New Seals for Mamiya 645--I DID IT!

[summicron1]

Someone gave me a nice Mamiya 645 outfit a bit ago -- the original with the 500 speed, and it is lovely and all, but the seals on the film chamber had turned to mush, been scraped off and not replaced.

This, as you can imagine, leads to light leaks. Very frustrating.

So I ordered one of those "kits" from flea-bay for $20 and was second-guessing the price, since all I got was two little bags of bits of adhesive backed foam -- but after I got it and put it in I appreciated that I had all the right sizes of bits of foam.

Also appreciated why repair people charge $75 or so to do this -- it took more than an hour to scrape the remains of the gunk and glue, peel the backing paper off the foam (which does not come off easily at first) and get it properly aligned in those skinny channels. It was a zen moment at times, had to use the force, but it finally all went in properly.

So I saved repair money doing it myself, but those repair folks earn their pay, you can bet.

 

[mrred]

Ho much flocking is involved? I have a slight leak in the back of my M645J, only visible when strong sun is behind me. So far some tape is able to protect me in strong sunlight. Like you, I am not overly eager to lift a screwdriver yet.

 

[summicron1]

Ho much flocking is involved? I have a slight leak in the back of my M645J, only visible when strong sun is behind me. So far some tape is able to protect me in strong sunlight. Like you, I am not overly eager to lift a screwdriver yet.

no flocking, just new strips of foam in the channels on the back and body where the edges all come together. You might check and reinforce the foam on the hinge, especially, but if the foam has gotten mushy and isn't springy any more it may be time to re-do.

 

[mr rusty]

A really good tip when using self-adhesive foam is to wet the adheasive with a tiny bit of water which has a tiny bit of wetting agent in it. While the adhesive is wet it doesn't stick, and you can slide the foam around to where you want it. let it dry, and it sticks like normal.

Without this trick, trying to get self-adhesive foam strips evenly into channels is something of a challenge.

 

[Mick Fagan]

A really good tip when using self-adhesive foam is to wet the adheasive with a tiny bit of water which has a tiny bit of wetting agent in it. While the adhesive is wet it doesn't stick, and you can slide the foam around to where you want it. let it dry, and it sticks like normal.

Without this trick, trying to get self-adhesive foam strips evenly into channels is something of a challenge.

Very interesting, makes sense, I'll give it a go next time I'm doing some seals.

Many thanks.

Mick.

 

[tokam]

Never mind the water / wetting agent. Just lick it.

 

[mrred]

Postal stamp flavor?

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