Old guy at a flea market told me to use lighter fluid on a sticky shutter...

I was fixing a Pentax K1000 last month, and the shutter was sticking bad. This older fellow at a swap meet saw me looking at parts and said, 'Just a drop of Ronsonol on the blades, son, works every time.' I tried it, and it worked for about a day before the gunk came back worse than ever. Had to do a full tear-down and proper clean with proper solvent, which took me three hours. Honestly, it set me back. Anyone else get some real bad advice that sounded good at the time?

3 comments

3 Comments

ben44725d agoTop Commenter

My uncle swore by WD-40 for everything until it ruined his garage door opener. That three hour clean-up sounds brutal.

seth21825d ago

People forget WD-40 is a solvent, not a lubricant. It washes away the grease that's actually supposed to be there. That's why things seize up after it dries out.

the_quinn17d ago

People do this with all kinds of stuff, using the wrong tool for the job because it's what's handy. It's a quick fix that usually makes the real problem worse later on. You see it way beyond just garage doors.