Minolta Flash Meter IV: burned yet again

Hello all,
Frustrated this morning because I have now bought 2 light meters used from ebay (from japan) that end up being lemons

This current one is a minolta flash meter IV. It worked fine for about two photo sessions, but now the LCD is illegible. I can tell the buttone are changing the readout, but I can't read what the screen is telling me. There is sort of a ghosting of all the various numbers and such that muddles the numbers that are meant to be readable.

I cleaned contacts already with the proper cleaner and cotton swabs. Also opened it up and, everything I could tell at least, looked normal

Any experience with these would be helpful! I can strongly advise against buying used light meters now

Unreadable LCD's with random elements ghosting etc. usually points towards contact and/or moisture problems within or associated with the LCD assembly.

koraks said:

Unreadable LCD's with random elements ghosting etc. usually points towards contact and/or moisture problems within or associated with the LCD assembly.

Click to expand...

Gotcha - I really don't know what I'm doing as far as electronics repair... any leads on what to do here? Does there still exist anyone who can fix these units?

Mammoth_research said:

I really don't know what I'm doing as far as electronics repair... any leads on what to do here?

Click to expand...

Pray that it goes away. Seriously though; sounds like a case of bad luck. See if you can return the item for a refund.
You could open it up, check for contact corrosion, clean things up, etc. However, an LCD is very fragile and the kind of work you'd need to do involves a significant risk of damaging it beyond any repair.

Mammoth_research said:

Does there still exist anyone who can fix these units?

Click to expand...

Maybe. There's always the theoretical possibility of making one working meter out of two broken ones, provided that the sum of all parts yields a working device. The LCD on devices like these is device-specific, so virtually no chance of sourcing a replacement.

My head is spinning at the thought! I think it goes in the drawer for now haha.

Put it somewhere for an extended time in someplace warm with good ventilation - leave the battery compartment open.
Just in case it needs to dry out.