    
Steve_roberts
Tinkerer
Username: Steve_roberts
Post Number: 22
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, November 20, 2008 - 03:13 am: | 
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Hi,
This isn't a request for information as I've now solved the problem but thought I'd post it here in case anyone else does a search for ES2 problems.
I acquired an ES2 for next to nothing from a repairer, manual speeds all fine but on auto the meter shot straight up to the top of the screen, ie above 1/1000 and in the overexposed region regardless of light and the shutter behaved accordingly. I approached the problem logically (cells, ASA resistor etc.) but got nowhere. Leads all checked OK for continuity from the top to the circuit board and so at that point I was running out of ideas with my resources.
I then removed the circuit board from the bottom and peeled off the plastic insulation sheet that covers the non-component side. In manufacture, after soldering Pentax seem to have ground off the resulting blips of solder to ensure that the underside of the board didn't have any prominent solder blobs. This had been done in a fairly crude way and with a loupe many of the joints looked much the worse for it. I then carefully re-soldered all of the joints on the board, replaced it and everything was well again with both the meter and shutter.
This last-ditch approach has worked for me before with radio and TV repairs and is clearly worth considering on other cameras of that era that use relatively robust fibre glass boards and robust components. I did take the precaution of using a temperature controlled zero switching voltage soldering iron, though that may not have been necessary.
Steve |
