stuck battery?

[lff]

Alright...it's my first post here, so bear with me.

I just got a GT with- as far as I know- a simple problem. The original mercury battery was still in the chamber when I received the camera. Upon trying to remove the battery, half of it broke off & the rest stayed in the chamber. It seems to have swelled & won't come out without some force. Unfortunately, I'm not able to use a tool to grasp the battery to pull it out. I removed the bottom of the camera & could even partially remove the battery chamber, but could feel resistance from the top end as if a wire was soldered to it & finally had to give up put it all together.

Does anyone have any ideas what I could do next?

Thanks in advance.

 

[kmack]

Vinegar, try a few drops at a time, it will fizz like crazy but it may dissolve the residual batter goo in the chamber and allow you to wiggle it out.

 

[colyn]

One thing you might try is to take a long sheet metal screw and screw into the battery and try pulling out with pliers.

 

[lff]

kmack, you win nothing for a great answer that wound up working! Thanks just the same though. I let it sit in vinegar since last night & gave a tug (on this metal strip attached to the battery) with needle-nose pliers & it came right out.

I also would like to thank you Colyn for a solid answer, but I couldn't bear with the idea of drilling into a mercury battery with a screw & risk releasing mercury like that. A take on your idea that someone I spoke with yesterday might also have worked. He suggested super-gluing something to the battery & pulling the mess out as one piece after the glue dried & cured.

Thankfully I didn't have to go that route.

I can't wait to run some film through this camera!

Thanks again for the quick responses. I hope I can return the favor one day.

 

[kmack]

kmack, you win nothing for a great answer

Story of my life, the only thing I ever won was the Draft lottery. My number was 2.🙂
I'm glad it worked for you.

 

[john neal]

Iff,

You may find that the battery goo has rotted through the solder joint at the top of the battery casiing. If so, you need to take the top plate off and repair the joint.

You may even need a new battery chamber if the spring is rotted through. If so let me know and I can send you one (I have 2 or 3 spares).

 

[lff]

Damn, kmack....if there was ever a time to lose at something....I still thank you for your service to our country- wanted or not.

Mr Neal, thanks for your offer. I'll keep it in consideration. After I got the battery out the spring looked pretty good- just a little more green corrosion to be cleaned off. I'm tempted to think the solder on the top end of the chamber is still intact since I couldn't pull the chamber out of the camera specifically because the chamber was still attached to "something wire-like" at that end.

I have a Yashica-guy adapter/battery in a GSN & after I can clean up that chamber some more, I'll throw the battery in the GT & see what happens.

The next project might be more daunting- an apparently stuck shutter on a Hi-Matic 7.

 

[lff]

Well, I put the YG adapter & battery in the GT & it didn't seem to get any power from the battery. BC light doesn't come on nor do either under- or over-exposure lights come on.

Does anyone have any ideas on where to proceed next?

Oh yeah, I did remove the + sticker in the battery cap.

 

[Ricohman]

The solder at the top of the battery will most likely be corroded to the extent that it has fallen off. The top of the spring may also be missing.
Anyway, pull the top off and resolder the joint. Take a good look at the wire coming from the battery as it may be corroded end to end. If that's the case replace the wire.

 

[lff]

bump for kingster.