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G2mike04
Tinkerer
Username: G2mike04
Post Number: 1
Registered: 04-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 02, 2010 - 10:15 am: | 
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I've got a Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic that I'd like to get in working order again. I replaced it as my main shooter some years ago with a Nikon N8008 and it's been collecting dust in a drawer.
It has numerous problems, but the most serious one is that the rear door no longer opens when the rewind knob is pulled up. It makes a clicking sound as it is pulled up to the point where it is supposed to lift the little metal hooks holding the door closed, but the door is not released.
As I know very little about the innards of this camera and have never attempted to repair it before, I have no idea whether there is a simple fix. Given its age, the amount of use the camera has seen and its other problems it may not be worth tinkering with. Any ideas or advice? |
G2mike04
Tinkerer
Username: G2mike04
Post Number: 2
Registered: 04-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 02, 2010 - 12:35 pm: |
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By the way, if it's not practical to try to restore this camera, I'm open to any advice on a similar camera I could replace it with. |
Aford
Tinkerer
Username: Aford
Post Number: 80
Registered: 03-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 02, 2010 - 02:17 pm: |
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The foam light seals may have broken down and become like bitumen or sticky toffee, this may prevent the door from opening. Try running some lighter fuel around the edge of the door then giving it a good tug. |
Aphototaker
Tinkerer
Username: Aphototaker
Post Number: 182
Registered: 12-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 02, 2010 - 04:07 pm: |
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I don't have this model, so I cannot be sure about the solution. However, I faced a similar problem in Canon FTb a few months ago and it might be worthwhile for you to investigate from this angle. The film back door would not open, however hard I tugged at the rewind knob or at the door (did not go nuts with the force though!) and that ruled out the sticky foam (though it was deteriorated anyway).
I was new to camera repair and tinkering ... well, still am, but that was *really* new stuff for me. So I opened the bottom cover and by looking around and searching the web realized that there was a metal tab on the lock side in the bottom that when pressed moved the door lock. The door popped right away.
After a bit more careful examination, it turned out that the rewind knob when pulled, pulls along a tab that pulls the lock in the door. This connecting tab is mounted on a spindle under spring tension. The lubricants had dried and the tab was not moving when the rewind knob was being pulled. Applying a tiny bit of grease there and working it a few times made the door lock and pop up like new. |
Prasanna
Tinkerer
Username: Prasanna
Post Number: 50
Registered: 10-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 02, 2010 - 09:11 pm: |
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Hi G2 Mike! there is a couple of ways you may tackle this. One is to unwind the the top of rewinding knob/crank. In many cameras it will leave a hole looking down. You can insert a hard wire and lever upward a pin-clip inside and it would open the back. In the other approach you can open the bottom plate and reach a flat plate lever that moves up and down to hold the back door. You push it up and the door will open. I hope this helps. Best, sp. |
G2mike04
Tinkerer
Username: G2mike04
Post Number: 3
Registered: 04-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2010 - 10:36 am: |
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Thanks for all your responses! I haven't got any lighter fluid on hand, but some pretty vigorous pulling didn't open it. I may still give that idea a shot, but I don't think it's just sticky seals.
I removed the bottom plate and there is no such tab, at least not outside the film compartment. Unfortunately, there is a film cartridge in the camera, so I'm not able to reach anything inside the film compartment to try to release the door manually.
How does one remove the top case? Is there a repair manual available someplace online? I found one here
http://www.pentax-manuals.com/manuals/service/spot_sm.pdf
but I can't find any explanation in there of how to remove the top case. Maybe if I remove that I can get the film cartridge out and access the latch. Another idea is tapping out the hinge pin on the other side, but I can't seem to find an appropriate tool. |
G2mike04
Tinkerer
Username: G2mike04
Post Number: 4
Registered: 04-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2010 - 12:01 pm: |
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PS Here are some illustrative photos.   |
Aphototaker
Tinkerer
Username: Aphototaker
Post Number: 183
Registered: 12-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2010 - 04:16 pm: |
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Well, the FTb I mentioned earlier was showing exactly the same symptoms! Could not pull open the rewind knob to open the door and a film cartridge was still inside. So, barring a broken linkage between the film rewind knob and the latch of the door, I strongly suspect it is also a case of ceased latch, i.e. the rewind knob is not able to move the door lock.
If removing the bottom cover has not given access to the lock, the top appears to be next option to try. |
Spiritbeing
Tinkerer
Username: Spiritbeing
Post Number: 5
Registered: 03-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2010 - 04:19 am: |
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here's a link on how to remove the top cover http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-113.html |
Djamorpheus
Tinkerer
Username: Djamorpheus
Post Number: 18
Registered: 10-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2010 - 04:26 pm: |
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remove the top cover there should be a mechanism just near the rewind knob where you can pull it up to let the door release, if that doesn't work then the hinge must be buggered. |
G2mike04
Tinkerer
Username: G2mike04
Post Number: 5
Registered: 04-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 16, 2010 - 09:18 am: |
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Good news! I mentioned to my dad that I had about given up on one of my old cameras and he offered to tinker with it because he was bored (he was laid up after knee surgery.) He managed to get it open. It's tricky...you have to push the door downward (toward the bottom cover) when pulling up on the release knob, hold everything in place while shifting your grip, and then pry on the latch edge of the door. The latch comes up just high enough to release the door. It sometimes takes a couple of tries, but it will come open.
When he gave it back, though, he said "There was all this gunky stuff around the edges. I just scraped it out with a screwdriver." Unfortunately, the stuff he was referring to was what was left of the light seals. I think their deterioration is probably partially responsible for the up/down play in the door that prevents it from opening properly. I'll have to look into replacing them.
Any suggestions? |
Francis_otto
Tinkerer
Username: Francis_otto
Post Number: 34
Registered: 12-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 16, 2010 - 12:37 pm: |
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Interslice.
What more needs to be said? |
Aphototaker
Tinkerer
Username: Aphototaker
Post Number: 200
Registered: 12-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 16, 2010 - 01:08 pm: |
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For seals I would suggest searching the archives here and also on photo.net. Also, google won't hurt.
Basically you have two choices. One is to do it yourself. You will need napththa (to clean the older ones), wool yarn (or foam in its place), and felt from craft hobby store. Plus the glue to stick the new ones (also got from hobby or crafts store). Necessary dimensions are easy to find with google. The second one is to buy pre-cut seal kits from ebay or some such place online (if you can get one for your camera). They usually cost around 11 USD and allow you to repair one camera. |
Titrisol
Tinkerer
Username: Titrisol
Post Number: 6
Registered: 02-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 24, 2010 - 02:26 pm: |
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Seals, check here in the site for Jo Goodman's instructions... need say no more
Then think of sending your camera to Erik Hendrickson (PentaxRepairs).... for a CLA; costs about $100 and your camera will be good to go for another 20 years |
Rick_oleson
Tinkerer
Username: Rick_oleson
Post Number: 1086
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 25, 2010 - 09:48 am: |
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For future reference:
If all else fails, you can peel the leatherette just forward of the left-hand end of the back door and find a metal strip attached with screws to the camera body. The latch is under this strip. You can remove the screws, lift off the metal strip and trip the latch by hand. You will still have to figure out what the cause of the problem was and do whatever repair is necessary to correct it (usually in a case where nothing will open the door, it means that the rewind knob has been pulled too hard and the latch release linkage has been bent ... this would require removing the top cover to reach it). |
