Ray & Aaron QL17 Lightseal change

[Greg McCary]

And anyone else with a QL17

Last time out with my QL17 I noticed some light leaks on the prints. I changed seals this morning, a long over due job. You can order the kit on e-bay for about $10.00 but it also includes a new battery. I ordered two kits but there was enough material for two changes. It also includes a nice set of instructions. It took about an hour, but that was mostly cleaning off the old gunky seals. I used carburator cleaner and lighter fluid for the cleaning. I bought two set of seals because I hope to be getting another QL17 before to much longer.
Greg

[Xia_Ke]

Thanks Greg Already half way there. I bought a seal kit from John Goodman on Ebay a few weeks ago. Comes with plenty of seals to do a few cameras and also had full directions for changing seals on Canonets as well as my Nikkormat EL. I have to admit I've been a little lazy though I haven't finished the job yet as I need some more solvent to take out the last bit of glue. Would nail polish remover be okay to use?

[Greg McCary]

Thanks Greg Already half way there. I bought a seal kit from John Goodman on Ebay a few weeks ago. Comes with plenty of seals to do a few cameras and also had full directions for changing seals on Canonets as well as my Nikkormat EL. I have to admit I've been a little lazy though I haven't finished the job yet as I need some more solvent to take out the last bit of glue. Would nail polish remover be okay to use?

I don't think the nail polish would hurt it. The instructions that came with mine said to use alcohol. But I didn't have any. I have fixed stuck shutters with lighter fluid. So I knew it wouldn't hurt anything. I was a bit lazy to. I have had the seals for awhile. I even forgot I had the batteries. Good luck. It's not hard, just messy.
Greg

[Xia_Ke]

The directions with mine said to use lighter fluid to take the gunk off. I'll give the nail polish remover a shot tonight. I agree, it is a very easy process. I did all the seals and mirror pads on my Nikkormat with no problems at all. I'll have to get motivated on the Canonet tonight and finish the job so I can play on my days off Looking forward to some more shots Greg ;)

Aaron

[Greg McCary]

The directions with mine said to use lighter fluid to take the gunk off. I'll give the nail polish remover a shot tonight. I agree, it is a very easy process. I did all the seals and mirror pads on my Nikkormat with no problems at all. I'll have to get motivated on the Canonet tonight and finish the job so I can play on my days off Looking forward to some more shots Greg ;)

Aaron

Does the battery here look like the one you ordered? I replaced mine from the Walgreens battery but the meter is still looks to be off a stop.

[Xia_Ke]

Yeah, those are the exact same batteries I got from vintagebatteries.com. Haven't had a chance to test the meter yet so not sure of the accuracy but, Ray says these put the meter on the money so you should be all set.

[photophorous]

Hey Guys,

I did the light seal change on my QL-17 also....got the kit from John Goodman and it worked great. I think I used rubbing alcohol to remove the old seals.

For the battery, I just use a Zinc Air hearing aid battery, # 675. You can buy a pack of 7 for about $5 at CVS and it does exactly the same thing as that Wein Cell. I compared them and the meter readings were identical. The size is different, but it fits fine in my Canonet. Give it a try...it's much cheaper, and you can even remove the outer ring from the Wein Cell and fit it over the 675 to make it fit "right" if you need to.

Paul

[mtbbrian]

Interesting stuff!
Who is the John Goodman you are refering to?
Brian

[Xia_Ke]

Oops, just double checked it's Jon not John. He does really nice seal kits on Ebay. You won't find a single negative comment about him anywhere. Super helpful and friendly. Here's his webpage with directions on changing seals on different cameras and here's his Ebay items list for his seal kits. Highly recommended to deal with :thumbsup:

Aaron

[schrackman]

Yeah, those are the exact same batteries I got from vintagebatteries.com. Haven't had a chance to test the meter yet so not sure of the accuracy but, Ray says these put the meter on the money so you should be all set.

I just installed the new wein cell battery on Friday and took a bunch of shots that night and Saturday. Won't know the results until I get the film developed this week but I don't anticipate any problems.

From what I understand, negative film is very forgiving one or two stops either way because it affords such lattitude. So it may not really make much of a difference which battery one uses, but I just like to be on the safe side.

BTW, can't wait to see pics from the QL17!

[Xia_Ke]

...BTW, can't wait to see pics from the QL17!

You and me both. I have some Velvia 50 on the way, that should be here Tuesday, that I think will get first honors. Still no scanner though so not sure how I will be able to post results

Aaron

[schrackman]

Your lab, or Walmart, should offer scanning services. Costs a little bit extra, but at least you'll have them on CD.

[another view]

I think both nail polish remover and lighter fluid are naptha based solvents but I'm just going from memory... IOW they're pretty similar in this respect. Just be careful with the rags or whatever you use that get soaked in it - spread them out outside so they can dry out before throwing them out. Leaving them in a pile inside can cause a fire...

