Switched from ultrasonic to hand cleaning for old shutters and it was way better

I spent about 6 months using my ultrasonic cleaner for every shutter cleaning job. But then I got a tricky Compur shutter from the 1950s and the ultrasonic made a blade spring pop loose. So I tried cleaning it by hand with lighter fluid and a soft brush instead. Took maybe 20 minutes longer but the shutter fired perfectly after one try, no tweaking needed. Hand cleaning lets me see exactly where the old gunk is and target it better. Has anyone else had bad luck with ultrasonic on older leaf shutters?

3 comments

3 Comments

norathomas1mo ago

Wait, a blade spring popped loose in your ultrasonic? That's wild, I've never even thought about that happening. I've run a bunch of old shutters through mine and never had any issues, but now you got me paranoid. I just assumed the ultrasonic was safe for everything because it's just gentle vibrations and soap. Did you use any special setting or just crank it up too high? I'm kind of shocked that a tiny spring could get knocked out of place like that, those Compur shutters are built like little tanks usually. Maybe I've been lucky so far but I'm definitely gonna stick to hand cleaning for anything pre-1970 from now on.

jennysullivan1mo ago

Wait, @norathomas, it's actually the ultrasonic vibrations that do it, not the soap or any special setting.

masonbell1mo ago

@norathomas same thing happened to me on an old Compur. Hand cleaning is the way now.