Did I just fry my Bronica SQ-Ai??

[Charles-Olivier]

Hello everyone,

I have been frustrated at my Bronica's inability to shoot in the winter and I made the mistake of using Lithium batteries which I thought would endure the cold better. So I put the lithium batteries in and nothing happened, then I put the original alkaline batteries back and everything seemed to work fine. So I decided to give it another try and put the lithium back in but nothing. Then I swapped the original ones back in and since, the camera hasn't been working at all. No batteries lights, no shutter, nothing. I went to the store to buy fresh alkaline batteries, even tried fresh silver oxide ones but nothing.

Could it be that I fried my camera?? If yes, could there be a safety mechanism such as a fuse for dummies like me who made a mistake with the batteries?

I have repaired cameras before and I'm not afraid of opening it up. I would just hope anyone could give me any hope that this is even worthwhile.

-Charles

 

[wiltw]

This was an active topic of discussion about 2Bronica specificed alkaline or silver oxide for the ETRS, SQ, and GS1 cameras, per their user manuals. Lithium cells did not exist when the bodies were created...even the ETRSi user manual does not list lithium.
Later on, IIRC, Tamron Bronica added lithium only for the ETRS(i) in their website information but not for the SQ and GS1. I do not recall the reason for this. Unfortunately the Tamron information is no longer accessible.today.
There are posts by ETRS owners that the lithium version (PX-28L) worked fine for them.

It is unlikely that you 'damaged' your body simply with Lithium chemistry in the battery...it is simply 6V no matter what chemistry, in that battery form factor!

In further researching, I found this post by someone about the GS-1:

"Bronica (Tamron) recommends against lithium cells for the GS-1 because they keep on functioning at reduced power rather than simply cutting out, resulting in unpredictable results late in the power cycle."​

I found a post of mine dated 2010:

"Tamron later said the lithium version of the PX-28 was perfectly fine only for the ETR(Si), but not the SQ or GS. ETR is fine with alkaline, silver oxide, or lithium battery."​

The Bronica is essentially an all-mechanical camera, which uses battery power only for light meter power and forSeiko shutter timing circuitry...why the 6V battery chemistry might matter is somewhat puzzling, but the use of 3V lithium cell in an Olympus OM-4 is not endorsed either...for battery lifetime reasons.

 

[Thorpelyon]

My Bronicas are notorious for having battery doors that loosen over time. I’ve wedged a folded piece of paper inside the compartment to force the batteries down against the contacts, and this trick has brought a couple of my Bronicas back to life.

 

[Deleted member 88956]

My Bronicas are notorious for having battery doors that loosen over time. I’ve wedged a folded piece of paper inside the compartment to force the batteries down against the contacts, and this trick has brought a couple of my Bronicas back to life.

This has been the reason I've been on a fence for SQ Ai as it appears to have been a (- ) talking point on this body. And possible issue for OP. Lithium battery itself did not "kill" anything.

 

[shutterfinger]

Most only look at the battery voltage but the current capacity of the battery is equally important. Solid state devices require a voltage to operate (turn on) then the current is what makes the circuit work.

 

[glbeas]

I solved my Sqai battery problems by getting a motor drive handle for it. The camera runs off the batteries in the handle, six AAs. Way cheaper than the button batteries.

 

[DWThomas]

For the two cents it may be worth I shall attempt to attach a PDF of some Bronica battery recommendations and comments. I downloaded the info as text about ten (OMG TEN?!) years ago from the Tamron website.

It's possible the lithium battery situation has improved in the intervening years, but apparently the main beef was that there are/were several different technologies used and some were not too reliable for intermittent high current loads (like a shutter).

From what's been described, I tend to doubt the lithium batteries are the problem, but I've read enough grumblings about the Ai multi-button cell battery pack to be glad I went with my SQ-A and its PX28 style battery.