Oh man, that's brilliant. I've definitely taken the whole pump apart for something dumb like that, feeling like a real pro, only to find a hair tie. Your way is way smarter, lol.

My buddy had his pump die during that huge rainstorm in April. Water started seeping up through the basement floor tiles before he even heard the alarm beep. He ended up with two inches of nasty water and a ruined home gym setup. Took him weeks to dry everything out and fight with his insurance.

Oh man, the canned air thing. Did that for ages too. It just pushes the gunk around. Switched to a tiny bit of naphtha on a q-tip, working from the hinge out. Made a huge difference on my old Pentax.

My book club once spent an hour on a comma in a soup recipe...

Check the hose ends for cracks first.