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[OM] Spanner Wrench

Subject: [OM] Spanner Wrench
From: "Olaf Greve" <ogreve@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 07:33:58 PDT
Cc: kyu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, j.korten@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Volkhart, Jaap, and Oly list,

Yo y'all, thanks for all the tips I have received on and off the list concerning my question as to spanner wrenches. As I now know what the German word for them is I hope that I'll be able to find one locally.

Good!
At least the question you asked got answered then...:)

Olafo: I know about the problems with dust etc., but I just can't see myself spending $50 - 100 on a CLA for a lens that cost me < $10 and in perfect used condition goes for around $50 - 70 or less.

That is understandable, and I have no idea of what a cleaning job by a professional might cost (although I remember the quotes I got at the time from some people when I informed about the 300/4.5 were quite high).

I did clean a Tokina RMC 1:4.5/75-260 a while ago which I was able to open with my existing tools.

[...]

I easily removed the grease from the element with some Hama lens cleaning fluid and optical paper. I also cleaned the other elements I had taken out, then used a soft cloth with lens cleaning fluid to wipe as much dust out of the lens barrel as possible, and put the whole thing back together. Certainly, it's not a perfect job - there's some dust left inside the lens. But it's less than before, and the lubricant is gone from the element. So, as this went rather well, I suppose I can take the risk with those other lenses that cost me very little

O.k., I see you already have some experience in cleaning lenses than (and fortunately your experiences weren't as bad as mine)... In that case you'll probably be very interested to read the following bit of advice that Jaap mailed me yesterday (in Dutch, he asked me if I could translate it).:

According to Jaap, it's far better to not use a spanner wrench but rather a piece of rubber. Apparently it's rather easy for the spanner wrench to shoot out of the holes and leave a nasty deep scratch on the front element of the lens. Jaap wrote that a lot of lens repair men use a different strategy: they look for a rubber inner tube of a car, clean the rubber very thoroughly, mark a circle of the size of the front element of the lens to be cleaned on it, cut that out, and then either with a lens cap that is slightly smaller than the filter ring, or with a circular piece of wood (again, slightly smaller than the filter ring) screw out the ring that holds the front element in place. This way, the rubber is between the element and the cap or piece of wood, so nothing will shoot out over the lens. Not only is this then a safer approach, but also it will be much cheaper/easier than finding a spanner wrench.

Another bit of advice Jaap gave is for keeping the dust out. He wrote that the main reason why additional dust gets in, is that as soon as you start rubbing an element (to clean it), it becomes statically charged, and will effectively become a dust magnet. It's best to use some static charging prevention measures, such as a grounded mat with a wrist band attached to it (as is used as an ESD (Electro Static Discharge) prevention measurement when working on integrated circuits). This may be harder and/or more expensive to find (inquire at your local electronics shop), but it may help significantly to keep the dust out... Personally I'm not 100ertain if this will ground the glass sufficiently to prevent it from getting charged, but it might very well be the case...

Either way, I hope these additional tips are of use to you, and if you're uncertain about how to go about any of these things, I guess John Hermanson and/or Jaap will be more than willing to give you advice...

Good luck!
Olafo

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