Hasselblad 503cxi body foam crumbling

[Elvis-isintheroom]

Hi, My Hasselblad 503cxi has been in storage for a year or so. I discovered the foam walls inside the body are disintegrating cracking and crumbling. Can i replace this myself? I am based in Bali Indonesia but frequently get down to Perth west Australia. If I could replace this myself I would give it a go. I have found many posts online regarding film magazines but this is inside the body.
Cheers, Elvis

 

[snederhiser]

Hello Elvis;
I do not own a 503 but alot of camera's use a flocking material. Are there any telescope shops in your area? This is used in the tubes to prevent stray light. I use a good grade of contact cement to apply. Recently reflocked a Mamiya 645 & Kiev 60. Good luck, Steven.

 

[pgomena]

My 503cx has the same problem but not to the extent yours has. I suspect the heat and humidity are not helping your situation.

I recently had my camera body repaired by David Odess, a factory-trained Hasselblad repairman. I asked him about replacing the material (called "palpas," don't ask me why.) He said it requires a complete strip-down of the camera body and would cost more than the camera is worth.

Hasselblad goofed on their materials testing on this one.

Peter Gomena

 

[John Koehrer]

I've used flocked paper, it has a velvet like surface and can be put in with double faced tape. I found it at a scrap booking store. Some craft stores may have it.
It is kind of a PITA getting the old stuff out without it getting into the camera. plastic kitchen wrap covering the misc. holes will work pretty well

 

[Elvis-isintheroom]

Thanks for the info pgomena..."Palpas." I just downloaded a V syst service manual and its too complex to do this my self....Jeez I feared this scenario, makes me angry. Cheers John I will look for the flock paper.

 

[Elvis-isintheroom]

Hello Elvis;
I do not own a 503 but alot of camera's use a flocking material. Are there any telescope shops in your area? This is used in the tubes to prevent stray light. I use a good grade of contact cement to apply. Recently reflocked a Mamiya 645 & Kiev 60. Good luck, Steven.

Snederhiser, how did you get the old palpas/flock (high density foam) off ? with a scraper?
Cheers, Elvis.

 

[pgomena]

Minor cracks can be covered with a little flat black model paint. Mine is not crumbling yet, but more cracks seem to be appearing as time goes by. Yeah, it ticks me off, too.

Peter Gomena

 

[Elvis-isintheroom]

I am worried because its going to go through the camera. Cracks in foam is not an issue. Tiny granules of foam rub off and end up everywhere. The body has been stored in a dry box. Why did Hasselblad chose that material ?

 

[sandermarijn]

A Google search of "Hasselblad" and "palpas" gives countless results- the same problem over and over again. I knew there was something wrong with this material but I never realised it's this bad. I feel sorry for you Elvis.

If I were you I'd clean it up as far as possible, sell it on ebay or elsewhere, and get a Hasselblad without the palpas. No, not so moral towards the buyer perhaps, but you wouldn't necessarily have to hide anything.

Good luck, this really sucks.

 

[snederhiser]

Hello Elvis;
Use a vacuum cleaner to suck up the foam dust while using an X-acto flat blade scraper. This was stuck down with double sided tape. Use lighter fluid to loosen the tape and gently scrape. Good luck, Steven.

 

[Elvis-isintheroom]

Cheers sander, geez, what a nightmare...Now I don't have a body for my lenses. It seems the problem is restricted to the late models...Crazy. Such a shame because the body is perfect apart from this.

Steven, I had a good look and I think its worth a go...Cheers I will try it tomorrow morning. Thanks for the advice, Elvis

 

[pgomena]

Yeah, my body is really clean apart from this problem. I'm thinking ahead to having to buy a second body at some point. I'm leaning toward a good late-model 500CM. I don't know which of the later models did or did not have the palpas lining.

Thanks for the tips on removing the old lining. I can see a day when I will have to do that, which will make my 503cx body become my backup. Not something I'm looking forward to doing. I don't like the idea of selling it to someone as-is unless they know exactly what they're getting. Wish I had known beforehand, but it wasn't a problem when I bought it used a few years ago.

Peter Gomena

 

[brucemuir]

I have 2 500 c/m bodies, one is late 70's and the barn door palpas is cracked but not flaking.
The other body is mid 80's I believe and no pal pas problems...yet.

Thanks for sending the palpas paper John K.

 

[Elvis-isintheroom]

From what I can gather the problem starts with the 503 (1989-). The issue is the blad needs to be completely taken apart to remove the palpas properly...A nightmare....I wonder if there is any recall from Hasselblad regarding this issue? Earlier blads are not affected by this problem. It appears it is not possible to contact Hasselblad directly about this problem, but one has to contact a "Partner" (rep) in a chosen country. I will try to scrape it out as best I can to salvage the body I guess.

 

[Slixtiesix]

Does anybody know whether this problem also affects the 501cm and 503cw?