Pentax SPII meter goes backwards

[john_van_v]

Looks like someone switched + for - somewhere.

I put the batter in backwards, and it seemed to be on, more or less, but it surges to the top and then slowly goes to where it should be.

 

[sevo]

Looks like someone switched + for - somewhere.

I put the batter in backwards, and it seemed to be on, more or less, but it surges to the top and then slowly goes to where it should be.

Electrolytic capacitors are polarity dependent - there may be a (now dysfunctional) buffer cap between the battery chamber and the place where the wires have been mixed up. Or the overshoot is due to some older fault that was not repaired during the attempt which got the polarity inverted...

Sevo

 

[john_van_v]

That was me that switched + for -.

The manual at Pentax says that positive goes towards the top of the camera, not the outside. So I put it in like that, and I get a good reading.

Now the problem is that it surges to + for a few seconds before dropping to a good reading. Is that because I have a 1.5v rather than a 1.3?

I might have a low battery somewhere.

 

[shimokita]

I have the Pentax SP and tried a 1.5v battery as per the then current web information that the SP had a "bridge" circuit and "voltage did not matter"... well it did matter... The 1.5v did not give accurate meter readings in my situation so I switched to a 1.3v solution and the meter worked perfectly.

See also this thread: Pentax SP1000 battery?
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94820

Casey