Kodak Retina IIIc with hood

[colyn]

I picked up this Retina minus the hood from a RFF member recently and got it fixed up and working. The only thing not working is the meter. I know I can use my handheld meter but I'd like to get the meter working and was wondering if anybody knows of a source for selenium cells.

 

[Chris Sherlock]

G'day Colyn,

It is very rare to need a selenium cell, they usually all do something useful. Usually the movement is open circuit instead. If you are lucky the spring that holds the selenium cell in place has lost its tension and there is no proper electrical contact being made between the selenium cell and the contacts. Pushing on the front of the selenium cell will often give you brief contact, and you can see the needle kick. Then you'll know what to do.

Movements can be checked for action by touching the probes of a multimeter set to diode test, or conductivity test.

Regards, Chris

 

[colyn]

You were close Chris.. Turns out to have been oxidation between the spring and cell. I took some emory paper and slipped it between and polished. Once I removed the paper the meter came to life.

Indoor lighting tests with a known accurate meter looks good. But I won't call it good till I do some daylight tests.

Thanks for your help...

 

[BW400CN]

Chris Sherlock has some used and working Lightmeter for the Retina IIIc/C if you can´t fix it yourself.