Threadlocker in Camera Repair and Vibration from Air Travel
Originally posted on Instagram. Notes from the repair bench, kept here as a searchable archive. View the original on Instagram
I was going to do a post on the Mamiya 7 65mm lens that I am just finishing but instead will do this post on threadlocking adhesives and vibration
I have several styles of threadlocker here in the shop:
Three Bond 1401, low viscosity
Permatex Blue, medium strength
Permatex Green, penetrating
Permatex Purple, low strength
Notice that I don’t have any Red threadlocker (well, actually I do but it is not in the camera repair portion of my workshop). Please don’t use the Red threadlocker as it is not ideal for small screws used in cameras and lenses that are 1.2mm-2mm in size. Mostly I use Purple, low strength and not that often and not that much. I did use a tiny amount of Purple in this Mamiya 65mm lens that I am working on as all of the lens filter ring screws were a tiny bit loose. This is often caused by vibration from frequent air travel. And in fact, when I contacted the client, she said that this lens is often used in an airplane, my guess is in private aviation.
Regarding vibration: from time to time I get complaints of clients receiving their cameras back from repair with loose parts. These clients are almost always in Australia. And, sometimes the parts that are loose are ones that I did not take apart! I think what is happening is that the vibration from the long flight from Los Angeles to Australia (15 hours?) is causing these issues. And, the flight time in cargo is actually 30 hours or so if you consider the round trip.
While excessive threadlocker can cause problems for future disassembly, a tiny bit of low strength might be in order for some parts for my clients that are located many thousands of miles and many airplane hours away.
