Canon A1 LED display trouble

[Woutervg97]

Hello!

In an old safe of the school I work it, they found a Canon A1 and gave it to me. Awesome! All I really had to do was oil the thing to get the squeek out. But.... the lightmeter display seems dead.
I´ve checked the following
- In auto mode, you can clearly see it changes settings depending on the light
- The battery check shows quite clearly that the battery is good
- I've checked with another battery just in case.

Now there is absolutely zero lights going on in the lightmeter. Anyone know what to do?
I do have an old Canon AE1 sitting in the attic, which had a broken shutter. Could I reuse parts?

 

[Chan Tran]

I do not understand what you said. If you say the camera changes settings depending on light then how do you say the meter is dead?

 

[Woutervg97]

Sorry, I meant to say the lightmeter display in the viewfinder!

 

[Woutervg97]

Been messing with it for three days. It just turned on for some reason

 

[Nitroplait]

Would you give some examples of what you have been “messing with”? I have an A-1 that seemingly works- except for the display.

 

[Woutervg97]

I saw somewhere that flipping the lightmeter on and off continuesly might force it to work somehow. Maybe that is what eventually got me lucky

 

[Nitroplait]

Thanks. I’ll play around with it for some hours while watching Netflix and see what happens.

 

[Woutervg97]

Honestly. This repair has made me both love and hate this hobby.

 

[Chan Tran]

Sorry, I meant to say the lightmeter display in the viewfinder!

If there is no display in the viewfinder how do you know the camera is changing settings?

 

[gbroadbridge]

You've turned the viewfinder display lever on, yes?

The one to the right of the Film speed dial...

 

[marhalloweenvt]

Now there is absolutely zero lights going on in the lightmeter. Anyone know what to do?

Do you mean that the led (red) is not lighting up in viewfinder or they light up but too dim too look at? Have you check the display lever like @gbroadbridge mention?

 

[F4U]

Typically capacitors go electrically leaky. This can wreak havoc. I'm not familiar with the A1, or when capacitors in general went to surface mount. But it sounds like I may be on the right track, so far as an off-the-cuff preliminary thought can take me, not having seen the unit.

 

[Woutervg97]

If there is no display in the viewfinder how do you know the camera is changing settings?

With the back open I can see the shutter speeds and aperture changing when firing

 

[mshchem]

You've turned the viewfinder display lever on, yes?

The one to the right of the Film speed dial...

Yep, this is what I was thinking

 

[F4U]

OK, after14 posts in this thread, it's time for getting down to cases. Clean all battery contacts. Clean all switches. and no I don't mean aerosol spray can remedies. Examine battery wiring from the battery to the circuit board for wicking of battery corrosion. Don't tell me the battery compartment is clean. The copper stranded wire hides corrosion under the insulation while everything else looks clean as a whistle. Next, replace all discrete capacitors. This may be tedious surface mount work. I only know electronics, not Canon A1 cameras, so I can't know about the circuit board. but one circuit board is the same as another. If the camera is not an LCD display camera and you have followed these steps, the camera should have been working properly somewhere along the way. Remenber, Japan means JIS. Don't tear it up with generic screwdrivers. Report back.

 

[gbroadbridge]

I’d suggest first of all, as I suggested above, check that the display switch is actually turned on…

 

[mshchem]

Before getting to carried away I would load test the battery. Find a decent camera store with a tester. Voltage test isn't enough. The price of a roll of Ektar and proper development and printing should also be considered. Maybe just put the camera in a drawer