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Got stuck for a week on a shutter curtain that looked fine
Had a Nikon FM2 on the bench last month with a shutter that would fire but not expose. Everything looked clean and the curtains moved. I spent days checking the slow speed escapement and mirror timing. The real issue was a tiny, almost invisible, bit of old foam sealant stuck in the second curtain's track. It only caught at the very end of the travel. Took a full 7 days to spot it with a loupe. Has anyone else lost that much time to a speck of gunk?
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lewis.mila2mo ago
Wait, isn't the FM2 a vertical travel titanium shutter? I thought those curtains ran in channels, not a track with a foam seal. Could it have been a different model, or maybe some weird repair hack from a past owner? That's a brutal week over a tiny speck. What did you use to finally get it out?
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xena_bailey182mo ago
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mianelson1mo ago
Chances are @xena_bailey18 is onto something with the channel edges. I had a similar issue with a Hunter Douglas Silhouette a few years back, and it turned out to be a tiny bit of old adhesive from a previous repair that had softened in the heat. A cotton swab with a little rubbing alcohol did the trick to dissolve it without damaging the fabric. Just be careful not to soak the channel or you might mess with the string alignment. For a vertical shutter like the FM2, I would check the bottom rail pockets too, sometimes debris settles there and works its way up. Might save you tearing the whole thing down next time.
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