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Ben Petersen
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Saturday, February 05, 2005 - 10:11 pm: |
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Hello all, I just got an old, chrome Leicameter MR (side button version) that does not respond to light at all. The battery-test button works properly, however. I was wondering anyone had any general pointers as to how to get it working again. Has anyone ever brought one of these back to life? Should I bother cleaning the contacts or should I just completely replace the metering cell? Thanks in advance, Ben Petersen |
P Laskey
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Sunday, February 06, 2005 - 04:35 am: |
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Sounds like another Ebay Special. It's probably best to clean as many contacts as you can find, preferably with a type eraser. If it still doesn't work it's probably a job for a specialist. PL |
Tony Duell
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Sunday, February 06, 2005 - 05:41 am: |
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The MR seems to suffer -- badly -- from worn/dirty/damaged contacts on the button switch. This switch consists of a contact on bottom of a plastic rod (moulded as part of the button) and traces on the PCB. To be honest, it seems like a really cheap way to do things and not what I'd expect from Leica. This may or may not be repairable -- I've seen on where the PCB tracks were totally worn away. The conductive silver paint doesn't seem to make a lasting repair either. I assume you know how to get inside : Take out the pin-face screw in the middle of the dials, then take off the dials. 2 screws at the end, 2 under the dials hold the cover on. Then operate the battery test slider to get it clear of the slot in the cover and pull the cover off. I seem to remember taking off the foot, the battery cover, and the gearing for the dials, but that might not be essential. The button assembly is held down by a screw through a slot in the plastic moulding, but note how it operates the needle-lock plate. CdS photoresistors seem to be fairly stable and I'd not suspect this at the start. There's a schematic in Tomosey's Leica camera repair book, should you need one. |
Ben Petersen
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Monday, February 07, 2005 - 05:59 pm: |
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Hey, Thanks for the responses. Haven't had time to do to tinker with it yet due to the Super Bowl and all. In any case, I'll give a go tomorrow. Ben |
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