Mamiya 7II: Sticky Shutter Button From Spilled Liquid
Originally posted on Instagram. Notes from the repair bench, kept here as a searchable archive. View the original on Instagram
Servicing a Mamiya 7II. This camera had a sticky shutter release button and I was told that a sticky liquid was spilled on the camera. After removing the top cover I removed the shutter button assembly (seen in photo five) disassembled it and carefully cleaned all traces of dried sugar residue from the mechanism. While the top cover is removed, I do a rangefinder adjustment on the camera. The rangefinder was off slightly, perhaps not enough to make a big difference, but it is now perfectly aligned.
Removing the wind lever on this camera can be a little tricky. It is a left hand thread and the slotted wind lever retaining screw has a very thin slot (0.5mm) but is wide (7mm). Not too common to find screwdrivers with this configuration. My specially made screwdriver is shown in photo two.
I do get asked about cleaning solutions and my first response is to not use the often internet forum recommendation of lighter fluid. It is very toxic and flammable. Also, it may have ingredients that are not ideal for cleaning applications. While I have many different cleaners here in the shop, I always like to use the least aggressive cleaner possible initially. This is normally 99% Isopropyl Alcohol. If this is not strong enough next would be a liquid industrial cleaner. My favorite cleaner of all time was Freon TF but because of environmental concerns it is no longer sold.
One more interesting thing about this particular example of the Mamiya 7II: if you notice in photo six, there is a gold oval sticker on the back of the rangefinder. Mamiya started using these stickers around 1961 to put production date code information on the camera. By the time of the Mamiya RZII and the Mamiya 7, they switched to a two letter code preceding the serial number. I don’t remember ever seeing use of these sticker date codes on a Mamiya 7 and in this case, an internal part. The rangefinder was made in November 2005 and the body in December 2005.
