Universal Polarizer on M8 - Stuck to IR Cut Filter - Advice?

[wstotler]

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Seriously, this is the third time this has happened. And I'd like suggestions if anyone has them!

 

I screw the E39 Universal Polarizer adapter ring (just reasonably tight--not overtightened) to my Leica IR Cut Filter (already mounted on my lens), mount up the Universal Polarizer and shoot.

 

Then, later, when unscrew it from the lens, it comes off with the IR Cut Filter "welded" to the Universal Polarizer's step up ring!

 

No amount of dickering with it (bare handed, hands covered in cloth, rubberized "jar" helper) that particular day will get the cut filter separated from the polarizer's step up ring. It's seemingly hopeless.

 

Here's the puzzler: I'll leave it sit for a few weeks. Then, when I come back and try it, the step-up ring will separate from the cut filter with only a fair amount of "oomph." <Insert Head Scratching Here.>

 

I'm not interested in leaving the filter permanently on the E39 ring. Yuck.

 

I am interested in a "no brainer" tip somebody's picked up over the years to keep filters from getting "welded" together. I'm sure it's so simple that it's just done--not discussed. (Which is why I can't find any solutions when I'm searching around through threads and on Google.)

 

Thanks!

Will

 

P.S. If this is posted in the wrong place can an admin move it? I wasn't exactly sure where the best place to put it may be so I stuck it here. Thanks.

[marknorton]

Try warming the rings in the flow of a hair dryer...

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[Artichoke]

can be difficult

I did some research on this & found this technique useful

get a rubber soled shoe, like a sneaker (I suppose one could use any flat surfaced firm rubber object)

place the filter flat against it

twist the filter while applying pressure evenly from above the stuck filter

apparently twisting the filter by applying lateral torque causes the filter threads to bit deeper and can cause them to lock up

by applying pressure evenly from above, this lessons this problem

this technique has yet to fail me in removing a stuck filter

[wstotler]

Try warming the rings in the flow of a hair dryer...

Mark--thanks much! Tried that before (although I didn't list it in my methods). No go. Tried the freezer before, also, just on a whim. Not helpful either.

 

can be difficult

I did some research on this & found this technique useful

get a rubber soled shoe, like a sneaker (I suppose one could use any flat surfaced firm rubber object) place the filter flat against it

twist the filter while applying pressure evenly from above the stuck filter

apparently twisting the filter by applying lateral torque causes the filter threads to bit deeper and can cause them to lock up

by applying pressure evenly from above, this lessons this problem

this technique has yet to fail me in removing a stuck filter

 

Incredible! Immediately made sense when I read what you wrote--and I do happen to have flat, real-rubber-sole shoes. Came right apart. I was literally standing on the solution. Thanks!! Will

[guy]

can be difficult

I did some research on this & found this technique useful

get a rubber soled shoe, like a sneaker (I suppose one could use any flat surfaced firm rubber object)

place the filter flat against it

twist the filter while applying pressure evenly from above the stuck filter

apparently twisting the filter by applying lateral torque causes the filter threads to bit deeper and can cause them to lock up

by applying pressure evenly from above, this lessons this problem

this technique has yet to fail me in removing a stuck filter

 

That's really clever... best tip in ages!

[jackal]

use bottom of a shoe

oldest trick in the book and works every time

[andit]

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Hi Will,

 

Here's a little thing that might do the trick in future. It does not look great but it does work. Go to your local motor spares shop and get a sheet of 0.2 mm Velamoid. It is a type of paper that you use to make gaskets out of. Using a pencil trace the outline of the thread onto the paper, and the outside of the filter. This in effect gives you an o-ring of very thin Velamoid. Using a sharp scalpel/olfa cutter, cut out this o-ring and place this between your filter/lens, filter/filter or filter/step ring. This basically stops you from over tightening the filter and makes it come loose quite easily next time.

 

Just an idea, hope this works for you.

 

Andreas

[farnz]

Will,

 

If you rub the lead (graphite) of a soft-leaded pencil liberally round the threads of both filters they should come apart more easily next time because graphite is a solid lubricant. Alternatively you can buy powdered graphite in a 'blower' bottle but this is slightly more expensive and can be messy.

 

(Note to self: don't wear crisp, white shirt when using graphite blower. And, no, a pencil eraser will not remove the graphite from the shirt but will produce grey smudges. Put on clean shirt and wash smudged one. )

 

Pete.

[lars_bergquist]

That's really clever... best tip in ages!

 

Now listen: There exist circular, slightly dished roundels of soft rubber, which are sold as aids to remove stuck screw tops from jars. They are applied from above and do not exert any notable sideways pressure on the threads. Two of these, twisted in opposite directions, should be a neater trick than the shoe – though admittedly, a shoe will more likely be part of your kit in the field ...

 

The old man from the Age of Half-Soling

[jaapv]

First put it through three or four freezer/hairdryer cycles to loosen it, then use the rubber sole method to remove it (when warm). To prevent it from happening again, lubricate the thread with an ultra-minimal amount of silicon grease (available in diving shops) . Or leave it on and buy a spare filter.

[farnz]

First put it through three or four freezer/hairdryer cycles to loosen it,

Be careful how cold and hot you let them get because the filters could shatter if the temperature falls or rises too quickly. It's the same as cracking a cold drinking glass by pouring hot water into it.

 

Also bear in mind that the rate and extent of thermal expansion and contraction of metal is much greater than glass so if the filters are tight fits with the mounting rings the stresses could crack or shatter them too.

 

Pete.

[jaapv]

That is right, Pete, but Leica filters are deliberately loose in the mount and Leica claims a temperature shock test from (from memory-sometimes faulty ) minus 20 to 60 Centigrade for their lenses and cameras, so I assume for their filters too..

[WmAl]

How about rubber bands around each filter ring and twist.

Can it be that simple?

[SJP]

use this

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[asmith]

Try wrapping adhesive insulating tape anti-clockwise around the filter - about tw turns and leave an unwrapped length on which to pull. This has the effect of transforming your pull into a circular force evenly distributed aroun the circumference. I have found it works.

Alwyn

[robsteve]

Part of the problem is the Leica UV/IR filters are not in brass mounts and the ring for the polarizer is brass.

[chris_livsey]

use this

 

The way he is holding that it has just got to be polystyrene.

[rafael_macia]

Part of the problem is the Leica UV/IR filters are not in brass mounts and the ring for the polarizer is brass.

 

The Leica filters unfortunately are not in brass mounts. I noticed a "not-so-smooth" feeling when I would screw them (UV/IR filters) into various Leica lenses. Sometimes they would bind super tight, and sometimes removal was easy. This never happens with brass.

Some of the suggestions are wonderful, and more than working, serve to alert M8 users about potential problems, and how to avoid them.

[SJP]

The way he is holding that it has just got to be polystyrene.

 

I agree, I was wondering about that myself. Of course the chrome version would have been heavier!

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Hallo,

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[wlaidlaw]

I had exactly this problem earlier this week, trying to get the hood off my Skopar 35 classic to fit a UV/IR filter. I used the shoe sole method. Over the years and a bit of experimenting, I think I have found the ideal sole. It is one of the translucent brownish ones that you find on yacht shoes. The very fine slits help with grip on the filter/hood.

 

Wilson