Olympus mju 1 drains battery in +-3 days

[Decayed Pixel]

Hi everyone,

So here goes, my wife found her grandfathers camera while clearing out the basement. It's a Olympus [mju:]-1. She was looking for a new camera so this one was perfect, she loved it! Plus to my surprise it still seemed to work, after being in a cellar for years.

It's in really good shape and with a fresh battery everything worked flawless. But here's the problem, after 2-3 days it wouldn't turn on anymore, I thought that maybe we bought a faulty battery, so I went and bought another new one, and everything looked fine again. but again after 2-3 days it was drained completely.

So for some reason it sucks power from the battery really quickly even when its turned off, the only thing I can think of that could drain it this fast is something to do with the flash?

Since I'm quiet handy and good with a soldering iron I'm thinking of taking it apart and seeing if there's maybe a leaking capacitor or resistor or something of the kind, finding a new one and replacing it. I do have to admit I don't really know that much about electronics, but hey, it's already broken so no harm in trying right.

What do you guys think, anyone ever ran into anything similar? Any advice is much appreciated!

//I didn't know if I should post it here in the 35mm equipment tread or the repair and mod tread so I'll hit up both, sorry if it's in the wrong place.

Thanks,
Decayed Pixel and somewhat anxious wife

 

[John Koehrer]

I've seen a couple of stylus cameras that had problems with the power switch. It's opened/closed by the clamshell door.
It's been a long time since I worked on them but using my very weak powers of memory, the top & bottom covers are removed
and the door is simply popped off from the top. There is a bearing under the door ~2X4mm this is the detent for the door.

 

[AgX]

If that switch is activated, who is draining what?
I mean there is the current for the LCD and then there is the drain for the memory, but that is inherent anyway.

But the lens-extending motor then should be on constantly!
It could be that the flash is charged too, but likely that starts only after metering.

 

[shutterfinger]

Was there a battery in the camera while it was stored?
Is there corrosion in the battery chamber?
Is the current with the clamshell door closed the same as it is in a static state with the clamshell door open?

 

[Gabriel Choo]

Is there a workaround for this? I have a similar problem too!

 

[shutterfinger]

Is there a workaround for this? I have a similar problem too!

The simplest is to remove the battery when the camera is not in use such as overnight to a few days.

 

[darkosaric]

The simplest is to remove the battery when the camera is not in use such as overnight to a few days.

This, or simply buy a new one. Mju II is very expensive, but Mju I cost couple of euros. I found one for 3€ recently on flea market, played a bit, and sold it for less than 10€ on auction site. Once when electronics are problematic - troubleshooting does not pay off. That is why fully mechanical cameras are holding its price better.