[mrNewt]

A lot of times depends on the quality of the rubber piece and how well was taken care during its life span.
If a rubber gets hardened, there isn't much to bring it back to life and its original condition...

To just clean the dirt from it, q-tips and a solution 50% alcohol and 50% distilled water, does the trick for me.

[Lloydy]

I also wonder id the acidity of sweaty hands can affect the rubber grips ? But that wouldn't explain why one of the two lenses I got from the same guy was perfect, maybe he did use one more than the other?
Of all the lenses I've got or had, old Tamrons have been the only lenses that I've had bad rubber grips on. But that does mean I get them cheap and just use some vintage leather for the grip
[IMG]
Tamron 70-210 / 3.8 par David Lloyd, on ipernity[/IMG]

That Tamron was completely unmarked and optically spotless but the rubbers had turned to dust. I paid £2 for it .

[stevebrot]

but can also be a result of electric charges in the air from things like welding and high voltage power lines.

...and for those of us who live in major metropolitan areas, air pollution is a major source of ozone.


Steve

[pete-tarmigan]

For lens grips or tires? .... Mineral oil contains paraffin, so for older rubber I suggest rubbing mineral oil into the rubber and wiping off any excess.

Thanks. I was thinking of lens grips and rubber armouring on my Zeiss Oberkochen binoculars. I had heard a rumour that ArmorAll was bad for the rubber and vinyl parts on and in cars, but nobody could give me the specifics. Of course, that was in the days before search engines, in fact back in the days of punch cards.

[stevebrot]

Does anyone know if there is a place online, besides ebay, in which to purchase a replacement rubber for my zoom ring on my Pentax-m 28-50mm lens. Seller did not mention that this lens was missing the rubber on it - bought it used.

I don't have a suggestion except that you might get more traction with your question if you start a new thread. Doing so will usually bring a crowd of eager experts to your side with a wealth of advice.


Steve

[monochrome]

old Tamrons have been the only lenses that I've had bad rubber grips on

Yes, me too.

[Lloydy]

No gentleman ventures into the country without a pair of Hunter wellies on his feet, and to protect and condition the wellies there is this, the rubber boot buffer.

Rain Boots | Men, Women & Kids Boots | Hunter Boots

I looked at the label and it's nearly all paraffin.

[ivanvernon]

For lens grips or tires? In both cases you need to clean the rubber first, and then apply a suitable lubricant to the rubber. You don't want to seal the rubber (so it shouldn't be shiny or glossy), just keep it from cracking and tearing when it is distorted. Damage from ozone or solvents can only be prevented by changing the chemistry of the rubber, so there is no way to fix it after the fact. Hand dishwashing soap and water for cleaning works well as long as you rinse it off afterwards, otherwise spray cleaners like Spray Nine if you just want to wipe off the dirt without rinsing. For tires, the foaming aerosol tire cleaners work well, as long as you wipe off the tires shortly after spraying them down. Most of them leave a brown oily film if you let the tires air dry. For trade shows, I was always working with new tires, so once they were clean I didn't have to do anything else. Mineral oil contains paraffin, so for older rubber I suggest rubbing mineral oil into the rubber and wiping off any excess. Mineral oil is used in many skin care products and should be available by itself from drugstores, although probably not in the quantity needed for a set of tires. For really bad cracking, you could brush on liquid rubber, which might be available in hardware stores, it does a great job on the sidewalls of old, worn out tires that are being retreaded. However, short of vulcanizing new rubber to old rubber, you can't replace missing pieces of rubber. Probably more than you ever wanted to know about restoring damaged rubber?

It is not easily possible to know which specific elastomer (rubber) compound has been used on specific lenses or elsewhere on photographic equipment. Often what appears to be natural rubber is an entirely different elastomer. This fact complicates any care instructions as there are a wide variety of elastomer compounds with differing characteristics. Natural rubber, for example, is highly susceptible to damage from any kind of oil, grease, or oil-containing cleaning compound. Accordingly, it is best to avoid using any kind of cleaner or preservative that you know or suspect may contain oil or grease of ANY kind. Some compounds, such as EPDM, are highly resistant to sunlight/ozone damage, while others, such as nitrile, are resistant to damage from oil or grease, but you have no cost-effective way of determining whether the elastomer you are dealing with possesses specific characteristics.

What is safe for any elastomer? Safest is warm water or perhaps warm water with a very mild soap or detergent solution, nothing strong or harsh. I would avoid any cleaning compound containing chlorox, alcohol, ammonia, or other strong chemicals.

[fb_penpho]

This tape may have other names in other countries. But I have used this on an old lens, works well. The tape is rubber with a plastic backing, you peel the backing off and when rubber contacts rubber, over a few hours they mould together.