Slow Speeds on a Compound Shutter

[sheldon hambrick]

Hello All.

I just picked up a very clean Turner Reich triple convertible in a Compound shut ter. The shutter was firing only at the fastest speed, so I took the face of th e shutter off to discover that the lever arm, and the pneumatic air retard pisto n, that governs the speeds, was stuck. I applied some pressure and it freed up. I then removed the cylinder and piston, cleaned and replaced them.

The shutter is working again, but the slow speeds are SLOW - too slow. The pisto n is moving freely in the cylinder, so what should I look at? Should I put a TIN Y bit of very light oil on the piston, or that I big NO-NO? Or would I be bette r off lightly oiling the joints/pivot points on the piston-lever-governor arm?

Thanks in advance. Sheldon

[Tony Brent]

I dont think I would oil the piston/cylinder. It would likely get sticky in short order. Look for some dry moly-disulfide powder from Nye Lubricants Inc. New Bedford MA 02742. Burnish it onto the sliding surfaces with a Q-Tip until they take on a shiny appearance.

There may be some corrosion down indside that needs to be worked on, but you dont want to use sandpaper that might increase the clearance and louse it up more.

Toothpaste is a gentle abrasive that might polish things up before you use the moly.

See if Bob Salomon has any thoughts.

[Pete Andrews]

Sounds like corrosion has got to the pneumatic cylinder. Check that dirt or corrosion hasn't blocked the tiny bleed hole that actually regulates the air flow for the slow speeds. DO NOT use any oil anywhere on a shutter.