I keep seeing people adjust light seals with the wrong adhesive and it drives me crazy

I've been repairing old rangefinders and SLRs out of my garage in Portland for about 3 years now. Something I notice a lot of folks in online groups doing is using standard double-sided tape or super glue to replace light seals. That stuff breaks down over time and leaves sticky goo all over the camera body, which can mess up the shutter mechanism or get on the film plane. I always use new foam sheets cut to size with a specific pressure-sensitive adhesive that stays flexible. I got this from a retired repair shop owner down in Eugene who told me, 'foam is cheap, cleanup is expensive.' So my question is: does anyone else have a preferred brand of self-adhesive foam for seal replacements, or do you still cut your own from sheets with separate adhesive backing?

2 comments

2 Comments

chen.james1mo ago

Nah, double-sided tape works fine if you know what you're doing.

paige_west29d ago

Wow @chen.james, you're actually using double-sided tape on light seals? That stuff turns into a sticky nightmare after a year or two, I've seen it ruin so many film gates.