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Shutter squeak on a Canon AE-1 turned out to be grease, not wear
Brought in an AE-1 last Tuesday that sounded like a mouse every shot, thought the curtain was dragging or the gears were gone. Opened the base plate and found old lubricant turned to tar on the wind mechanism, cleaned it with naptha and re-greased with a drop of lithium. Anyone else run into this where a tiny bit of glue-like gunk mimics a major failure?
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drewr151mo ago
The squeak is the easy part to find. What nobody talks about is what that old grease does to the plastic gears inside the winding mechanism on these. If that tar sits too long it can actually crack the little nylon teeth, not just make noise. Those parts are getting impossible to find, so you are basically looking at a shelf queen or a parts camera. Caught mine early enough that a soak in naptha saved the gear. Waiting on a squeak is a gamble because by the time you hear it, the damage is already done to the plastic, not just the metal. Most folks only check the curtain and miss the real time bomb.
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