Re: [Leica] M6 and water world

[Walter S Delesandri <walt@jove.acs.unt.edu>]

Too many variables.  With a tight lens (they vary) and one of 
ol' Tom's $10 release buttons, you MIGHT get very little 
water in there.  (I don't REALLY mean a whole minute -- 
that's a long time)  If you REALLY got it full of water, 
I'd want to partially disassemble the camera, remove RFDR, 
body shell, film advance stack, everything down to the shutter
(body).  As for whether the camera would "work", if you dried 
it out thouroughly, it'd most assuredly "work".  Probably even 
the meter.  BUT  -- I'd be concerned about future ramifications 
more than immediate damage.  I did an M-2 years ago that had 
been dunked, and with fairly complete disassembly, drying , and 
flushing critical areas with WD-40 diluted with more kerosene,
(ALL OPTICS removed, of course)  Dried with gentle heat for 
a couple of days, cleaned RFDR, reassembled, adjusted, and the 
outcome was FAR better than I expected.  Two or three years later 
the owner said no problems, worked better than ever. (it probably 
needed service BEFORE it was dunked)

Never done an M-6, tho.  Have only disassembled one, for frameline 
problem.  'bout the quality of M4-2 i.e., it AIN't no 1965 M-3.  But 
I really want one for the meter.  Got the M4 (good) and M4-p(tolerable).

I still don't like the idea of soaking cameras, tho these fare better 
than average.  I know we all hear the stories of how the M-4 was 
dunked in the ocean, shot with a rifle, covered with nuclear waste, 
and crapped on by an elephant, to then go on and win a Pulitzer, but 
these tales grow taller by the day.  They ain't THAT good......

A little rain, no problem.  Downpour, put it under your coat.  If 
you fall in the ocean, check your insurance and then throw it as 
far as you can..........

Good shooting, Francesco and the bunch,
Walt

On
Mon,
16
Nov 1998, Francesco wrote:

> Assume my M6 fell into a freshwater stream for a minute,
> so it was completely soaked.  If I were to take off the lens,
> open the back and set it in front of a heat lamp overnight,
> would that be the proper way to dry it?  Would the meter
> be useless afterwards?
> 
> Francesco
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> At 05:09 AM 11/16/98 , Walter S Delesandri wrote:
> >Tina and Francesco:
> >
> >Hello.
> >
> >When I was learning camera repair, the old german I worked 
> >for used to clean mildew off the curtains of Leicas and Pentaxes
> >(nearly identical material)  with a large medical swab (deluxe 
> >Q-tip) SOAKED with ammonia, water, and hydrogen peroxide (to kill 
> >the fungus that produces mildew). He would clean one curtain, then 
> >the other, rotating the drums as he went.   I 'bout crapped the 
> >first time I saw this!!
> >
> >They'd dry clean and looking virtually new.  When I got my 
> >mint- M4 after many years of storage, I did the same.  No 
> >problems with curtains in the last ten years.  (a bit of "worldly"
> >wear, tho...)  In fact, after a cursory cleaning and routine 
> >maintenance, I've never thought about it again.  Check/tweek 
> >curtain tensions every few years, it keeps on going, like the 
> >bunny.....
> >
> >As Tina observed, tho, all bets are off with salt water!!
> >
> >The biggest fear about high humidity/water damage is the 
> >curtain take up springs.  If they were to deteriorate, it 
> >would be a monumental job (possibly uneconomical in the average 
> >M) to replace them.  Same with the pin that couples the 
> >supply side drums.  The only camera I ever had to send to 
> >Leitz for mechanical repair had this problem.  I didn't have 
> >the nerve!! some might.....
> >
> >Pretty damn good cameras, in spite of some funky design 
> >points!!
> >
> >Walt
> > 
>