My Attempt at Replacing Light Seals on GIII QL17

[dperez]

Hey guys thought I would share some pics from my recent attempt to replace the light seals on my newly acquired GIII QL17.


Below is an outline of how it went down:





I cut out a thin (.02" thick) piece of cardboard and cut it to fit above the lens opening to prevent loose material from ending up on the glass.

 

[dperez]

Part 2

Part 2

Using a razor blade, I scraped away the old light seal and as much of the adhesive residue as possible.









After I removed as much of the unwanted material as possible, I applied a solvent called Goof Off (which I'm sure is a great name for all those kids sniffing glue). I used a small amount of the solvent applied with Qtips to loosen the remaining adhesive.

 

[dperez]

Part 3

Part 3

After all the old adhesive and light seal material was removed. I went back over the same area with distilled water applied with a Qtip in order to make sure that any remaining solvent would be removed. I then used a can of compressed air to accelerate the evaporation of wet surfaces on the back cover.





I went to my local hardware store and picked up some high density foam tape which came in a 1/8"x1/4"x17" roll. The material is a bit thicker than what's needed. I measured the previous material at somewhere around .05"-.08" thick, so it's quite a difference, but this weatherstrip appears softer than the more commonly used material.

 

[dperez]

Part 4

Part 4

I cut the weatherstrip material a little longer than needed and applied it to the inside of the back cover. I used the rounded end of a pair of tweezers to squeeze the strip in order to ensure that the adhesive surface made contact with the back cover.





Overall, I am not actually impressed with the material I used and feel that I might end up replacing it soon as it's a bit too thick, which doesn't cause a problem closing the back cover, but rather it is more difficult to cut the material precisely.

However, I was pretty satisfied with my attempt at cleaning the old material off from the back of the camera and the inside of the cover. I will run as many rolls as I can through this until it needs to be replaced at which point I'll use a more applicable material for the replacement light seal.

Ready to go outside!

 

[gb hill]

Nice job, but next time get this. It's the best. Even has detailed instructions for the QL-17
http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Finest-Comp...ryZ30038QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[dperez]

Nice job, but next time get this. It's the best. Even has detailed instructions for the QL-17
http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Finest-Comp...ryZ30038QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks for the tip. I will most likely end up needing that stuff. Somewhat fun to mess with first though I must admit.

 

[Bill58]

Did you take the door off and replace the notched foam strip on the body where the door hinge is, and the other end of door?

See: http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/sealreplacement.html (Canon Canonet G-III Updated)

 

[dperez]

Did you take the door off and replace the notched foam strip on the body where the door hinge is, and the other end of door?

No being that this is essentially my first attempt at replacing light seals on a camera I didn't want to do anything that might cause a problem later. But I realize that I will need to address that area of the camera as well and I appreciate you pointing it out.

I'll post an update as I have purchased the more appropriate light seal material mentioned in an earlier post to this thread by gb hill.

 

[dmr]

Nice job, but next time get this. It's the best. Even has detailed instructions for the QL-17

That's Jon Goodman's kit. (AKA Interslice.) That's the one I used.

He makes custom kits for some models, like the GIII and the larger "Odyssey" kits too. I highly recommend them. 🙂

 

[fbf]

Jon Goodman is the best. Highly recommeded.