Repaired M3 - Youxin Ye's work

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gdi

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I know several people had problems with cameras coming back from CLAs seeping oil. Mine had this problem and eventually the oil seeped onto the curtains.

I contacted Youxin about it months after the initial work and he explained that he had a problem with an oil supplier for a short period of time and he would take care of it. I shipped it back and he cleaned it, adjusted the RF, and cleaned the VF so that is it is much brighter now, he also replaced the curtains.

Youxin had it back to me in a little over a week and it seems perfect so far. I related this a few days ago in another person's thread and I just wanted to "officially" post the info, since this has been mentioned previously.
 
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Ye has done a number of Leicas for me, both the older LTM and newer M's and I can't say enough good things about his work. Unlike some famous repair people he doesn;t charge a small fortune and the camera comes back in a week or two, not months.
 
Thanks for posting this gdi.

He worked on my III about 2 years ago and it came back leaking oil everywhere. I'm glad to know he has that worked out, and he took care of you. When I get around to having the speeds adjusted on my Standard, I'll send him a line.
 
I've sent repair jobs back to SK Grimes and Focal Point, both of which are leaders in their specialties, and I may have redone a professional job or two in my career. Granted DAG would probably get it 100% the first time, but considering the price and turn-around time I think Ye is a great resource and I will probably use him in the future.
 
Youxin Ye did a CLA on my IIIf RD in November of 2007, and the work was excellent. Not oily at all. Communication, price, and turnaround time were also great.
 
I have not yet used Youxin Ye's camera repair services, but one day I am bound to face a situation where a CLA is needed. My local camera repairman once CLA'd my M3 for $125. He told me that it took him the whole day to do the work. The advantage of using a local person is the lack of shipping and delays, whereas the advantage of using someone who specializes in M CLA, is the focus on one type of cameras.
 
Youxin repaired a IIIc for me last year and transformed the camera. I just wish he'd try his hand at the more modern Leica bodies like the M6 and MP.
 
Youxin brought a IIIf RD back from the dead for me - no oil in evidence anywhere upon its quick return - but four months and many rolls later it is showing a new shutter problem. I have no hesitation to send it to him again.
 
I did send my Leica M2 and also my Leica IIIf RD ST to Youxin around 2 months ago. Both came back as if they were as New working condition, I'm really impressed with his CLA work.

I would also add that Youxin Ye is also a very knowledgeable, honest and trustworthy person.
 
benno said:
problem with an oil supplier? As in his oil supplier was coming around and dunking cameras in it? Bollocks.

He should be using grease anyway.

You get what you pay for.
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Actually, his explanation was that the oil was not sticking to the metal properly and he had to find a source. No mention of who did the dunking.

Can you suggest the best vendor for a good grease job, to ensure no oil is used?
 
gdi said:
Actually, his explanation was that the oil was not sticking to the metal properly. . .
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Eh? I an no tribologist or lubrication engineer but this sounds a bit odd. Oil sticks to metal ferociously, but if there's too much of it, it runs off. Viscosity and surface tension will affect the thickness of the film that doesn't run off, and there are siccative and non-siccative oils (from siccare, to dry), but the above puzzles me.

Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can enlighten me.

Cheers,

Roger
 
benno said:
He should be using grease anyway.
Click to expand...

I'm not defending him since he did a bad job on mine but grease is only used on certain parts while others require oil. The problem in my case is he simply used too much oil... WAY TOO MUCH OIL!!!!!!!!!!! It was dripping out of the camera....
 
I bought an M2 from Youxin from ebay that he had CLA'd. It was in wonderful shape, felt great, but had a sticking shutter on slower speeds.

I emailed him the next day, he immediately replied that he understood the problem and would fix it as soon as I sent it back. He asked to to check the camera out completely before returning and if I had ANY problems, he'd fix them. So I ran a roll of film thru - all else was great.

He's been very communicative, even AFTER I'd left positive feedback. He got it in the mail yesterday, immediately let me know he had it and promised to keep me posted. So for his character and reliability, so far he gets all A's. The sticky shutter was irksome, but he quiickly moved to resolve the issue. I just wish I had that nice M2 in my hands right now...

I'll try to remember to update y'all when it gets back. I have the audacity to remain hopeful.
 
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i have never had a cla done before on any of my cameras, until i got my leica m2 and had Youxin Ye do one. As far as i can tell the squeaky shutter release was fixed and everything works great. There was always great communication through emails about everything that was done with the camera and what not, you don't usually come upon such honesty with repair guys of any sort.

I
 
The only reason for this thread was for me to relate the fact that Youxin stood behind his work. Whether it was too much oil of a viscosity problem, I really can't say - but he made it right without putting up any fuss.

I only wish the guy who paved my driveway would stand behind his work like this!
 
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