Spilled coffee on my enlarger last Tuesday and accidentally fixed the focus issue I'd been chasing for 4 months

A whole cup of black coffee went straight into the ventilation slots of my Omega D-2 while I was developing prints at 2am and somehow it cleaned the contacts or something because now it actually holds sharp focus, has anyone else ever fixed something by breaking it first?

3 comments

3 Comments

valwest8d ago

This sounds absolutely insane. 2am developing prints with coffee near your Omega D-2 is already a disaster waiting to happen. You seriously dumped a full cup of black coffee into the vents, and it actually fixed the focus? That’s not a fix, that’s a miracle or a curse depending on how long it lasts. I’m half expecting you to say the coffee made it sharper than it ever was fresh out of the factory.

the_sarah6d ago

Actually, I think valwest got it slightly backwards - it wasn't black coffee, it was with cream and sugar. Big difference for stickiness, trust me. The sugar caramelized inside the vents as the heat kicked in, which probably glued some loose dust or corrosion on a contact point. I've had it happen with soda spills on old circuit boards too, weirdly enough. It held for about six months before the focus started drifting again, but by then I had a new lens ordered. So yeah, not a permanent miracle, but definitely bought me time. Charlesj46's truck story reminds me of that too, sometimes a good whack or a bad coffee spill is just the jolt the universe needs.

charlesj468d ago

You ever have one of those moments where you just give up and something good happens? I used to be the guy who swore by the "don't touch it if it works" rule. Then my truck's AC blower motor started screaming like a banshee. I gave it a good whack with a wrench out of pure frustration. Motor ran quiet for two more years. Never would have believed that kind of luck until I lived it. Your coffee spill sounds like the same kind of voodoo.