Neg film is pretty tolerant of exposure; especially overexposure - but light leaks will cause uneven exposure. If you think the camera leaks light, you could cover the openings with gaffer's tape (find it at a good photo store, it's like duct tape that doesn't leave a residue). Since that tape is so thick, it'll show you if the door is the problem or not.

[Xia_Ke]

Your lab, or Walmart, should offer scanning services. Costs a little bit extra, but at least you'll have them on CD.

Unfortunately no local lab to do E-6, only C-41. I planned on getting some Fujifilm mailers to send them out for development. I looked at some places that would process and scan but the prices are ridiculous for scanning. The cost of scanning 4 rolls would buy me a scanner...LOL Maybe if I just describe the good ones real well and you guys close your eyes, you'll be able to see them for your self in your mind's eye Anybody know of a good "jimmy rig" so that I could try and shoot some slides with my cam?

Aaron

Sorry for hijacking you Greg

[schrackman]

Okay then, bite the bullet and invest $100 into this: http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/st...&cmArea=SEARCH

I have a three to four year old 3170 from which I scan negs and positives. I'm sure the scanner above will probably do a much better job than what I'm using.

[Xia_Ke]

Okay then, bite the bullet and invest $100 into this: http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/st...&cmArea=SEARCH...

Oh why must you tempt me so...LOL That is sweet! Can't beat the price and, after some searching, has gotten great reviews! You're right, I just need to suck it up and bite the bullet

Aaron

[Greg McCary]

Wal-Mart will scan slides but the quality isn't the best. I can hold a slide up to the light and the quality is unreal. There is no way a digital camera can touch the quality IMO. But getting a good scan is almost impossible. If I could get a nice scan for a good price I would shot E6 all the time. Walgreens would send off my E6 and develope it for $6.00 for a roll of 36. I stayed frustrated when I shot it.

[Xia_Ke]

Never shot slides before. Actually my only experience with slides is every child's nightmare... the dreaded family slide show...LOL I think I'm going to have to give that V200 a shot. There was a glowing review of it on Amazon by someone who bought it for scanning slides. For an extra $50, the V350 looks pretty nice too with the addition of an auto feed film loader.

[Xia_Ke]

Well, just finished replacing the seals on mine. Boy was the Canonet a pain in the arse compared to the Nikkormat! Greg, how did you fair on replacing the latch end seal? Dam thing kept twisting on me. Took 3 tries to get it to set properly :mad2: Just dropped in a roll of TMAX 100. Hope the seal job came out okay

[freygr]

The directions with mine said to use lighter fluid to take the gunk off. I'll give the nail polish remover a shot tonight. I agree, it is a very easy process. I did all the seals and mirror pads on my Nikkormat with no problems at all. I'll have to get motivated on the Canonet tonight and finish the job so I can play on my days off Looking forward to some more shots Greg ;)

Aaron

Warning: Nail polish remover is ACETONE! Keep it away from Plastics.

[Xia_Ke]

Too late now I only used a tad, on a paper towel, to take out the remaining bit of gunk in the corners of the door. Seemed to work fine. Guess I'll avoid using it in the future though

[another view]

Warning: Nail polish remover is ACETONE! Keep it away from Plastics.

Oops - yeah, you're right, it is acetone which is a pretty powerful solvent. It can bother some people's skin but I've been lucky with that. Works fine on fiberglass but there's a pretty good chance of having a problem with most plastics. General rule for working with stuff like this is to try the weakest solvent first, and if that doesn't work go up to something a little more powerful - and so on. Acetone would be a ways up that list, higher than lighter fluid.

Greg, you're right about the quality of slides. Something about a blue sky on slide film that just doesn't seem to work so well on digital... I have an old Acer (or Benq) 2720S film scanner and it's not bad. They usually sell for well under $100 on ebay but you will need to add a SCSI card to your computer (in a PCI slot). The scanner originally came with one but if you find one without you might have a hard time finding one, and it could be fairly expensive. There is a Windows XP driver for this scanner. I've been happy with the 8x10's from it, but it did take a lot of practice to get there.

[Greg McCary]

Aaron lucky me the latch seal just fell into place. Steve I once had a scanner and it was hit or miss. Looking at the rich colors on the slide only left me disappointed with the scans. I may check into it again though. I would really like to shot it again.
Greg

[mtbbrian]

Gary,
Did you take any pics of this process?
I'd love to see it, or anything related to this process.
Maybe you could post a pic of what these seals look like.
I am not familiar at all with this camera so I am just curious about it.
Thanks!
Brian

[Xia_Ke]

Brian, here's a link with full directions for the Canonet. If you're going to do it the full disassembly way, just make sure you put ALL the pieces back together when you're done. Got through half the roll of TMAX when I realized I had forgotten to put the film pressure plate back on :mad2: Guess I know which roll I wll try developing first