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Message |
    
Ultralloyd
Tinkerer
Username: Ultralloyd
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2013
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 19, 2013 - 09:25 am: | 
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So my Yashica MF 124GMat has been brilliant the past six months... till I got to the humidity in NYC this past weekend.
Now the light meter is just bugging out. It doesn't register anything - and then will suddenly pop up to get an exposure reading, but when I adjust the Apeture it conks out again.
I'm basically guessing now - which sucks - and I really don't want to carry a light meter with me as well as the one on the camera really works great (when it was working).
Anyone know a manual solution to the problem? I'm going to get a new battery to see if maybe its a charge issue - but how does one go about cleaning the residue on the contacts there if that's an issue?
Any help would be appreciated! |
Barnum
Tinkerer
Username: Barnum
Post Number: 206
Registered: 10-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 19, 2013 - 09:42 am: |
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There is a chap in the USA who supplied me with a meter from a mass of old Yashica tlr cameras he has. Too long ago for me to recall his name or email address, but if I found him by trawling the web, you could too. |
Hollenbj
Tinkerer
Username: Hollenbj
Post Number: 134
Registered: 03-2012
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 19, 2013 - 03:16 pm: |
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vinegar and a Q-tip (or some kind of applicator). It does sound like a connection problem and not like the meter cell is going out. I use vinegar to clean battery compartment contacts. An abrasive might be necessary if there's excessive buildup/oxidation on them. Use a very fine grit sandpaper (e.g., 600) and cut out a small circle, paste it on the end of a fresh pencil eraser (on a pencil) and do both twisting and back-forth motions. Make sure the "spring" of the contacts are sprung enough to maintain contact with the battery, pull them gently out if needed. Aside from that, if the problem persists, you're looking at tracking down the intermittent connection. A job. |
Rick_oleson
Tinkerer
Username: Rick_oleson
Post Number: 1336
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 19, 2013 - 04:33 pm: |
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The 124 has a switch that turns the meter on and off when you raise and lower the VF hood... very simple, 2 strips of metal that touch when the hood is raised and are pushed apart by a pin when it goes down. This sort of switch can very easily get dirty enough to stop 1.5 volts from passing through. Remove the 4 screws holding the hood, and it's all wide open for you to see (and clean). |
Ultralloyd
Tinkerer
Username: Ultralloyd
Post Number: 2
Registered: 07-2013
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 22, 2013 - 05:31 pm: |
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Thanks guys - will try the battery clean as well as the hood strip clean method later this week and will update!! |
