contact missing in battery compartment/Olympus EC EC2 ECR

[stonerfforum]

Hello Everyone!

I won a camera , Olympus 35 EC 2, on eBay. It cost me quite some money. But I found the negative contact in the battery compartment was missing. Is there place on internet I can find the orginal look of the negative contact? (this is my first question) I found another seller on eBay selling ECR. That ECR is also without negative contact. Is it a coincident? (http://cgi.ebay.com/OLYMPUS-35-ECR-...5265841QQihZ019QQcategoryZ15234QQcmdZViewItem)

I also found if I took the metal body of the camera as negative port, the amber/yellow light lit and the shutter could be fired. (sometimes shutter fired without opening--this is another problem) My question is the yellow light seems always light on. I search on forum and found somebody asked the same question--another conincident, they do not have answer from anyone but to cut off the led wire to turn it off. For an EC2 , should the led always light on?

Regards/Stone

 

[jesse1dog]

Hi Stone
The ECR, EC & EC2 cameras are a nice range but do suffer some problems.
Have you removed the base of your camera?
I think the battery holder is a push-in fit, OK there might be a bit of adhesive round it as well but on mine there is no other fixing. Gently pry out the holder and what wiring there is will be revealed. I suspect there is no negative wire, or it is coroded. Any flatish stud should do as a contact and then its a case of a bit of soldering. Replace everything. Put in good batteries and see what happens. The shutter will cock and make a noise without batteries but will only open with them - if I remember correctly - its old age creeping on!
I think the led light should come on with some pressure on the shutter release button, and I think it should go off before the shutter fires. Certainly shouldn't be on all the time.
You might care to look for a manual by Googling.
Have fun
jesse

 

[stonerfforum]

my EC2

my EC2

Hello Jesse!

Thank you for your help. I did try to remove the plastic compartment but it was tight. I was afraid to break it. Now I can do it with confidence.

You said there was no negative wiring. That probably explained my test result. I connect the negative port of batteries to any where of the metal camera body. The LED lights on and The shutter does fire!

I found EC manual on internet. The yellow light must be off if we release the shutter. But mine is always on!! Still have no answer on this . short-circuited somewhere?

Regards/Stone

 

[stonerfforum]

updated

updated

Hello Jesse!

I have pulled the plastic compartment out according to your instruction. It is not that difficult to remove it. And I found a white wire below the negative contact. I believe this is the negative wire. So I pull it out and connect to the negative port of batteries.

The led won't light on always. Instead, the led is only on while I push the shutter button a little! This sounds correct operation.
But at this time, I found another problem. When I push the button in full stroke. The shutter won't fire! That is very strange.
(But if I contact the negative with camera body, it fires..but again the led is always on.)

HELP!

Regards/Stone

 

[jesse1dog]

Hi Stone
You are making progress!
Don't know why your shutter doesn't fire and really need to look at an EC2 to see. Unfortunately I'm in the middle of a series of jobs and wont be able to get my bench clear for at least a few days - have a 16" dial clock in pieces and that takes up a lot of room.
Perhaps someone else can help.
I'll get back to you when I can.
Jesse

 

[Anno]

Dear Stone,
Did you ever fix your EC2? I have a similar problem with my newly acquired ECR that has a loosen negative contact in one chamber of the battery compartment. The metal tip is completely separated from the wire underneath. I try to use tin foil to fill in the gap but the battery would become warm and then hot after I push the shutter a number of times. The yellow light would never turn on.

I am tempting to follow Jesse's suggestion to open it up and solder the wire to the contact but am afraid of my lowly skill level may make it worse.

Anyone can help?

 

[bmattock]

Dear Stone,
Did you ever fix your EC2? I have a similar problem with my newly acquired ECR that has a loosen negative contact in one chamber of the battery compartment. The metal tip is completely separated from the wire underneath. I try to use tin foil to fill in the gap but the battery would become warm and then hot after I push the shutter a number of times. The yellow light would never turn on.

I am tempting to follow Jesse's suggestion to open it up and solder the wire to the contact but am afraid of my lowly skill level may make it worse.

Anyone can help?

If you remove the base plate of the camera, you can access the battery compartment and remove it without fear of doing it an injury.

 

[Anno]

Bmattock,
Great! Thank you for your assurance. I will just do that. But how difficult is it to solder the wire to the contact with the plastic chamber right there?

 

[bmattock]

Bmattock,
Great! Thank you for your assurance. I will just do that. But how difficult is it to solder the wire to the contact with the plastic chamber right there?

I was not able to do it, I had to ask a friend with better eyes than myself. The wire is very fine gauge.

 

[Anno]

Thanks, Bmattock. I will remove the base plate first and see what I can do.

 

[John Hermanson]

Corroded Contacts

Corroded Contacts

This is a very common problem in the EC series. At Olympus Camera in Woodbury, NY, when we were doing factory repairs on these, a vast majority came in with battery corrosion. The mercury batteries themselves were horrible. We'd buy new stocks on these directly from Duracell and they would start leaking right on the shelf within a very short time. So, when we did estimates on the EC camera, I'd give a light tug on the battery contact with tweezers. many times the contact would just fall out. the connecting wire was gone, replaced with a small dot of acidic chemicals. Battery leakage would often flow right through the wire into the camera circuit. Nice little cameras destroyed by lousy battery characteristics. I still have some brand new battery covers for EC, ECR, EC2. John, www.zuiko.com

 

[John Hermanson]

Pry battery box up (be careful, it's plastic, glued in and could break). You'll have to clean the underside of the battery contacts so they'll accept solder, solder on new wires. if the little junction block is all corroded, you'll have to at least jump that. John, www.zuiko.com

 

[bmattock]

Pry battery box up (be careful, it's plastic, glued in and could break). You'll have to clean the underside of the battery contacts so they'll accept solder, solder on new wires. if the little junction block is all corroded, you'll have to at least jump that. John, www.zuiko.com

It has been my experience that the battery contacts are so tiny on the EC/ECR that if there is corrosion, they typically either vanish entirely or become such small dots that they 'fall through' the holes they were meant to be attached through. I've had to have my 'soldering connection' guy fabricate new contacts to rest in the bottom of the well. Also took the opportunity to jump the well so that only one battery is required, an LR44, leaving one bay open. Seems to work - about half the time.

 

[Pompiere]

I had to completely replace the wires from the battery on my ECR. The corrosion had travelled up the wires like a candle wick, so they were completely gone. There is still a bit of residue lurking around, because every few months, the camera will stop working. Once I clean the battery contacts, I'm back in business. I melted the battery compartment a little when I soldered the new wires on. You have to have a glob of molten solder on the iron and be quick when you touch the iron and wire to the back of the contact. You only have about one second. If the plastic starts to melt, pull the soldering iron away and let things cool off.

 

[John Hermanson]

The hole in the bottom of the battery box is about half the size of the contact itself, and there is no space on the other side for the contact to go. It's not likely they fall into the camera. John, www.zuiko.com

 

[John Hermanson]

Or solder new wires to contacts, thread through holes, snap in place, glue battery box back in, solder wires to junction board (if any). John, www.zuiko.com