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Cooltouch
Tinkerer
Username: Cooltouch
Post Number: 155
Registered: 01-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 06, 2011 - 12:58 am: | 
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I bought this camera along with a plain OM-1 several months ago and, after fiddling with both of them for a while, set them on the shelf with the notion of getting back to them "real soon now." Well I recently sold the OM-1 and, because I don't really shoot Olympi (nothing wrong with them, I just have too many other cameras to worry about), I would like to find a good home for the OM-1n. Problem is, the meter doesn't work. And I can't remember for the life of me whether it did when I bought it some months back or not. Obviously I'd like the meter to work if/when I sell the camera.
So, my question to the forum is -- are there any places I should look to first when it comes to likely culprits for a dead meter? I've checked and cleaned the battery compartment more than once, double-checked battery voltage, etc. I'm using a number 675 zinc air hearing aid battery, which puts out 1.4v and which I've used to power other PX625-needing cameras, like Canon F-1s, FTbs, a couple of Pentaxes, etc.
So, if you know of any obvious spots I should check, and I guess just as importantly, point me in the right direction, it would be very much appreciated. |
Barnum
Tinkerer
Username: Barnum
Post Number: 216
Registered: 10-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 06, 2011 - 09:00 am: |
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Have tried a continuity test on the battery circuit? |
Cooltouch
Tinkerer
Username: Cooltouch
Post Number: 156
Registered: 01-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 06, 2011 - 01:40 pm: |
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Um . . . honestly I don't recall. Something to try, I suppose. It should be "open" shouldn't it? I know I had the bottom plate off the camera when I was checking it out shortly after buying it. I was using it for comparison it to the other OM-1, which had a wonky battery compartment that I managed to repair. Maybe I inadvertently disconnected something in there. I'll take a look and report back. |
Om1user
Tinkerer
Username: Om1user
Post Number: 6
Registered: 10-2011
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 06, 2011 - 09:21 pm: |
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When you check for continuity and if you find it's open then remove the bottom cover and check the wire going to the battery holder. Usually the wire is corroded so just clean and resolder it. That worked for one unit I had. On another unit I had to remove the top cover and re solder all the wires going to the circuit board just under the meter on/off switch. Someone else on this forum reported a jumpy meter problem was solved by soldering a wire from the meter housing to somewhere on the camera body to re establish the ground (or positive since I think the positive goes to the body). To remove the top is a little tricky. Check my recent post a few weeks back someone provided links to removing the top cover and cleaning the prism. That was fun but worked out. If you have the fungus problem like I did on one unit you can really improve the view finder view by cleaning it as described on the post.
good luck. |
Om1user
Tinkerer
Username: Om1user
Post Number: 7
Registered: 10-2011
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 06, 2011 - 09:28 pm: |
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Another idea, I wonder if the battery you are using is making a good connection. I believe the size is not exactly right. You might try getting one of these. I just received two of these and they seem to work great from Amazon.
WeinCell MRB625 Replacement Battery for PX625/PX13
Price was $3.95. |
Cooltouch
Tinkerer
Username: Cooltouch
Post Number: 158
Registered: 01-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 07, 2011 - 12:33 pm: |
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Thanks for the update. I'll give your suggestions a try. About the battery, I've been using 675 hearing aid batteries in a variety of old cameras: Canon F-1, FTb, Pentax KX, the Oly OM-1 that I sold, and others. Contact isn't an issue usually unless the camera's battery compartment is designed to pick up the + side from the side of the battery, like an old Nikon F for example. Then I need to add something to it. What I've been doing is I took a piece of 14ga copper wire stripped from a bit of home wiring, bent it into a ring, and pushed the ring over the side of the battery. This is just about the right size to make contact. But this isn't an issue with the OM-1 since it's picking up the + side voltage from the battery compartment cap. |
Paul_ron
Tinkerer
Username: Paul_ron
Post Number: 266
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 08, 2011 - 06:20 am: |
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If I remeber correctly there was a discussion on this once before, maybe on another site. Under the top cover, in the prism compartment there is some foam that gets gooy n has to do with why the OM meters don't work well as deteriorating the prisms themselves.
You may find an articls here in the repair section along with the manual for that model. |
Paul_ron
Tinkerer
Username: Paul_ron
Post Number: 267
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 08, 2011 - 06:32 am: |
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I did a search n got this...
\with a thread on the same complaint...
https://kyp.hauslendale.com/classics/forum/messages/2/12159.html |
Cooltouch
Tinkerer
Username: Cooltouch
Post Number: 160
Registered: 01-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 09, 2011 - 12:39 pm: |
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Thanks for the link, Paul. There's some good info in there, even though my problem appears to be different from the OP's. Still a few of the comments have given me some ideas as to how I can proceed. |
