Turning on the camera

SOURCE: S5i won't turn on in Capture mode

Hi Aunty Edna. I had exactly the same problem with my S5I 4 weeks ago. Went out and bought another camera then decided had nothing to lose by doing heart segury on S5I. Found it has a watch battery soldered to board under memmory card holder which was flat. I replaced that with a similar battery and it fixed the problem. Its not an easy job but if you know someone good with there hands it would take about an hour.Hope this helps. Regards Andy

Posted on Dec 23, 2006

SOURCE: i think my camera's stuck

This is possibly some dirt has got into the lens barrel thus making things grind to a halt. Do you have access to a photo store or camera repair shop? I don't think there is much a normal user can do here.

Posted on May 16, 2007

SOURCE: Camera turns on, beeps, turns off.

I've managed to fix my camera - but it took several hours and I needed someone to help. Not sure everyone will want to do this.


Here goes:


Need small Philips screw driver. Pair of tweezers for the small screws. A small flat screw driver for leveraging


1. Remove the battery and memory card.
2. Remove wrist strap
3. Take off the battery cover by gently lifting the retaining metal strap (with small flat screwdriver).
4. Remove all screws of the front cover of the camera housing. (one of the screws is smaller than the others). There's a screw above wrist strap loop.
5. The top of the cover is clipped in under the shiny silver bit with the on/off switch and shutter button (I’ll call it the switch/speaker assembly). I find that inserting a finger nail and gently applying pressure works well.
6. The switch/speaker assembly is best kept secure by an elastic band.
7. Verify the problem is the same: looking into the lens, at bottom right corner of camera is a small motor (silver). Look carefully, you’ll see a white plastic gear which connects the motor with a (hidden) pink gear. This pink gear is attached to a worm gear (a pin with a fine screw thread) that is brass/golden. On this worm gear is a U-shaped blue piece of plastic, which in my case was no longer at right angles to the shaft/worm gear. That's the problem.
You should be able to see all of this under a strong light and peering into the little openings.
8. Resist the temptation to just fix this by leveraging the blue rider with a tiny screwdriver (or something) until it is back in its original position. You might strip the screw thread inside the blue rider and that would be the end of the camera.
9. Next take the LCD display off. Above the little motor is a metal clip attached with 2 screws hidden behind self-adhesive copper strips.
10. Fold the LCD panel away from the camera body. Then carefully and gently unplug the power plug (pink & white in my case). Careful, the green PCB (printed circuit board) to which the socket is attached is flimsy. I don’t think it can take much force. Rather try to pry the plug & socket apart by using a knife or tiny flat screwdriver?
11. With the power cable removed, you can turn the LCD panel over (anti-clockwise) to undo the fold that is in the flat cable. The flat cable is attached to a small white plug on the PC board that contains the rear panel buttons of the camera. There is a thin, orange plastic sheet stuck over this. Lift it away gently and store somewhere for later re-assembly.
12. The socket for the flat cable has a black flap that can be lifted to release the cable. Gently tug the flat cable out of its socket and you can put the LCD panel aside.
13. Remove the metal plate that covers the rear of the lens assembly. First remove the two small screws, then unclip it at the bottom and on the side.
14. CAREFUL: in the centre of the lens assembly is the CCD (charge coupled device). This is the “thing” that contains 7 Megapixels and takes the pictures. NEVER TOUCH THE FRONT OF IT (or so I have read – I think it prudent to observe this.
15. Remove the 3 screws that hold the CCD in place. It needs to be lifted vertically from the lens assembly, otherwise it gets stuck. NOTE that my camera had two small washers under the CCD assembly: top right screw = copper, bottom screw = silver washer. The CCD assembly, too, is attached with a flat cable. The socket works exactly the same as the LCD display. I put my CCD assembly into my glasses case to prevent it from getting dust or dirt on it.
16. Now remove the 4 screws that keep the rear cover of the lens assembly attached.
17. Before removing the cover, unhook the little metal spring that is attached to the mechanism next to the worm gear. Take it right out, feed a bit of thread through one end (for re-assembly) and put it aside. (If you attach the thread immediately, the risk of losing it is reduced.)
