Might as well have a go....

[Crackle]

You know those things that just aren't worth getting repaired. So you think, well it doesn't work now, what's the harm. None really, apart from the psychological damage of wrestling with something which is beyond you but you don't want to admit it.

So it was, armed with this thought, I took apart my Canon S30 digital camera. When you slid back the lens cover it was supposed to whir and bleep before extending its lens in a theatrical display of techno wizadry: Except it didn't. It had beeped its last, whirred no more, impressed no longer.

My finely tuned electronic fault finding senses told me there must be some kind of micro switch in the lens cover which had ceased to switch. It couldn't be too tricky to get to it and have a look. There weren't many screws to take out. Not because it didn't have many, it did but it seemed they'd all fallen out bar a few. Probably down to the time I had hoofed it across a gravel path in an impressive arc, when it fell out my pocket as I was teaching my youngest to ride a bike and running at full pelt holding on to him.

One last screw, an ever so gentle wiggle and........pop! Tiny bits of inticate metal plates and ribbons of electronics spilled onto the table. Ok, uh-huh, yeah that's not too bad, I can get all them back in. Let's have a look at the cover. There it was a tiny mechanism of tinier electronic ribbons and screws and springs and plates.

30 minutes of fiddling later and I'd found the particle of metal which twitched an electon and made a contact which magically turned the camera on and off. Quite how it had worked in the first place or survived my conversion over the path is one of those eternal mysteries.

Anyway, with the merest hint of a touch I re-adjusted it, slid back the cover and with a whir and a bleep........life! Hah! Double Hah! I poked and tested it a bit more to make sure it wasn't kidding me but it wasn't.

Back together now: 30 mins later I finally got the case to meet in the middle. Quick check. Oh no, no life! All back apart again, fiddle, check, fiddle check, nothing. Even short cutting the micro switch wouldn't make it work. For the life of me I couldn't figure why but I was defeated. my tiny fiddling lifespan of patience was in the red and the camera is where I left it, sitting on the table in a heap of untidy tiny parts which by tomorow wil have lost their rightful place in my memory.

Ah well. They are only £30 on ebay, so it was worth having a go, wasn't it?

 

[biggs682]

of course it was , always worth a go , we would not be real man if we didnt

 

[krushavik]

Well worth having a go. My theory is I will not let this piece of metal beat my superior brain. Ah sadly it nearly always does.

 

[Baggy]

Naughty camera, teasing you like that...

 

[Oxo]

How about posting a piccie of the bits on your table?

 

[Stephenite]

Have you taken a soldering iron to offending item? Often a bit of heat, or indeed, applied vigorous but gentle concentrated effort, can bring rewards to a localised area.

I agree with the previous poster. Put up photos indicating the problem area and we can direct positive energy in the blind hope it has any effect.

Glad to be of help

 

[Rhythm Thief]

 

[Tyke]

Go back for another go later it's often easier the second time after a break. You can still bin it if needed but lots of joy if it works.

 

[Globalti]

My most successful repair ever: one of the buttons on the hand grip on my motorcycle (horn? starter? flasher? can't remember) failed because the spring behind it seemed to have broken. I was looking at a lot of money even for a replacement off a scrap bike so like the OP I though "what's to lose?"

Took it all apart and discovered that the spring, a coiled copper thing like a watch spring, had indeed broken. Hmmmm.... should be able to make a new one. Ever so carefully I made a rather crude replacement out of a piece of copper wire coiled up flat then I tempered it by heating over the gas ring and quenching it in water, which made it stiff. Popped it in to housing behind the button and bingo! It worked and continued to work for a couple of years until I sold the bike.

 

[Red Light]

of course it was , always worth a go , we would not be real man if we didnt

Real men would have taken it apart when it was still working fine

 

[Vapin' Joe]

And there is no mention of the OP looking for any sort of instruction manual on the net or anywhere else.

That is the sign of a REAL man. Hat's off to you, Sir.

 

[Crackle]

 

[Crackle]

Ta Dah!!!

 

[vernon]

My most successful repair ever: one of the buttons on the hand grip on my motorcycle (horn? starter? flasher? can't remember) failed because the spring behind it seemed to have broken. I was looking at a lot of money even for a replacement off a scrap bike so like the OP I though "what's to lose?"

Took it all apart and discovered that the spring, a coiled copper thing like a watch spring, had indeed broken. Hmmmm.... should be able to make a new one. Ever so carefully I made a rather crude replacement out of a piece of copper wire coiled up flat then I tempered it by heating over the gas ring and quenching it in water, which made it stiff. Popped it in to housing behind the button and bingo! It worked and continued to work for a couple of years until I sold the bike.

For future reference- phosphor bronze wire will do the job perfectly.

I'm surprised that you manged to temper copper by annealing it

Still it did the job. Motorcycle spares can be ridiculously expensive hats off to thrift.

 

[vernon]

Real men would have taken it apart when it was still working fine

A real man would have dismantled it before using it to confirm that it's going to work fine.