Ilex #5 Synchro shutter stalling on 1s and 1/2s

[Louis Pacilla]

Hi Dirk

NO. Not Alcohol. It's not going to work. It won't break down the old grease or lube down. Alcohol will simply make things wet for a second.

You need a solvent that will break the old lube down.This is the reason (most of time) for the timer gear's not running properly This lube gets gunked up over time. when you use a chemical like Naphtha(lighter fluid) it kind of re-lubes the gears when you apply in small quantities.
Look closely, study the whole shutter works. Make sure you apply to the timer gearing as well as a little on the shutter release area. This will break the little chunk's of the lube down & then allows the timer gearing & all other lubed parts to run smoothly. Works about 80% of the time. From the sounds of it. your #5 will run fine after this procedure.

You may beable to have a friend from the states send you a couple of bottles . I imagine if they pack it right & kind of forget to mention what is in the package. It would arrive safely

I believe all playing w/ older camera gear CAN NOT DO WITH OUT. I would never live anywhere I could not get lighter fluid. That's how much I use the stuff .

BTW -if the lens has great value $$$ you know like a 16 1/2 " dagor. That kind of value. You may want to send out to Carol or any other good repair person. I can't imagine you'll have trouble finding a repair man/woman in Japan.
On the other hand, if it's a lens you received good deal on this shutter/lens. You may want to give self repair a try. Like I said , I have returned many a poorly running shutter's back to running well.
Also if you test the shutter times after wards, do not be surprised if the high speeds are not quit as fast as a 50th of a second. Most are around 35ths a second & all times are a bit different than listed. I have sent #5 Ilex shutters to Carol & SK Grimes. all have been sent back w/ the times a little off (very close though). I have the time test to prove this. So don't be discouraged if after you fix it not dead nuts. Just the nature of the Ilex acme #5 . If you need spot on get a
Only a problem is w/ E6 or digital.because of the tight exposure latitude. All you have to do is compensate for the differing times of the shutter.

Peace
Louis

[Matt Miller]

My preference is to flood-clean saturating everything and operating the mechanism multiple times, then allow the shutter to dry out.

This is how I've done it too. I've successfully cleaned two Ilex shutters this way, with Naptha, and they're running beautifully now.

[Glenn Thoreson]

You can get Naptha at the paint store. You don't need much. It's easier to just flood the whole thing but it depends on what the aperture blades are made of. Many shutters, at one time or another, used composite materials for the aperture blades. For the shutter blades, too, sometimes. If you have any composite materials in the shutter, flooding it can ruin them. In any event, be sure the lens cells are removed before you do anything. Never lube an Ilex shutter, either. They were made to run dry. If you lube them, it can make them very inconsistent.

[Dirk Rösler]

Hi all, thanks for all the advice. Well, call me feeble but I have just put everything back together and will have it done properly at the next opportunity. Better sell something unneeded and finance a proper repair. The lens is a Kodak Portrait 305 and definitely not something I want to ruin. I did the hairdryer and even after a night in a cool room the two settings now run through, not smooth but they run. But it is obvious that attention is needed. I will speak to my repair person "Mr Copal" about it, he is the best in Japan, but not inexpensive...