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tommyncal
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - 08:31 pm: | 
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Just pulled out my old 'FE', after years of non-use. The mirror locks up, and doesn't return, in all shutter speeds except 'm90' mode, in which case, in works fine. When I set it to the other shutter speeds it hangs up...but if I turn the shutter speed dial to 'm90' it flops down. At first, I thought it was the battery..but I installed a new one..no luck. The 'sponge rest' at the top is pretty worn..but doesn't look like this would be the problem. Any help would be appreciated. |
rick
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - 09:29 pm: |
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This still sounds like a battery problem. Was there a battery in the camera during the years of non-use? If so, galvanic action accelerated by the charge of the battery could have corroded the wire from the battery box and broken it. Another possibility is corrosion on the battery contacts themselves (which is easier to deal with), and another is that your new battery is bad (unlikely, but an easier fix still)
 = |
tommyncal
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 31, 2005 - 12:19 am: |
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thanks for the reply. I tried 2 new batteries, and even tested them out with a voltage meter. They were good..but mirror still locked up. I did clean the contacts too. The batteries were left in the camera, but when I pulled them out they weren't corroded. How difficult is it to reach the wire from the battery box? And would you know how it is attached? |
rick oleson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 31, 2005 - 11:40 am: |
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I don't think I've ever pulled the battery box from an FE, but try removing the baseplate and see if there are 2 or 3 screws holding the box in. the most common place for the wire to fail is right where it's soldered to the battery terminal; if this happens, there's probably 1-2" of bad wire under the insulation that will have to be cut out and replaced in order to get it soldered back together (occasionally you can just solder one back on, though).
If you manage to get a look behind the battery box and the wire connection is intact, come back - we'll have to figure out another explanation.
: ) = |
tommyncal
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 01, 2005 - 09:25 am: |
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thanks rick..I'll take it apart this weekend and let you know. |
tommyncal
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 12:59 am: |
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took off the base...everything looked good. All wires were connected, soldered connections were fine...no corosion at all. Inside actually looked very clean. Bought a new battery, tried again...still doesn't work. Put battery in both ways...I assume 'positive' is down and 'negative' is the base or screw closure.
Anyway, when I pulled the new battery out...it was warm in my hand. Do you think there could be a 'short' somewhere? Any idea why the battery felt warm? |
rick
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 11:28 am: |
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Yes, if the battery was warm you definitely have a short. This probably puts it outside the realm of fixing it yourself. Don't know how this would have happened while the camera was idle on the shelf.....
rick : ) = |
tommyncal
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 03, 2005 - 09:09 pm: |
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after believing there was a short (my friend checked it out for me)..I tried to feel if the battery was warm to me...couldn't feel any warmth, so I'm not sure that is the issue. I started looking on the net for specs and such...and found a good site. It is definitely a battery problem...looking at pics on this site..I noticed my battery compartment is missing the clip that the battery (3v-lithium)is supposed to slip in to, before putting it back in the camera. The batteries are very loose in the camera without this clip. I put the same battery in my F2 and it is very snug in that camera (plus it works). Do you think this missing clip helps make contact with the battery???? |
