Yashica Electro 35 GT issue

Janz

Janz

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Hi, about a week back I got a Yashica electro GT on a whim. Haven't tried it until today when the battery adapter arrived (from the yashica guy), Pop it in and nothing happens, the shutter sounds the same before, I change the ISO settings, press the battery check button, nothing lights up. So I try to completely cover the meter with my finger and press the shutter halfway, and the yellow overexposure button lights up. I tried repeating this but haven't gotten a similar result yet.

Do anyone have any idea what could be wrong? I've read about the PAD, could that be it?

Any help would be great!
 
First, check to make sure the camera is set to auto, this is done by turning the ring on tne front of the lens. Next, make sure you are putting the battery in the adapter the right way. Next, make sure the electrical contacts in the battery chamber are clean. Even if they look clean, you should scrape them a little with the tip of a screwdriver to be sure.

If the camera still doesn't work, the wire from the battery compartment might have become corroded and disconnected. This can be reconnected, but there isn't much room to work with.
 
Has there been any progress on this issue? I have the exact same problem - Electro35 GT in good looking condition, new battery and adapter from Yashica-guy, but no battery check illuminated.
 
There are two wires soldered to the chrome ring at the + end of the battery chamber. One (which connects to the adjacent small circuit board) powers the battery test, and the other powers the exposure circuit, including the slow/over lights. One wire can be corroded or broken while the other makes good contact. If your battery test light doesn't work but your exposure lights do, check the short red wire and its connections. Really, though, the battery test light is redundant; if your exposure lights work, you've got power.
 
For me, my issue turned out not to be the chrome ring's connections but instead the battery cover. The webbed thin silver piece around the center had corroded away and wasn't making contact between the battery cover, the battery bump, and the chrome ring.

Just to confirm - the (+) battery bump should have continuity to the chrome ring, correct?
 
In case it might be helpful, I did an article on how to test a Yashica Electro.

Also, if you want to get it fixed, Russ Sisco (b1bmsgt here on RFF) or Mark Hama (google) in Atlanta have both done great work for me.

I have bought a half-dozen of these, hoping for a "steal" at $10-$20. All on mine needed repairs and turned out to be great $100 cameras.
 
Sebastian, I apologise if this has been covered before, but I notice in your article you state that an absence of clunk indicates a POD issue, and a good solid clunk means a good solid pad. I have seen others saying the same, but have seen probably just as many people (such as Yashica Guy) saying that the clunk is bad, and a light click indicates a healthy pad. Is this matter under dispute? Does it depend on the individual camera? Thanks!
 
Hello, I totally forgot about this thread. The issue has evolved, sometimes it works fine, sometimes nothing. It seems to work better if I have it in "off mode" for a while, I haven't tried to fix it myself. It's been sent off to a repair man, I'll report in when the issue have been resolved. Thanks for the help everyone, really appreciate it!
 
Autoluminescent said:
Sebastian, I apologise if this has been covered before, but I notice in your article you state that an absence of clunk indicates a POD issue, and a good solid clunk means a good solid pad. I have seen others saying the same, but have seen probably just as many people (such as Yashica Guy) saying that the clunk is bad, and a light click indicates a healthy pad. Is this matter under dispute? Does it depend on the individual camera? Thanks!
Click to expand...

A good solid clunk is a healthy indication for a Yashica Electro.

Here's a youtube video of a healthy Electro. Note the clunk right at the start of movement of the advance lever. That's the way all of mine sound after being worked on by the pros.
 
ColSebastianMoran said:
A good solid clunk is a healthy indication for a Yashica Electro.

Here's a youtube video of a healthy Electro. Note the clunk right at the start of movement of the advance lever. That's the way all of mine sound after being worked on by the pros.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your response! I had seen that video (along with a similar one on YouTube) and noticed people disagreeing on the matter in the comments. I'd also noticed in this guide by Yashica Guy that he finds the opposite to be true. I am not disagreeing with you as I know very little on the topic, but as you both seem to have a fair bit of experience of the problem and fixing it, and have had opposite results, I wondered whether it may depend on the material used to replace the pad?

When I got the camera and discussed it with my godfather (who is rather older than me and apparently had one of these cameras when it was new) I mentioned the POD problem I'd read about online, and he said he never remembered his Yashica exhibiting a clunk, but says that may just as easily be down to his poor memory as anything else 😛

I hope I'm not coming across as rude, just wondering what the reason behind the differing stories I've heard/read about online could be! Obviously it is entirely possible that the other reports I've read are simply wrong, it only takes one typo on a widely read article such as Yashica Guy's to cause confusion I suppose!
 
Just saw this post so I thought I would add my $0.02 worth...

If you like, click on the link in my signature for an explanation of the POD, and the reason for the clunk.

The sound of the clunk can definitely be different from camera to camera, mostly due to the condition of the POD itself. It's possible for it to be still of the proper size, but be deteriorated into a soft state, which will cause a softer sound. If the POD has been replaced, the material used can also result in different sounds, as was mentioned in the previous post. The only way to be sure of the PODs condition, though, is to actually look at it.

Hope this helps...

Russ
 
Thanks for the help everyone, I ended up sending it off to a repairman, and got the POD fixed for a good price. It works almost perfectly now, unfortunately the PC socket doesn't seem to work. I recently added a flash (Vivitar auto thyristor 2800) to my set up and it doesn't fire in any mode. The flash itself works perfectly, the PC cord also works I've tested this on other cameras. Anyone got an Idea of whats causing this? I plan to fix this myself, I just need to know what to do. Any suggestions?
 
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