F100 battery tray missing

Ariston · Sep 11, 2020

Is there a way to check if an F100 works when the battery tray is missing? I have one, but don't want to order a $25 battery tray until I can confirm it works.

Maybe I can fashion something out of aluminum foil...?

AgX · Sep 11, 2020

I know this model only by the manual.
-) use plain metering probes connected to your power supply. This involves the chance to shorten the probes and at best needs two hands, giving no chance to change settings
-) use clip-on probes
-) make a 2-pole contact plate from plastic, cardbourd etc. and mount that on a styrofoam, wood etc. extention to press onto the body contacts from without

neilt3 · Sep 11, 2020

I take it there are no camera shops that sell used gear in that might have one for you to try ?
And possibly buy ?
Any members on here that live local to you that has one ?
If not you'll have to fiddle about out with it like Agx explained .
Ideally build your dummy battery that slips in to the hand grip ( without the vertical grip on ) so you can hold it in with your finger while trying the functions of the camera .
If you need to know which terminal is which (+/-) I can check on mind when I get home from work in a few hours .

AgX · Sep 11, 2020

neilt3 said:
-) Ideally build your dummy battery that slips in to the hand grip ( without the vertical grip on ) so you can hold it in with your finger while trying the functions of the camera .
-) If you need to know which terminal is which (+/-) I can check on mind when I get home from work in a few hours .

-) the "dummy battery" is my 3rd proposal above, but I rather thought of fixing that by tape or elastic band.
-) The polarity should be identical to the position of the poles of the two cells at top end. (Cells position shown in manual)

Chan Tran · Sep 11, 2020

Ariston said:
Is there a way to check if an F100 works when the battery tray is missing? I have one, but don't want to order a $25 battery tray until I can confirm it works.

Maybe I can fashion something out of aluminum foil...?

If you can order one for $25 you should order it. The battery tray is rare.

neilt3 · Sep 11, 2020

AgX said:
-) the "dummy battery" is my 3rd proposal above, but I rather thought of fixing that by tape or elastic band.
-) The polarity should be identical to the position of the poles of the two cells at top end. (Cells position shown in manual)

The dummy batteries is the best option as the o.p can check the functions easier , including AF and flash eyc , rather than just if the camera powers up .
I haven't got the camera or manual in front of me , but yes , if it shows it in the manual then it's straightforward to identify which terminal is which .

AgX · Sep 11, 2020

I had a second look at the manual, now enlarged... And the locations of the cells are ambiguous. But the location and shape of two poles at the basket is shown, by this one should be able to identify one of the poles at the body.

Vincent Peri · Sep 11, 2020

There are quite a few F100 battery trays on sale on ebay.

neilt3 · Sep 11, 2020

If you look inside the battery compartment in the cameras grip there is a coiled up spring top right in the photo , this the contact for the negative (-) terminal .
On the bottom left , near where your finger tips go when you hold the camera by the grip are two spring loaded pins . These are the contacts for the positive (+) terminal .
Notice there are two separate terminals , , both of these will/might need to be connected .
No idea why there are two separate contacts , but if you look at the MB-15 grip this also has three separate contacts , 1 x negative and 2 x positive .
Inside MB-15 grip , the battery holder in that just has two terminals at the end .
When you look in the battery chamber with it upright , the terminal on the left , nearest the shutter release button is the positive (+) terminal .
The contact on the right ( next to the thumb wheel ) is the negative (-) terminal .
The camera use either six batteries in the MB-15 grip or four in the one that goes in the camera bodies grip .

AgX · Sep 11, 2020

Oops I had not imagined such. The only explanation I got is that the camera is fed with 2 voltages. Thus one better not connect both. A second look at the tray might make things more clear.

neilt3 · Sep 11, 2020

AgX said:
Oops I had not imagined such. The only explanation I got is that the camera is fed with 2 voltages. Thus one better not connect both. A second look at the tray might make things more clear.

In the holder that goes directly into the camera that holds 4 AA batteries , the holder just has 2 contacts . 1x negative and 1x positive . It's the camera body with two positive contacts , but both touch the positive terminal on the battery holder together .

In the holder that goes in the MB-15 grip that holds 6 AA batteries also only has 2 contacts at the end .
On the part of the MB-15 that goes into the camera it has 1 negative contact and 2 positive .

I haven't had a meter on the terminals of the grip to check the voltage though .
IIRC when the grip is attached frames per second rate goes up , so the extra contacts are probably needed for that .
Either way with the 4 cell holder , both positive terminals are connected to it at the same time .
So for doing a test on the camera , stick with the power from 4 batteries , without checking voltages , I'm not sure if the extra 2 batteries in the MB-15 grip are wired in parallel or series .

Ariston · Sep 11, 2020

Thanks everyone -

Earlier today I tried to put together a makeshift battery pack, taping the batteries together and chaining it with aluminum foil. It was pretty cumbersome and I needed more hands, but I think I got it in right and had no response. There is evidence of prior battery seepage in the compartment, but all the contacts are clean.

