Hi-Matic F battery help?

[j_newy]

Hey everyone!

After waiting for a few very long months my Minolta Hi-Matic F came in the post today. After a few minutes of staring at its beauty I decided I better fire it up!

I had read on this site that LR44 would be an ok replacement battery, (just use a bit of foil to fill the gap😉)however when I put them in and pressed the check button, nothing happened...

Should I use 4 LR44, 2 in each slot? or is there another battery alternative I could get online?

I might try to find a bit of metal to bridge the gap incase foil isn't working...

any suggestions please?😕

 

[sig]

2 LR44 should do (2x1.5v) vs the old mercury batt (2x1.35v). You can get a correct physical size 1.5 battery on the net, but expensive compared to the LR44. Silver-oxide batteries are even better (something to do with the recharge curve). You also might need to adjust the shutter speed with lower ISO setting

I have a Himatic E and the cables connected to the battery compartment was corroded off, you might need to open up the bottom and check them (and resolder). And the light is not so important, it is more important that the shutter works.

(all this is based on my experience with the E, as far as I know they are much the same but I have been wrong before)

 

[j_newy]

thanks heaps sig!

I might have to give it a good clean up/look over to make sure there aren't any little problems like this!

I've come across other people saying they have used two batteries in each slot, so a total of four batteries, any idea if this would this burn out the camera?

 

[rolleistef]

Well, burn maybe not the meter will be way out with 6v instead of 2.70/3v.
In my own F, there's a screw with a bolt where the second battery should be, and 2 LR44 on the other "slot". It works very well. I'm sorry I cannot make any photo. The "+" side should be the back side of the camera.

 

[j_newy]

i've tried putting both batteries on one side and shorting the other with a spring and i still get nothing...

im fearing this camera is dead, however i will check the connections tomorrow see if they have simply worn out 😀

thanks for your help!!!

 

[j_newy]

ok i tried re-soldering the wire and it broke 🙁 making it too short

should i dissemble the camera and see if i can replace the wire?

or call it dead....

im quite sad about it, took me more than three months to get and i can't get it working grr. Oh well plenty more cameras out there 😉

 

[caperunner]

Have a look at this site for some helpful stuff:
http://www.kyphoto.com/

 

[j_newy]

i've been looking on that site, nothing really helpful...

only that the black wire leads to the battery check, but even using batteries and trying to get the shutter going, nothing...

 

[djamorpheus]

I'm not sure how easy the minolta is to disassemble but I would take out the wire completely and replace it with a new one from a spare CAT5 cable if you have, the wires are a bit stiff though. Getting some soldering equipment and a multimeter would be an advantage, kyphoto.com is really helpful, if you have a question just post one i'm sure someone would answer. it wont hurt to try and repair the camera, just make sure you give yourself plenty of room when you disassemble and make notes or photographs

 

[Lobo]

Does it matter if i put the two batteries in the seperate chambers or place the two batteries in one chamber and shortening the empty with wire?