18. Then, using your finger nail gently unclip the plastic hook next to the worm gear and lift the lens assembly cover off. There is a long plastic pin so you need to lift it quite high. Observe how the pink gear is situated relative to the plastic mechanism crossing the lens assembly. Remove the pink gear/worm gear with the blue “rider”. Be careful not to lose the small white gear that makes the connection to the driving motor.
19. Unscrew the blue “rider” from the worm gear. Ensure you keep the same orientation and gently find the correct way of putting it back. That is at right angles to the worm. Leave it fairly close to the end of the worm gear away from the pink gear.
20. Now put it back carefully. Try not to lift the part that crosses the lens assembly (the one that was attached with the little spring) too much. Otherwise a little lens flips down and you’ll have extra work to put it all back correctly. There is also a pin on which the plastic piece rides which then needs guidance when re-assembling. (Happened to me, not the end of the world.) (BTW, I think this is the auto-focus mechanism, but I can’t be sure.)
21. Hook the spring over one of its attachment points. Feed the thread through to the other side and use it to hook up the other end of the spring. Cut and remove the thread.
22. Replace the rear lens assembly cover. The long plastic pin needs to find its corresponding hole near the middle of the lens assembly. Remember the hook at the worm-gear corner. Do that one last (after the screws), ensuring that all gears and shafts/pins are in their respective holes.
23. Put back the CCD. I attached the flat cable first (flip down the black locking lever on the socket), then put in the screws. (Remember the washers.)
24. Now put back the metal plate. Clip it in on the left side first, then at the bottom, then the screws.
25. Attach the LCD flat cable. (Remember to lock the socket.) Flip it over and attach the power cable to the LCD. Remember again to be careful with the plug & socket since the PCB is flimsy. Try to apply pressure only on the plug & socket.
26. Replace the orange plastic that covers the electronics.
27. If you like, try out the camera to see the effect of the repair. I used an elastic band to keep the LCD and switch/speaker assembly in place. The battery can be inserted as per normal. NOTE: Where you observe the little blue rider in its installed position, there is a plastic pin sticking up towards the front of the camera (just under the lens). You have to hold something over this hole to prevent the pin (which is being pulled up by the little spring we removed/replaced earlier) from coming up too far. I held my thumb over the hole. If you don’t do this, you camera won’t switch on properly or won’t focus correctly. (In normal operation the front cover stops the pin from advancing too far.) Now switch on and see that all is in order. Careful when operating the zoom and other switches, since you don’t want to break the plastic covering of the switches.
28. If all is OK, then finish the assembly. REMOVE the battery! Next is the little metal plate that keeps the LCD panel in place from the side of the camera. (Remember to flatten/re-attach the adhesive copper strips.)
29. Clean the LCD panel and inside of the rear cover very well. Then put on the back cover.
30. Attach the front cover, clipping in the top carefully. Be careful to position the speaker/switch assembly properly. There is a tiny locating pin (made of plastic) - don’t break this.
31. Put back the screws all around the camera housing. Remember there is one smaller screw that fits underneath the lens. Remember also the screw just above the wrist strap loop.
32. Slide back the battery compartment cover onto its metal strip. Insert battery & memory card. Attach wrist strap. Done!


Stephan

Posted on Jul 12, 2008

SOURCE: Digital camera

I had almost similar problems with my A10 from day one. The camera shuts down before the battery is depleted, most of the time while I was operating the zoomlens. I bought a new battery, but that didn't solve it. Later I decided to take it apart as a last option. As my suspicion was the zoomlens I took out two crews of the motor that operates it. Now the motor has a bit more space to move. It seemed to be too tight against the gears so it could cause an overload. After that it worked perfectly. I made pictures for hours without having the same fault again. Be carefull too make notes where all the tiny screws belong of the casing. And maybe it will be enough to just loosen the motorscrews, but leaving them out will not make it fall out of it's place. I hope someone can use this information.

Greetings, Ron Timmermans.

Posted on Jul 25, 2008

Joy Shannon

• 346 Answers

SOURCE: New batteries but no power...

Have you tried cleaning the battery terminals with a bit of alcohol on a Q-tip? Make sure the terminals are completely dry before inserting new batteries. I am not sure if this is your problem as it may be a lose connection between the battery unit and the camera. Best of luck.

Posted on Aug 06, 2009