring with the Cork.

39 first screws then cork for advance retainer then rewind

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I did not cover putting in new seals. Next Canonet, I'll photograph the procedure. Hint- take the pressure plate off of the back to make it easier to get the gook out. It simply unclips.

This is a parts camera, waiting for a new front element. But I have two others that I went through all of these steps to bring back to operation. The original top plate went out to an RFF member years ago, and I stuck a Canonet 28 plate on it. BUT- it is a QL17 GIII.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

All photo's using the 1997 Nikon E3, 60/2.8 AF-Micro-Nikkor, and SB-29 Flash.

 

[fotomeow]

THanks Brian, thats an awesome visual play-by-play for how to do this. I have two of these cameras, one of which I just picked up for $4.50 at a thrift store and may need some fine-tuning. Heck, even if it doesnt need some fine-tuning, I'm still gonna take it apart!

My other QL 17 GIII seems to have some kind of an electrical short. I've been using the non-mercury batteries for years, and now the batteries all die within one week. Maybe something is causing the battery to stay on the whole time? Do you know of any common reason it might be doing this?

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

THanks Brian, thats an awesome visual play-by-play for how to do this. I have two of these cameras, one of which I just picked up for $4.50 at a thrift store and may need some fine-tuning. Heck, even if it doesnt need some fine-tuning, I'm still gonna take it apart!

My other QL 17 GIII seems to have some kind of an electrical short. I've been using the non-mercury batteries for years, and now the batteries all die within one week. Maybe something is causing the battery to stay on the whole time? Do you know of any common reason it might be doing this?

I suppose you do use a front cap? :angel:

 

[Sonnar Brian]

On the battery draining: I had this happen on one Canonet. The metal lead was held in place by two little plastic tabs that are melted to hold it in place. The nubs broke, and the positive lead shorted on the metal chassis. My solution was to use electrical tape behind the positive lead. You have to take the bottom plate off. The battery compartment might also need to come out, i need to look.

Other places that it could short, would be harder to get to. But given the design of the battery compartment, this is most likely the culprit.

and on the Canonet: with all working correctly, the battery should turn off when the camera is set to manual.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Well- I am pleased to say that this particular camera from the Parts Bin just received a new front group, Rangefinder assembly, top plate, and bottom plate.

The front group is easy to replace, a drop in.

Turns out, the rangefinder mechanism comes out with three screws. Tricky part is getting to them. The battery Check lamp has to come out of the way, cotter pin that holds the rewind shaft has to come out. Lots of wiggling and getting the frameline mask back into place. The new unit went in, and did not even need to be adjusted for infinity.

Hardest part was getting the battery lamp to turn off. At least I knew I found the short in the battery compartment! anyway: the battery test relies on electrical tape to prevent contact with the chassis. Once the tape is in place, the pushbutton on the top cover completes the circuit. Once the new seals are in place, I'll be running some film through this one.

Battery compartment was the culprit for the electrical problem. With the bottom plate off, the compartment comes off with two screws. The Negative Terminal is held in place with two little plastic "nubs" that are melted in place. They break easily, the electrode comes loose. I use a strip of felt to push back on the electrode and prevent it from shorting to the chassis. Works for me!

 

[alex.g]

please, any chance to get pictures visible again?
Thank you

 

[V_slav]

yeah, we need pics, pleease))

 

[iShoot]

Please have the photos working again. I'm sure ALL of us will appreciate it for sure.

 

[daveleo]

Please have the photos working again. I'm sure ALL of us will appreciate it for sure.

Yes, please, if that's possible.

 

[toolzinho]

PICS please!!! :/

 

[domichie]

sorry not sure if im on the right thread.
my QL17 arrived just the other day and i got it for $40. it says light meter not working and needs a little work on the seals. Yah...would you believe that im about to launch operation salvo lens? i think with some help i can get it to work on my E-PL3. So, please get the pictures working again cos I'll be working on it blindly....
:bang: