I have Pentax K1000 SE that was working just fine except for somewhat slow shutters speeds and a chipped prism. I took the top off to replaced the prism. Then I took the bottom off to inject naptha to try to correct the shutter speeds (that helped). After firing the shutter probably 50 times, it charged but wouldn't fire. I noticed that the spring that keeps tension on the "charged flag" was off and I wasn't sure which way it went so I took the top off another K1000 SE that was working perfectly and used it as a guide for repositioning the spring on the other. Then I took the bottom off the second one to see if I could learn anything about the charging and firing process that would help diagnose the first one. After severl dozen cycles with the bottom off, this one also charged but wouldn't fire. So now I have 2 cameras that were working and now are not. I can't imagine why removing the bottom or top would result in eventual failure.
I pulled the front off the first one and can see that the stop on the release button does clear the pad which should allow the shutter to fire. Any ideas or information on the shutter release mechanism or how I can manually release it would be appreciated. - Malcolm
Well, I solved my problem thanks to the K1000 service manual I found on pentax-manuals.com. This is a known issue with the mirror catch lever getting out of place. Apparantly, having the bottom cover off makes it more likely. The fix is simple: just remove the cir-clip and reposition it per the instructions in the manual. - Malcolm
