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Tinkerer
Username: Tagg
Post Number: 18
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - 04:05 pm: | 
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I know it has been quite a long time since the last time I checked in. If any of you can remember way back to the topic about the Ansco Memar, you just may remember me. I apologize for never updating the status on that repair, things went well, it just took a very long time; I'm happy I did not totally obliterate my very first camera ever! Since then I've picked up several cameras and have not had any problems with reparations and whatnot (Most of them actually needed no reparations). My last project was the Kodak Pony IV which went off without a hitch, I'm in the process of shooting a roll of film through it to see how the repairs turned out, exciting!
However, you didn't check in here to listen to me prattle on about past projects, the matter at hand now involves the Canon AE-1, which frankly has me astounded. The first problem is with the shutter speed, it is stuck at either 1/500th or 1/1000th no matter what setting you put it on, it is going too fast for the human eye to see, and as I'm an amateur at this... Anyway, I managed to get the top off with the help of Rick's schematics, and once inside, sprayed some contact cleaner on the circuit board and all the wires, resistors, and capacitors that were in there. This did not solve the problem, the shutter speed remained constant despite the setting. I was wondering what the next plan of action was to be... I did use a meter to measure if the capacitors, diodes, and resisters are putting up a current or any resistance. Up until this point I thought the problem lay with the diode, but a triple check showed that there is indeed a current running through it. So far, there don't seem to be any obvious weak links to the system...
The second problem is my fault, unfortunately. When I first picked up the camera, it focused beautifully with the 50 mm lens I was given with it. Now, I don't know exactly when it went haywire, I'm guessing after I took the readings on the currents, but it could have been before. Now, the focusing will get a little clearer and certainly blurrier when you focus it, but it never gets sharp. Also, before, there was a circle in the middle, and what would happen is that when it was in perfect focus, the images would line up with each other in the circle; surely you know what I'm talking about it you possess one of these fine specimens. Well, that doesn't happen anymore, and there is a weird pattern on the actual glass when you look in through the front with the lens off and also when you are looking through the viewfinder. The foam that the mirror bounces off when it flips out of the way is pretty much eradicated by age; perhaps the mirror cracked it or is responsible for the pattern on it? Maybe the glass isn't cracked, but instead a coating of some material is being eaten away? I sincerely do not know how the breakage happened, only that it did happen and that it isn't working like it should anymore. If someone could maybe analyze everything I've mentioned and come up with whatever I did that I shouldn't have done, that'd really help me to not do it again! If you guys can't figure out how it happened from my limited narrative, that would be fine; but if you could possibly tell me how to fix this problem, or if it is even fixable, that'd be very much appreciated.
I feel guilty every time that I post asking for help, because I never offer any help. This forum is normally the place I go to when I'm on my last legs, because you guys are so busy helping out people that actually know what they are doing that I feel like I am taking away from your time. Perhaps I may acquire enough knowledge before the end of the world to actually be of some service to someone more junior than I in the future? I sincerely hope so... But the one thing I love the most about coming here is the friendly atmosphere, which is why I try not to post annoying posts, lest I lose the camaraderie that us tinkerers share.
Thanks,
Neil |
Rick_oleson
Tinkerer
Username: Rick_oleson
Post Number: 272
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - 06:46 pm: |
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Hi Neil:
It sounds like you have a challenge there, and I'm not sure that I'll be able to get you out of it, but here are some thoughts:
First let me say that I am not an expert in electronics; I prefer the mechanical stuff and only deal with electronics when I have no other choice. Now, with that caveat:
You say the speed is 500 or 1000, too fast for the eye to see. 500 and 1000 are not too fast for the eye to see, if you are looking through the shutter when it fires you will see clearly (though dimly) through it at those speeds. So, I am guessing that the shutter is travelling closed: the second curtain stays with the first all the way across, with no gap in between. In the Canon as in other electronic shutters, the curtains are actually released by electromagnets. It is fairly common if the magnet of the closing curtain gets sticky for the shutter to hang open. I think you may have the opposite problem: the second curtain magnet is failing to hold and therefore the curtain travels as soon as the first curtain begins to move. This may be a matter of cleaning debris off of the surface of the magnets. The magnets are located under the bottom plate of the camera.
one possibility for your focus problem may be that the mirror is not all the way down. This could be caused by something in the linkage of the mirror, or it might be as simple as a piece of dirt on the little ledge where the mirror rests in the down position. I can't think of an explanation for the surface appearance you describe in the lens... but 50mm lenses are very cheap so if need be you could replace it pretty easily.
Deterioration of the foam rubber is common and not a serious problem, as long as you don't let the goop smear on the focusing screen. You can get a good kit for replacing that foam and the light seals from Jon Goodman - but I would hold off on that until you have everything else worked out. |
Jeans
Tinkerer
Username: Jeans
Post Number: 4
Registered: 04-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 21, 2007 - 06:43 am: |
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Hi I had some problem with my camera as well, I am also not an expert but I had some success with a good tech support site that have free live chat that you can use for free!
Here is the page for Camera Repair Just search for your camera and click live chat...
Good luck
Jean |
Francis_otto
Tinkerer
Username: Francis_otto
Post Number: 5
Registered: 12-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - 07:17 am: |
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Neil,
Do you think some of the contact-cleaner you sprayed around the top-end got as far as the fresnel-screen? If that's the case, it might account for 'weird patterns' in the viewfinder/rangefinder. Is the mirror clean (be careful: it's surface-silvered, easy to damage but a lens-tissue dampened with lens-cleaning fluid and carefully held in tweezers is often safe)? Is the fresnel-screen clean (ditto - except it's not surface-silvered, but laser-etched on plastic)?
Good wishes.
FJRO |
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