M645 Super Power Winder N troubles

I just bought an M645 Super kit from KEH. It arrived today. After feeling like a kid at Christmas time, i did the necessary testing of all the stuff. The kit includes a Power Winder N. Everything else works good, except the Power Winder N. After inserting 6 AA batteries (fresh) and attaching it to the body, I just could not get the guy to power up. The red LED next to the power switch doesn't go on even after I've turned the switch to on. Turning the switch to B.C does nothing either. I've tried detaching the winder from the body but also to no avail.

I couldn't find the manual for the winder anywhere on the net. Is it just broken or is there a trick to it that I'm not aware of? If its broken, not sure what I'd do as shipping cost back to KEH is astronomical.

Dani

Sorry, just checked. Its listed by KEH as Power Drive N, not Power Winder N.

That's the oldie. To begin with the obvious: are the battery contacts inside the handle clean? Are the external contacts where the drive+body connect clean? Is the camera battery good? Are your AAs good? Is the switch around the shutter release lined up to the white mark on he body? Is there film in the back? Is the drive properly attached to the body?

I just tested with mine. Even without being mounted to the camera, Battery Check feature works. So if it doesn't there is something wrong with your power grip. I concur with CGW. One of the first thing you should test is the power itself, since not powering on is the problem. Clean all contacts even if they look clean to your eyes. One of the better ways to do that is with a pencil eraser. Rub all the contacts clean with eraser and make VERY sure batteries are inserted correctly. (it's not hard to mix them up. I've done it).

I don't know how KEH handles defective returns from overseas purchase but in US, they do pay for return shipping. If above doesn't help, you should definitely give KEH a call and ask what remedy you may have.

CGW said:

That's the oldie. To begin with the obvious: are the battery contacts inside the handle clean? Are the external contacts where the drive+body connect clean? Is the camera battery good? Are your AAs good? Is the switch around the shutter release lined up to the white mark on he body? Is there film in the back? Is the drive properly attached to the body?

Click to expand...

All the contacts look clean. Both the AAs and the battery inside the camera body are fresh, I purchased them especially to use with the camera. And yup, the switch around the shutter release is lined up to the white square mark. As far as I can see, the drive is properly & securely mounted to the body. No film in the back, as I'm looking to test the camera's functions fully before loading in film (that's an excuse, I just like to dry fire my cameras, haha).

tkamiya: Thanks very much for your tip on how to clean the contacts and also for your feedback, very helpful.

That being said, I'm happy to report the power drive N has come to life! I don't know what went wrong or exactly what I did to make it power up. After reading tkamiya's comment, I removed the batteries again and made sure the polarities were right on and that the contacts were clean. Positive to both. So after that I secured the batteries inside the winder again, then remounted it to the body. Turning the switch to B.C, the red LED came on! Woot! Swithced it to Start and then 'ON', everything worked as it should. But man..is that thing loud...

My best guess is that one or some of the batteries were not seated properly in their holder.

Thanks CGW & tkamiya!

Congrats! Glad to know it worked out for you. Before putting it in service, please test it well so that you won't run into problems on location. If you haven't spotted the exact cause of the problem, it *could* be intermittent issues that KEH didn't catch. (I hope not) Yeah, that thing is really loud. For times I need to "keep it quiet", I carry my hand crank with my kit.

tkamiya: Good idea, will test it before I head out to locations. Again, thank you. The weight of the winder is offset by making the camera feel & handle like a 35mm SLR, in my opinion. Will carry the handcrank in my bag just in case.

Does the winder eats up batteries real fast in your experience? Will more or less constant use wear out the advance mechanism's gears?

Noise level is somewhere between a coffee grinder and a cement mixer. Yes, you should load it up and shoot a roll with the winder. Wind film when loading to the mark on the insert--the winder will take it to the first frame. A set of AAs seems to last a very long time--they're dirt cheap, anyway. I find I use my 645 more often after getting the winder grip--ergonomics suck without it. I'd not sweat the grip damaging your camera. Enjoy it!

CGW: I did just that (loaded a roll into a back by using the winder) today. It rocked That's good to know. Thanks for your input.

I'm still using my first set of batteries so I don't know about power consumptions. I must have ran through somewhere around 3 dozen rolls so far and my winder is still going strong with the original set. I had issues with the battery in camera body going weak and do strange things even when the battery check (on camera) said it is still good.

If your M645Super misbehaves such as release a shutter, mirror goes up, shutter opens and hangs there, remove the camera battery and reinsert - better yet, replace with a fresh one even if battery check says OK.

Enjoy your new camera!

Wow, 3 dozen rolls from 1 set of AA's is pretty amazing..thanks tkamiya, for the reassurance and tip regarding removing the battery when/if the camera acts up.