Between the negative spring and positive contacts in side the camera, there are two copper-looking contacts(?). I don't know if those are meant to somehow confirm that an OEM tray is installed.

The camera body looks really good, but I'd still rather not throw away money on a tray that I have no use for if it doesn't work. I am not the best with electronics, but I guess I'll try building a better makeshift battery pack. It isn't too complicated to know how the batteries are supposed to chain, but it is a little cumbersome to get them taped into the right shape with all the right parts making contact...

mshchem · Sep 11, 2020

I would throw the camera off a bridge. Be careful no one sees you. There's probably a gram of lead in it so US-EPA would want it torn down and trucked 2000 miles to a re-cycling center. I had 2 F100s that I bought for nearly nothing after the bubble burst. The damn Lithium battery, expensive and NO THEY DON'T KEEP FOR 10 YEARS OR WORK BETTER THAN ALKALINE. My F5 battery packs still work (NimH) You need to condition the pack every couple months if you don't use the camera.

neilt3 · Sep 11, 2020

Ariston said:
Thanks everyone -

Between the negative spring and positive contacts in side the camera, there are two copper-looking contacts(?). I don't know if those are meant to somehow confirm that an OEM tray is installed.

View attachment 254702

I've just had a look at both the 4x AA holder and MB-15 vertical grip .
The 4xAA battery holder ( your calling it a tray ?) has a single prong on it that when inserted into the camera will press the contact on the left in your photo .
The MB-15 has 2 prongs that when inserted presses both contacts in .
So these must be switches that tell the camera what power source is being supplied , i.e 4 or 6 battery .

Neither holder's do anything with the large gold coloured contact between them .

So , I would presume , just putting in a dummy battery pack on it's own without pressing in any of the contact's won't switch the camera on as it doesn't know what's in there .
Therefore it the camera doesn't switch on .
So your dummy battery pack will need the prong as well .

neilt3 · Sep 11, 2020

mshchem said:
I would throw the camera off a bridge. Be careful no one sees you. There's probably a gram of lead in it so US-EPA would want it torn down and trucked 2000 miles to a re-cycling center. I had 2 F100s that I bought for nearly nothing after the bubble burst. The damn Lithium battery, expensive and NO THEY DON'T KEEP FOR 10 YEARS OR WORK BETTER THAN ALKALINE. My F5 battery packs still work (NimH) You need to condition the pack every couple months if you don't use the camera.

My F100's quite happy with Sanyo Enyloops or disposables .
You don't need to stump up for Lithium batteries !

mshchem · Sep 11, 2020

neilt3 said:
I've just had a look at both the 4x AA holder and MB-15 vertical grip .
The 4xAA battery holder ( your calling it a tray ?) has a single prong on it that when inserted into the camera will press the contact on the left in your photo .
The MB-15 has 2 prongs that when inserted presses both contacts in .
So these must be switches that tell the camera what power source is being supplied , i.e 4 or 6 battery .

Neither holder's do anything with the large gold coloured contact between them .

So , I would presume , just putting in a dummy battery pack on it's own without pressing in any of the contact's won't switch the camera on as it doesn't know what's in there .
Therefore it the camera doesn't switch on .
So your dummy battery pack will need the prong as well .

Those little magic buttons are still around with Nikon Digital cameras. You have to buy the grip to get the extra 2 frames per second out of the D850. Even though you can use the single exact same battery pack.

neilt3 · Sep 17, 2020

I checked the voltages of the two battery holders if your going to build a dummy battery pack , don't forget you'll need to include the one or two pins to identify to the camera which voltage is in use .
The voltage in the MB-15 vertical grip , using 6 disposable AA's is 9.7 volt .
The battery holder MS-12 with 4 disposable AA's is 6.46 volt .

The camera works just fine with rechargeable batteries , but the voltage is lower .
Typically 1.2 volt per battery as opposed to 1.6 volt .

Ariston · Sep 17, 2020

neilt3 said:
I checked the voltages of the two battery holders if your going to build a dummy battery pack , don't forget you'll need to include the one or two pins to identify to the camera which voltage is in use .
The voltage in the MB-15 vertical grip , using 6 disposable AA's is 9.7 volt .
The battery holder MS-12 with 4 disposable AA's is 6.46 volt .

The camera works just fine with rechargeable batteries , but the voltage is lower .
Typically 1.2 volt per battery as opposed to 1.6 volt .

Thank you - I did not know which pin was for which. But I don't have the tools and skill to build a dummy holder (I tried). I sent the camera back since it wasn't mentioned that there was no battery holder. It would have been worth it if I could have been assured that it worked otherwise... oh well.

neilt3 · Sep 17, 2020

Your right enough sending it back .
If it was sold on the basis that it's in full working order and you can't even put batteries in it , it doesn't work !

Like buying a car without an engine . not a lot of use ...

Huss · Sep 19, 2020

neilt3 said:
Your right enough sending it back .
If it was sold on the basis that it's in full working order and you can't even put batteries in it , it doesn't work !

Like buying a car without an engine . not a lot of use ...

It had the engine. It was missing the fuel tank.

F100 battery tray missing

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