[niceshot]

Oh, I've worked with enough small mechanical parts and electronics to know how bad WD-40 is for "lubrication" - that will gum things up in no time! Some things it dissolves, nah. It's good for, well, water dispersing but inside a camera? No no no no nope.


I hope just cleaning things with mild solvent (rubbing alcohol, lighter fluid) and then a few very small drops of light machine oil (sewing machine was recommended, that's probably good) will do the trick. If it seems things need more actual adjustment than that, I'll probably send 'er off for a professional CLA. Or buy a non-working body to experiment and learn on.

i think you have dis attached your shutter,sorry to say that

[AsahiRaccoon]

No WD-40, IT will cause the shutters to dis attach themselves. There is 2 shutter adjustments at the bottom of the camera, the one closest to the mount is the closing shutter adjustment. Maybe if you tighten it a 1/4 of a turn it will solve your problem . Do It @ your own risk. no more than half a turn.

Thank you for pointing that out! I had always suspected the use of that two "gears", you just solved my puzzle.

[vandergus]

Thank you for pointing that out! I had always suspected the use of that two "gears", you just solved my puzzle.

Yeah, those two gears set the tension in the springs that pull the curtains across the frame. I wouldn't recommend adjusting them for this issue, though. Increasing the tension will change the travel time of the curtain, which will lead to uneven and/or inaccurate exposures. The solution is cleaning and lubrication. Of course identifying and accessing the mechanism in need is the tricky part.

[niceshot]

Yeah, those two gears set the tension in the springs that pull the curtains across the frame. I wouldn't recommend adjusting them for this issue, though. Increasing the tension will change the travel time of the curtain, which will lead to uneven and/or inaccurate exposures. The solution is cleaning and lubrication. Of course identifying and accessing the mechanism in need is the tricky part.

you can adjust them lightly no more that half a turn, but do both of them. And yes lighty lubricating can help .No oil on any latching parts or the mirror for that matter. OH spring do get tired but be cautious with the adjusting. Better is a complete CLA

[madsox]

Following up on this thread, I've got the MX cleaned up and very lightly lubed with sewing machine oil, thanks to recommendations and links from many folks here - thank you!! Now to go put a couple of rolls through it and see how the exposure is.

Then on to my next repair, the foam around the mirror box. With the camera opened up and while I was testing and watching the shutter and mirror return, I noticed that the foam in there is getting slightly dry and ready to crumble. So I'm going to have to source some replacement for that and learn how to really disassemble the camera. I will go search around here, and start a new thread on that if I can't find one existing.

Now, if I find any broken springs, etc., I may call on a professional for a real CLA/repair. This is fun learning about all the internals, though.

[vandergus]

Following up on this thread, I've got the MX cleaned up and very lightly lubed with sewing machine oil, thanks to recommendations and links from many folks here - thank you!! Now to go put a couple of rolls through it and see how the exposure is.

Then on to my next repair, the foam around the mirror box. With the camera opened up and while I was testing and watching the shutter and mirror return, I noticed that the foam in there is getting slightly dry and ready to crumble. So I'm going to have to source some replacement for that and learn how to really disassemble the camera. I will go search around here, and start a new thread on that if I can't find one existing.

Now, if I find any broken springs, etc., I may call on a professional for a real CLA/repair. This is fun learning about all the internals, though.

Glad to hear it! The MX is a pretty good camera to learn on, in my opinion, and replacing all the internal seals is definitely a worthwhile service. Here are a couple resources I found really helpful when repairing my MX.

For general disassembly, I like this guide.
https://learncamerarepair.com/product.php?product=1364&category=0&secondary=0

This K1000 guide goes into a lot of depth about how all of the mechanisms of the camera operate. The MX shares enough with the K1000 that it's useful.
https://learncamerarepair.com/product.php?product=636&category=0&secondary=0

There's also an MX service manual on the site.

[builttospill]

Then on to my next repair, the foam around the mirror box. With the camera opened up and while I was testing and watching the shutter and mirror return, I noticed that the foam in there is getting slightly dry and ready to crumble. So I'm going to have to source some replacement for that and learn how to really disassemble the camera. I will go search around here, and start a new thread on that if I can't find one existing.

You shouldn't have to disassemble the camera to replace the mirror bumper foam. If the foam is bad in the front, it probably needs replacing by the film back too. I buy replacement seals from Jon Goodman at jgood21967@aol.com. The seal kit comes with detailed instructions and pictures. I've used his seals for my Nikon F2 bodies, F3, and F4, my Minolta XD-11, as well as my K2 DMD bodies, MX, and K1000s.

[madsox]

You shouldn't have to disassemble the camera to replace the mirror bumper foam. If the foam is bad in the front, it probably needs replacing by the film back too. I buy replacement seals from Jon Goodman at jgood21967@aol.com. The seal kit comes with detailed instructions and pictures. I've used his seals for my Nikon F2 bodies, F3, and F4, my Minolta XD-11, as well as my K2 DMD bodies, MX, and K1000s.

Oh, that's great! Thank you, I'll check that out right away.

8-)

[-Linus-]

Had the same issue with my ME Super
-> Sticky mirror damper and lightseals!
I bought a replacment set here in Germany, changed them.
The ME is working fine for years now.

-Linus-