Pen EED: stuck shutter?

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I got an EED on eBay for $30...wonderful cosmetic condition, and it feels solid. But no action from the shutter. The seller had said it didn't work, but they also said they had no battery...I thought I was getting a deal.

Well. Perhaps I did. But the shutter does seem to be stuck. It seems to jerk a tiny bit every tenth try or so...I keep thinking it's going to dislodge at any second.

Presumably a CLA would take care of this, but has any of you had this problem and solved it on your own?

 

[delible]

I can't tell from the post if you have a battery in the EE-D. Without a battery, you should be able to get the flash synch speed (sounds like 1/15) by setting the aperture to a marked f-stop (i.e., take it off "A"). With a working battery installed and the EE-D set to "A", the shutter should work at all speeds in good light.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

No, no, I did install a battery, should have made that clear.

For kicks, I took the thing apart. This is a very easy camera to disassemble. The spring and arm that open and close the shutter were stuck. I repaired the problem with a drop of oil.

And then...

...and then I accidentally let another drop of oil fall onto the shutter blades. Problem unsolved. So now I'm going to get myself some lighter fluid and try cleaning the entire shutter assembly, if I can. The assembly has a lens element attached to it, so I'll have to see if I can remove that--if I can't, I'll pay for a CLA. It's interesting, the shutter and aperture are the same mechanism on this camera--a simple and elegant design, but of course, on a normal camera, it doesn't matter if your aperture blades are a little stuck--you just apply a bit more force. Here, they have to be absolutely clean and smooth, or the camera just won't work. The spring that keeps the shutter closed is incredibly tiny and weak and highly sensitive to grease and dust.

Live and learn!