Survey: Can we repair the electronics of photo devices ourselves?

[Taylor Nankervis]

I read that the Minolta (Maxxum) 7000 from 1985 was the first SLR where no one had anymore a complete overview of the entire construction in detail.

There's a name that ring's the bell...
In 1988 the camera I carted along on a lengthy bushwalk was a Minolta Dynax 9000i (I think it was Dynax, or Maxxum?? )It was my first acquaintance with a camera festooned with (fiddly), small push buttons. Whatever was wrong with that camera didn't particularly endear it to me when I was advised that two rolls of Kodachrome 64 (or 200?) were badly underexposed. Subsequently two further rolls through the camera produced the same results. I was too upset, especially, by the ruination of the record of a one-time bushwalk, than to be bothered with repairing it; sold it for parts and went on to a Canon T90. And that's where the real progress was made.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Alkaline batteries leak potassium hydroxide (KOH) - very corrosive.

It is interesting that some metals are not attacked by the battery electrolyte:

Minolta Hi-Matic GF: Corrosion fixed in the battery compartment, impressions from inside the camera

I already had this small Hi-Matic on the table last year. The previous owner had probably forgotten the two AA batteries in the battery compartment, which had leaked. The two batteries were so swollen that I could only pull them out of the compartment with force using combination pliers and a...

www.photrio.com

Canon T90 and T70: Rescuing victims of leaked battery electrolyte

From a collection of cameras, I chose these two T90s and one T70. They all have one thing in common: their battery compartments cannot be opened because the batteries have leaked. The battery acid has cemented the battery holders and the battery compartment cover of the T70. When I tried...

www.photrio.com

 

[Chan Tran]

Camera electronics are difficult to replace. First they may have ASIC chip which is impossible to find. Then even with components that you can find electrically equivalent but the form factor just doesn't fit.