Blown cable release

[eyesage]

Anyone know any tricks to salvage a blown out cable release?


Back in the day I wouldn't have thought twice about just replacing it but these aren't as easy to come across as they once were.

-Joe

 

[Sirius Glass]

Sorry, not me.

 

[Tom1956]

For the most part I've never seen a cable release that wasn't a piece of junk.

 

[AgX]

Why not buy a brand new one?

Listing:
http://www.drahtauslöser.com/ESITE/

technical Features:
http://www.gebr-schreck.com/ESITE/P7.html

 

[bdial]

Assuming the inner part is still working well;
Get some heat shrink tubing from Radio Shack or the electrical supply section of a hardware store or home center. You will want something just big enough to slip over the small end. Trim back the frayed portion of the fabric.
A heat gun works best for shrinking it, but holding it over a stove burner works too, don't get it too close and keep rotating it until the tubing is tight.

 

[AgX]

Standard heat shrunk tubing might not be able to yield longitudinal tension. (There is adhesive shrink tubing though.)

 

[eyesage]

Assuming the inner part is still working well;
Get some heat shrink tubing from Radio Shack or the electrical supply section of a hardware store or home center. You will want something just big enough to slip over the small end. Trim back the frayed portion of the fabric.
A heat gun works best for shrinking it, but holding it over a stove burner works too, don't get it too close and keep rotating it until the tubing is tight.

I thought of heat shrink, but the problem is the torn material was putting tension on the inner tube spring (if that's what you call it) which needs to be held together as it's repaired. This requirement doesn't go well with heat guns or stove burners. I was thinking some kind of tape might do it but I don't know if there's anything on the market that will hold.

As to why I don't just buy a new one, I'm certainly going to, probably a couple, but they'll have to be ordered in and what do I do in the mean time? This is the second time this has happened to me in less than a month so chances are good that I'll be in this situation again.

- Joe

 

[summicron1]

what to do in the meantime has never been a problem for me -- i tend to attract people's old foto junque and there's almost always a cable release or three mixed in. Must have a dozen floating around. The old cloth covered ones will blow out on you, steel sheathed are best.

 

[Jerry Thirsty]

Try the ones with the metal braid on the outside, instead of cloth or plastic:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/272804-REG/Gepe_601023_Metal_Weave_Covered_Cable.html

I've never had one of those come apart on me.

The cheap plastic ones can have a problem with the plastic sleeve sliding off the metal barrel on the ends, although in a pinch you can sometimes push them back together and tape them up. I do have a red plastic one that has been fine; it looks like this, although I'm not certain it's the same one:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/272795-REG/Gepe_601212_Plastic_Covered_Cable_Release.html

 

[PtJudeRI]

I had the same thing happen. Is this release for a tight fitting space? If so, you may have your work cut out for you! I had to do some surgery on a right angle adapter to fit it in a space.

 

[AgX]

Ever thought of a pneumatic one?

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Nope. This is terminal. Throw it out. It's also annoyingly, infuriatingly common amongst cheap cloth-covered cable releases. This applies to Chinese, Japanese and German-made items. The pricy Linhof releases are the best of the bunch. Pentax and Nikon releases are also sturdily made. Steer well clear of thin, petite releases, or the stiff affairs sold by a German manufacturer that have been widely reported to seize unexpectedly. The cloth ones are terrible banes, but some really good double-skinned, sealed examples do exist — particularly antique types, from the day "when they were built to last". Buy one decent one, keep a couple of more as spares accessible wherever you go. Also, I don't recommend buying a second hand cable release from e.g. eBay unless you have your wits about you and can form a balanced, reliable judgement of how well it will serve you. You really do not know what those "little used, good condition" releases have been through.

 

[illumiquest]

Check out the Horseman release, very, very solid.

 

[pbromaghin]

Duct tape.

 

[Ian Grant]

Like Bdial I've used heat shrink tubing to repair or beef up a few cable releases, it works very well.

Ian

 

[bsdunek]

Duct tape.

That was my thought too!

On the other hand, Freestyle has a bunch of different kinds, and they may be cheaper than a roll of duct tape. http://www.freestylephoto.biz/search?q=cable+release

 

[Sirius Glass]

Try the ones with the metal braid on the outside, instead of cloth or plastic:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/272804-REG/Gepe_601023_Metal_Weave_Covered_Cable.html

I've never had one of those come apart on me.

The cheap plastic ones can have a problem with the plastic sleeve sliding off the metal barrel on the ends, although in a pinch you can sometimes push them back together and tape them up. I do have a red plastic one that has been fine; it looks like this, although I'm not certain it's the same one:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/272795-REG/Gepe_601212_Plastic_Covered_Cable_Release.html

That is the best answer. Duct tape or heat shrink tubing will not hold up very long and merely raise the frustration level.

 

[eyesage]

Looks like I'll be using the self timer for a spell. I can't say this one didn't last though. It came with a camera I bought 20 years ago that was vintage then.

-Joe

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

A 20-year old cable release!? Geez, don't complain that it's given up the ghost, that's a decent innings — you'll probably look a little frayed around the edges too after 20 years!!
I went through 4 cables in 6 months, though I had to work in wet and cold weather (this is the point of undoing for cloth-covered releases, but rust has also been known to enter the so-called sealed, stainless steel braided releases). Fortunately, the ones I have now are the real deal and more than 2 years old; I have added a couple to my collection (well, I had GAS, you see...).

 

[VPooler]

There are plenty of Chinese made cable releases on the 'bay for peanuts. I bought quite a few and I am satisfied. If one blows out, I'll just take another from the drawer.

 

[pbromaghin]

That was my thought too!

On the other hand, Freestyle has a bunch of different kinds, and they may be cheaper than a roll of duct tape. http://www.freestylephoto.biz/search?q=cable+release

Heck, everybody has a roll of duct tape laying around. Cost is zero.

Seriously, a layer, maybe 1/2 inch by whatever length, with the glue side out to cover the cable, and another layer, glue side in to attach to the good part of the wrapper at each end of the blowout, and you're in business.

 

[John Koehrer]

If it's an "egermancy" a bit of clear nail polish to hold the frayed bits together & heat shrink tubing.

I doubt there's enough give in the tubing to allow the spring wrap to stretch. But! "shrugs"

 

[E. von Hoegh]

If it's an "egermancy" a bit of clear nail polish to hold the frayed bits together & heat shrink tubing.

I doubt there's enough give in the tubing to allow the spring wrap to stretch. But! "shrugs"

Isn't that what Poland had in 1939?

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Heck, everybody has a roll of duct tape laying around. Cost is zero.

Seriously, a layer, maybe 1/2 inch by whatever length, with the glue side out to cover the cable, and another layer, glue side in to attach to the good part of the wrapper at each end of the blowout, and you're in business.

I don't. But I do have heat shrink tubing, and what I would do is cut one piece to cover the break, shrink it, then put on another overlapping piece - that is, covering the first piece and a half or three quarters of an inch on each end of the healthy casing.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Ever thought of a pneumatic one?

That's all I use on large format cameras. It's impossible to jiggle the camera with it.