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Floydking
Tinkerer
Username: Floydking
Post Number: 5
Registered: 01-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - 06:10 am: | 
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Hi!
I've just bought an XE5 from Ebay which required a battery change. On opening the battery chamber I removed the 'duds' from the chamber and found that the sprung contact inside didn't feel at all 'springy'. I then touched it very delicately with a screwdriver at which time it slid out of position and fell into my hand.
Please does anybody have any idea about putting this back. I've removed the bottom of the camera and now I'm daunted.
It seems stupid to believe that such a silly thing can ruin such a good camera.
Thanks in advance. |
Wernerjb
Tinkerer
Username: Wernerjb
Post Number: 165
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - 07:14 am: |
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The XE5 is the economy model of Minolta's X/XE model line. On all those cameras replacing or even resoldering wires at the battery box (which is part of a kind of base plate battery compartment) requires stripping down the camera, as it can only be accessed with the front panel carrying the mirror box, lens mount, etc off. This is not an easy job and it takes more than basic tinkering skills to do that. Spare parts are hard to get, but can usually salvaged from junkers.
Was the camera in working condition on arrival? Are there any signs of corrosion (leaking batteries, perhaps) that has probably eaten away some material of the invisible parts of the minus contact or its wiring? What about asking the seller for refunding? Obviously that camera needed more than new batteries, right? |
Floydking
Tinkerer
Username: Floydking
Post Number: 6
Registered: 01-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - 09:25 am: |
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Hi Wernerjb!
Thanks for the swift reply, although I hoped it would be otherwise, I thought this just may be the case.
It looks as though the entire strip has come out without actually breaking, though it's only a little longer than the amount that usually shows. There seems to be two curvatures at one end (one on either side - similar to a tuning fork without the scalop taken out of the end) which gives the impression that it simply needs to be hooked over something and then tightened up. I certainly can't see or feel an obvious breaking point, though I supposed that wouldn't necessarily be obvious. |
Wernerjb
Tinkerer
Username: Wernerjb
Post Number: 166
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - 12:35 pm: |
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Hi, on all the XEs I own, the fork thing sticks out into the battery chamber, there it goes where the minus end of the battery is. I have just tried on a junker to remove the contact tongue by means of a pair of pincers, it moves a bit to both sides but it cannot be lifted or taken out. So yours could be broken although I cannot think of how this could have happened. Maybe some previous owner tried to increase its springiness by bending and has used too much force (I have once incidentally broken off that metal strip on a Yashica). You never know with second hand items! |
Floydking
Tinkerer
Username: Floydking
Post Number: 7
Registered: 01-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - 04:59 pm: |
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Hi Wernerwj!
How exactly is the contact strip fixed inside the camera? I imagined that it must be a separate part, but it sounds as though it's an integral part of the circuit. |
Wernerjb
Tinkerer
Username: Wernerjb
Post Number: 167
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 - 06:34 am: |
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That piece is part of the so-called contact holder set (#081-0250-01) to which it is riveted and/or soldered (I have only once swapped the whole item, so remembering details is a bit difficult). Its shape is roughly like a modified question mark. That longer side that came off in your camera usually is somehow parallel to the bottom of the battery chamber, then the shorter side is entering the slot and facing downward towards the battery inserting hole where its prolongation is fixed to the holder there. With the bottom plate off the camera you can see a section free from black paint; there are three slothead screws around the tripod socket and three holes with the downward ends of three screws, the latter being the ones by which the above mentioned holder is kept in its place.
The following is what I would do if it was my camera and a professional fix was not seriously considered (attention, you are entirely on your own, I am not resposible in any way for any damage done when putting the ideas into practice!): widening or opening (Dremel; no particles must enter the body!!!) the contact slot a bit towards the camera bottom should expose the short leg of what is left of the contact at ten o'clock position - bottom view from underneath, lens opening facing away from you.
Soldering some replacement contact should be possible then. I have riveted some metal tongue to the broken parts and then soldered this to where it had been in a Yashica minister and a Ricoh 800. A somewhat primitive, but if carried out carefully, probably long lasting fix, W. |
