cleaning a packard shutter

[Allen in Montreal]

I bought a Packard shutter on Flea Bay, it sticks every once and a while. Has anyone disassembled and cleaned one of these?

It must be pretty straightforward, but any tips before I take it apart would be greatly appreciated.

[resummerfield]

Its been a few years since I opened one, but it was pretty simple. I think there were 4 screws on the outside to remove, and then lift off the cover. The shutter blades are connected as one unit, and can be removed as a unit (I would not try to disconnect them).

Check this thread (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=21545&highlight=packard) by Doug Kerr

[Allen in Montreal]

Thank you sir,
The clean up will be my project this evening. :)

[Brian Bullen]

A little graphite on the piston goes a long way. But just a little. Mine was sticking open every now and then but after cleaning and graphite it hasn't stuck since.

[Gary L. Quay]

I sent mine to Reno Farinelli at Packard Shutter, and he made my 50 year old shutter work like a dream for $65.00. No, he didn't pay me to say that. It was worth the money.

--Gary

[goamules]

I would not pay someone to do what you can do youself. Sorry, but I'm an old-school American...

Jim Galli has an article about them, the best part being, "...The smoother and slicker stuff is inside, the better it will run when re-assembled. Clean, wax and buff..."

http://tonopahpictures.0catch.com/Article_About_Packard_Shutters.html

[Scott --]

Agreed. They're easy to work on. If you get stuck and need a picture of a working one, lemme know.

[Allen in Montreal]

Thank you Gents,

I cleaned the shutter up, it was a filthy mess in side, and it works like a charm if I help it along with my finger! :mad:
Otherwise, it is not better off after the cleaning than before, I can't help but wonder if I have looked at this too long and am no longer seeing the obvious?

[Tracy Storer]

How about:
leak in bulb
leak in hose
undersized hose or bulb
not squeezing hard / fast enough
I have found that they sometimes Packards that don't run well laying down are fine held vertically. (like you would probably use it)

I was advised years (yikes, maybe decades) ago that they run best "clean and dry". Happy to help more if I can.

[Scott --]

Allen, I don't know whether yours is a single- or dual-piston model. Mine's a dual. Here's the inside (ignore all that rust-colored stuff...):
http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd359/smpsweeps/IMG_5180.jpg

When I got it, the shutter was essentially stuck open. Turns out the latch pin (in Doug's vernacular (http://doug.kerr.home.att.net/pumpkin/Packard_Shutter.pdf)) was, well, disengaged. It fits into a groove in the shutter blade, but the blade has to slide between the link (again, Doug's word) and the lever. Here's what it looks like apart:
http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd359/smpsweeps/IMG_5182.jpg

And here's what it should look like, properly seated:
http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd359/smpsweeps/IMG_5181.jpg

Also, the psiton pin has to be fully seated through the piston or it'll bind. This is how it should not look:
http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd359/smpsweeps/IMG_5184.jpg

Hope this is helpful. If you need pictures of anything else disassembled, lemme know.
Scott

[Allen in Montreal]

Thank you very much Scott and everyone for your thoughts.
I have taken a quick (and not very good) pix to post, at this point I wonder if it comes down to a limp spring??


http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/7185/8554xjm4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/1086/8548xfg0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[EuGene Smith]

Allen, that spring, which you see lying limp on the right end of the silver lever in both pictures is not under any tension when the shutter is in BULB operation . . . as it is in your two pictures. When you squeeze the bulb the air pressure pushes the piston out to open the shutter. Then when you release the bulb (with your thumb over the vent hole), the negative air pressure draws the piston back into the cylinder (i.e., it sucks the piston into the cylinder) to close the shutter.

Look at the left end of the silver lever in your first picture, and you will see the INSTANT mode pin hole . . . since the operation shown in the pictures is in BULB mode, the lever will travel forward and cover up the hole as you can see in the second picture.

In INSTANT operation, the pin through the hole will stop the straight forward movement of the silver lever, pushes it to the left as the shutter opens, and puts tension on the spring. When the shutter blades reach the full open position, they slip off the end of the silver lever (and free from the operation of the piston), then the tension on the spring closes the shutter blades.

While you have the shutter closed, as in the first picture, put the pin in the hole and then watch the operation of the shutter, noting the movement of the silver lever and spring.

EuGene