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Talk with a retired Leica tech changed how I see old shutters

Had coffee with this guy named Frank who used to work at the Leica factory in Wetzlar back in the 80s. He told me most cloth shutters fail not from age but from people storing cameras with the shutter cocked for decades. I asked him how many he'd seen and he said hundreds at his old shop in Chicago alone. Has anyone else heard that or is it just an old tech's pet theory?
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gracewebb
gracewebb2d ago
Funny you mention that @amy_foster79, because I've noticed the same pattern with old guitar strings. People leave them tuned to pitch for years and wonder why they snap. It's the same principle - constant tension just wears things out over time.
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amy_foster79
Hear him out, I think he's onto something. Keeping a spring under tension for decades is just asking for trouble. Seems like common sense once you hear it.
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allen.ivan
allen.ivan3d agoProlific Poster
Yeah, the tension thing got me too. Swapped out an old garage door spring last year before it snapped and took out my car.
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