[Frosty66]

Which oil and grease is it good to have available for camera and lens repairs?

I'd like to have them ready rather than keep having to order and wait for basic stuff every time I do anything.

Regarding oil I think it needs to ne light, any other criteria? Is there anything specific I should get for cameras or should I aim for watch repair stuff? CDoming in something that makes minute applications possible is useful.

I see green goo on the mechanical surfaces of levers etc. It looks like graphite grease that I used to use years ago is that what it is or is it something else ?

[dsmithhfx]

Which oil and grease is it good to have available for camera and lens repairs?

I'd like to have them ready rather than keep having to order and wait for basic stuff every time I do anything.

Regarding oil I think it needs to ne light, any other criteria? Is there anything specific I should get for cameras or should I aim for watch repair stuff? CDoming in something that makes minute applications possible is useful.

I see green goo on the mechanical surfaces of levers etc. It looks like graphite grease that I used to use years ago is that what it is or is it something else ?

I don't advise this, but I've used WD40 to resuscitate a jammed film advance.

[Frosty66]

I don't advise this, but I've used WD40 to resuscitate a jammed film advance.

I might use it to revive something under special circumstances although I tend to spay some into a bowl forst and onto a cotton bud.

[Ontarian50]

WD-40 can be miraculous when freeing up jammed stuff.

Trouble is, for cameras it should be cleaned all away, and proper oil substituted before putting the covers back on.

WD-40 isn't really an oil. The WD stands for "water displacement", and was intended to get moisture away from where it wasn't wanted. It used to work great on cold damp mornings sprayed on distributor wires.

Anyway, when the lighter solvents dry off, WD-40 leaves a gummy residue. Not a problem for things that are cleaned regularly, like firearms. But a disaster for cameras left sitting on a shelf.

In my experience, while camera manufacturers had lists of specific lubricants for specific mechanisms, a good quality clear "hobby" oil works well for drivetrains and shutter bushings, etc. Lighter grade "watch" oils are better left for shutter escapements.

---

Last edited by Ontarian50; 05-09-2017 at 09:02 AM.

[ChrisPlatt]

Micro-Tools is the best source for camera repair supplies.
They have quite a selection of lubricants:

https://www.micro-tools.com/search?type=product&q=lubricants

Chris

[dsmithhfx]

I might use it to revive something under special circumstances although I tend to spay some into a bowl forst and onto a cotton bud.

Yeah it would be pretty foolhardy to spray it in indiscriminately. I removed top & bottom plates, and applied it drop by drop from a pin to apparently relevant gears. Incidentally my understanding is that it is a mixture of alcohol and kerosene (parrafin to you ukers). So not the best long-term lubricant, but works in a pinch.

[K David]

I don't advise this, but I've used WD40 to resuscitate a jammed film advance.

Don't use this at all. WD40 is not a lubricant it's a water dispersant. It's also volatile and evaporates in seconds leaving the water dispersing chemicals as residue. This stuff is particularly bad for cameras.

Which oil and grease is it good to have available for camera and lens repairs?

Pentax gear shouldn't really require oiling or lube. If you have a Canon that squeaks, light sewing machine oil, no more than a drop, on the squeaky gears will work. If you use light sewing machine oil in your lenses, in any quantity, you will have oily aperture blades to clean. That's likely going to happen with any light oil in a lens due to it dissolving the heavy and existing oils and capillary action in the lens components bringing that thin mixture onto the aperture blades.

I've disassembled and repaired old large format barrel lenses as well as some older primes. When I do, I don't typically use oil or grease in their re-assembly. The movement tends to be just fine, and significantly better than before.

There is a heavier grease that can be used, a small dab at a time, on focusing helical threading, but I forget the make. You need to use a non-volatile compound to prevent lens haze from forming as the grease volatizes.

[G1DRP]

The best oil, which is what I use, is Moebius 9010.

[Frosty66]

Don't use this at all. WD40 is not a lubricant it's a water dispersant. It's also volatile and evaporates in seconds leaving the water dispersing chemicals as residue. This stuff is particularly bad for cameras.



Pentax gear shouldn't really require oiling or lube. If you have a Canon that squeaks, light sewing machine oil, no more than a drop, on the squeaky gears will work. If you use light sewing machine oil in your lenses, in any quantity, you will have oily aperture blades to clean. That's likely going to happen with any light oil in a lens due to it dissolving the heavy and existing oils and capillary action in the lens components bringing that thin mixture onto the aperture blades.

I've disassembled and repaired old large format barrel lenses as well as some older primes. When I do, I don't typically use oil or grease in their re-assembly. The movement tends to be just fine, and significantly better than before.

There is a heavier grease that can be used, a small dab at a time, on focusing helical threading, but I forget the make. You need to use a non-volatile compound to prevent lens haze from forming as the grease volatizes.

I have to say I don't go around oiling them up like a steam train :-) But occasionally it helps like on the cogs under an SP, a tiny bit of oil helped a shutter winding problem
.

[Johnny Rod]

I've not dealt much with SLRs but for leaf shutters, watch oil (like Moebius) for the clockwork pivots, white lithium grease for focus helices, rotating lens rings, and that's about it. As said WD40 is for disasters, it does degrease and lube but it is made to penetrate, and some of the components in there are quite strong solvents. If you had a basket case you could use it as long as you could wash it all off again, but to be honest if a camera was that bad you'd likely never be able to use it anyway.

[Frosty66]

So what is the grey paste on levers etc ? I was thinking it may be graphite paste but is it just something else got dirty ?

[dsmithhfx]

if a camera was that bad you'd likely never be able to use it anyway

I continued using that body (SL-35) for twenty years after. Never got a proper CLA or anything for it, just kept on using it. Thing that locked it up in the first place was a salt-water bath.

[Helios 1984]

I use Helimax-XP to re-lubricate my lenses and sewing machine oil for cameras.

[ChrisPlatt]

My daughters table fan seized up. I cleaned it but didn't have any oil, so I used WD-40. Twice.
A day after the second application the motor burned out. That morning I had picked up some oil...

Chris

[dmr]

The grease that some techies at work turned me on to is a very slippery silicone grease sold at electronic supply shops and plumbing shops. It's easy to get, but you have to know exactly which one to get. It looks like a clear vaseline type of stuff and it works quite well for camera lube stuff. A TINY spot goes a long way!