Fixing Olympus RC

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Hey all,

I got an Olympus RC a while ago and installed some hearing aid batteries in it with a wad of tinfoil to take up space, but it appears that the meter is dead. I know the first thing to check for is to see if the battery connection is corroded. The inside of the battery container looks fine, but, when I tried to take off the battery contact, I found that the screw holding it in was completely stripped. I've taken off the baseplate but don't see any way to to help get that screw out to see what's going on.

I don't have a soldering iron currently, so I'm trying to be careful about this. The shutter speeds work fine, so I don't want to mess it up too much since I can currently use the camera meterless.

I know that there is a repairman near me who services Olympus cameras (people on this forum reference him for Olympus repair), but I believe his asking price is around $80, a bit too much for me considering I can buy a working one for that price.

Any suggestions or tips?

Thanks!

-Christopher
 
Thanks for the link. It will be very useful if I start really taking this guy apart. It sure is a nice camera, so I'm hoping to make it fully operational!

Any other help will be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
 
Hi Christopher,

Take a look at a thread titled "35RC disassembly". Rob Scumaci is the original poster and has provided some great pictures of the process. The battery tray issue is discussed also.

That thread is here in the Olympus RF forum. Check it out. I'm sure it will help you.

Steve
 
Hi Christopher
I've read and re-read your first post and am a bitl concerned.
What is the wad of tinfoil going?
My RC works with just one hearing aid battery that has a rubber O-ring round it to make up for its smaller diameter.
So are we talking about a 35RC or a 35EC/ECR?

jesse
 
It's a 35RC. The tinfoil is because the hearing aid battery doesn't quite reach to both ends of the battery compartment so I had to have something conductive in between. I apologize for being confusing...only one battery was installed at a time. I also had a little cardboard circle around the battery to make it fit more snuggly. I will try to work out a better solution before I proceed to take the camera apart.
 
I tried it without tinfoil. Just some thing cardstock wrapped around the battery compartment.

2573289586_1b2780d3fb.jpg


This is after I tested the camera and opened it back up, so I know that the battery didn't move around, but still no luck with the meter.
 
Any advice on how to take the battery compartment out? I read that it is just held in with some pegs and glue, yet, I can't seem to find a way to get it out without risk of damaging the compartment (and, in fact, I lost a small chip off the compartment by being a little too forceful).
 
Just move it forth-back, right-left controlling force not to break it completely 🙂 Once it starts to move, gently pull it out. This technology, I mean how battery tray is fastened to camera, blew me away. What a hell they did - saved on one or two small screws or worked around
impossible task to pack another passenger into jet fighter?

I just checked - right, there's no much extra space - Oly's developers went for single-use tech because they didn't want to go over budget, implementing better way to keep battery tray in place.
 
I ran a test of sorts. I hooked an alligator clip wire to the metal at the bottom of the battery compartment and then the other end to the negative side of the battery. Then I held a wire on the positive side of the battery and touched that to the connection to the meter. I did not see the meter needle move at all when I did this.

To make sure that my little wiring system was working, I attached the wires to the end of a voltmeter instead of the camera and I got a reading from the voltmeter.

Any idea what this might mean? Or does it still leave everything up in the air.

I've been trying to wiggle this compartment loose for a while, but it seems to be a stubborn one.
 
I also notice that when I have the camera set to f/2.8 or f/4, the aperture blades open relatively slowly (noticeable on Bulb mode). I would assume that this means the mechanism between the lens and the battery compartment needs some sort of lubrication. I can see that it moves relatively slowly to its maximum position when I release the shutter with the aperture set at f/2.8 or f/4. However, I don't know what kind of lubricant to use or how to apply it. Suggestions?
 
My recollection is that it is indeed difficult to get the battery compartment out. I damaged mine as well, a little chip on the side, but its only cosmetic. Persistent wiggling and then some slight pull from some pliers - GENTLY - might eventually get it out.
 
This thread reminded that I needed to post my Oly RC dismantle sequence to the Kiev Survival Site. Should be up in about 10 minutes.

Cheers,

Russ Pinchbeck
 
RobScumaci said:
Hey Russ, I want to see your pics. Any reason they aren't coming up in Safari for me?
Click to expand...

I'm having a hell of a time trying to upload this section for the Oly RC. I keep getting server time outs and the upload bombs. I've had some trouble with my provider and have had my DSL router changed out a couple days ago. Things look more consistent, I'll try uploading the Oly RC stuff later tonight.

Cheers,

Russ
 
What ever the reason, I had to use a newer version of Frontpage to publish to my web site. But, in the end I got the Oly RC stuff up there and ready for everyone to enjoy.

Go nuts!

Russ Pinchbeck
 
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