First the saga;
I bought a 553 ELX in an auction a couple of weeks ago. At first it seemed to work ok for the initial test roll using batteries that were in it, but they died quickly. Didn't think much about it, as I didn't know the history.
I put some fresh AA lithiums in it made a couple of exposures and put it away for a few days. Pull it out, and it won't fire, battery check shows no life.
I put the camera back it's bag and headed home. Pull it out to investigate/switch batteries and the camera is warm. I open the battery compartment and one battery is hot.
I read through the manual and discover that lithium batteries are not recommended as the voltage is high. I put in some alkalines, battery check looks good at first, then goes from two lights to one, I open the battery case and the lower battery is too hot to touch!
I do some research and find this thread in camera-info-com; http://www.forums.camera-info.com/threads/dont-leave-batteries-in-your-aa-equipped-el.8525/
What I learned is that the negative contact in the battery cover is known short short out causing the lower battery to overheat and sometimes split or leak.
I verified with my multimeter that the contact was shorting out on my camera.
My fix,
Using a small screwdriver I lifted the end of the contact clear of the black insulating foam and using some sand paper I blunted the end to make it less likely to poke through any insulating layer.
Next I cut a circle from an event badge holder with a hole punch and after some trimming fit it under the end of the contact. I did the same with the other negative contacts in the cover. I suppose the badge holder is some kind of vinyl, but any slightly flexible plastic would work.
I tested with the meter, no more short, tested with the camera and it works fine, no fading battery check and no overheated batteries.
I'll post some pictures when I get a chance. According to the hits I found it's a common problem for the cameras using AA batteries, so it seemed a warning here would be helpful.
I bought a 553 ELX in an auction a couple of weeks ago. At first it seemed to work ok for the initial test roll using batteries that were in it, but they died quickly. Didn't think much about it, as I didn't know the history.
I put some fresh AA lithiums in it made a couple of exposures and put it away for a few days. Pull it out, and it won't fire, battery check shows no life.
I put the camera back it's bag and headed home. Pull it out to investigate/switch batteries and the camera is warm. I open the battery compartment and one battery is hot.
I read through the manual and discover that lithium batteries are not recommended as the voltage is high. I put in some alkalines, battery check looks good at first, then goes from two lights to one, I open the battery case and the lower battery is too hot to touch!
I do some research and find this thread in camera-info-com; http://www.forums.camera-info.com/threads/dont-leave-batteries-in-your-aa-equipped-el.8525/
What I learned is that the negative contact in the battery cover is known short short out causing the lower battery to overheat and sometimes split or leak.
I verified with my multimeter that the contact was shorting out on my camera.
My fix,
Using a small screwdriver I lifted the end of the contact clear of the black insulating foam and using some sand paper I blunted the end to make it less likely to poke through any insulating layer.
Next I cut a circle from an event badge holder with a hole punch and after some trimming fit it under the end of the contact. I did the same with the other negative contacts in the cover. I suppose the badge holder is some kind of vinyl, but any slightly flexible plastic would work.
I tested with the meter, no more short, tested with the camera and it works fine, no fading battery check and no overheated batteries.
I'll post some pictures when I get a chance. According to the hits I found it's a common problem for the cameras using AA batteries, so it seemed a warning here would be helpful.
