Yashica Electro 35 CC repair

[wkjagt]

I just bought an as new Electro 35 cc. The only problem it had, was that the viewfinder was all foggy. So, following these instructions I cleaned it and it's nice and bright now. I managed to put everything back together, including the battery check button, which was really difficult.

One problem though. Before taking the top off, there was the well know loud thunk when winding. After putting everything back together though, the thunk sound is completely gone. The camera does seem to be working fine though, which is weird, as it's not supposed to. But then again, I don't know what the expected behaviour is when the pad is no longer good. I do prefer it more quiet like this, but I know it's supposed to be problematic in some way.

Did I make a mistake putting it back together?

 

[jorisvanhoute]

I like it quiet too but the clunk is supposed to be there. It means all the contacts are being reset. If you google yashica POD you find a lot of information on this.

Most sites recomend an allmost complete disassembly but I can assure you you can replace the pad with only removing the top. good luck!!

 

[wkjagt]

I like it quiet too but the clunk is supposed to be there. It means all the contacts are being reset. If you google yashica POD you find a lot of information on this.

Most sites recomend an allmost complete disassembly but I can assure you you can replace the pad with only removing the top. good luck!!

It's strange though that the clunk was there before I cleaned the viewfinder. I'll have to open it again and see if maybe I did something wrong?

 

[wkjagt]

I'm gonna need some help... I removed to top plate to see what happened to make the clunk disappear. So with the top off, I pushed down on the shutter button, and now everything is stuck. The camera won't wind anymore and the shutter no longer triggers. No idea what went wrong. Only thing I did was push down on the shutter mechanism to see how it worked....

 

[farlymac]

One possibility is the POD came loose when you had the top off the first time, and now it's lodged somewhere along the path of the shutter release shaft.

PF

 

[jorisvanhoute]

it is possible the shutter can't push down as far as it should because of a now to small or gone rubber pad. try to see if the pad is still there and around 2mm thick. if not, replace and try again

 

[wkjagt]

Found it! I was trying to see which part was stuck and trying to make different parts move when the small brass pin from the PC connector fell out from somewhere in the winding mechanism. Everything is real smooth again. So it was the pin that was stuck between some moving parts. The clunk is also back.

But here are a couple of observations I made.

First, when the clunk was gone, the camera seemed to be functioning normally, but with one small difference. When a slow shutter speed was selected by the camera, the shutter would close prematurely when releasing the shutter button. So the only function of the shaft staying in the down position seems to be to make sure the shutter stays open for the required duration.

Secondly, I looked closely at what produced the "clunk" sound, and in my Electro 35 CC there is no pad, not even a trace of a pad, or a place where a pad could exist. There isn't even the second rod that other Electro's have. Is the CC the only model that doesn't actually have a "pad of death"?

 

[ForestCap]

Found it! I was trying to see which part was stuck and trying to make different parts move when the small brass pin from the PC connector fell out from somewhere in the winding mechanism. Everything is real smooth again. So it was the pin that was stuck between some moving parts. The clunk is also back.

But here are a couple of observations I made.

First, when the clunk was gone, the camera seemed to be functioning normally, but with one small difference. When a slow shutter speed was selected by the camera, the shutter would close prematurely when releasing the shutter button. So the only function of the shaft staying in the down position seems to be to make sure the shutter stays open for the required duration.

Secondly, I looked closely at what produced the "clunk" sound, and in my Electro 35 CC there is no pad, not even a trace of a pad, or a place where a pad could exist. There isn't even the second rod that other Electro's have. Is the CC the only model that doesn't actually have a "pad of death"?

I've seen some posts online saying CC(CCN), FC, GL and GX don't suffer from pod of death. My GX has a very loud clunk sound when winding, I suspect the seller who did the CLA forget to install some spring back under the shutter button. To avoid the clunk I half press the shutter button when winding. My FC is the quietest, hardly any sound when winding compared to my CC and GX.

 

[jorisvanhoute]

my gx makes a serious clunk when operating it, it seems to be a normal sound for this camera. The gx is as far as I know the only electro without the possibility of a POD. I could be wrong though.

Maybe the new system of the gx prevents it making the ridiculously long exposures the other electros can. My gx has a maximum of about 8 seconds. This is in total darkness just for test.

Can you guys confirm this?

 

[ForestCap]

my gx makes a serious clunk when operating it, it seems to be a normal sound for this camera. The gx is as far as I know the only electro without the possibility of a POD. I could be wrong though.

Maybe the new system of the gx prevents it making the ridiculously long exposures the other electros can. My gx has a maximum of about 8 seconds. This is in total darkness just for test.

Can you guys confirm this?

My GX also reaches the limit around 8s, at any aperture and ASA settings. While my CC can reach quite longer time, 15s or 24s I forgot, having a roll of film in it so I don't want to test now.

I also noticed there are some difference between GX and CC's metering. They behave almost the same at daylight environment ( as precis as each other), but when it gets darker, say all pointing to a white wall lighted by a lamp, GX's exposure time gets longer than CC's, about two times as CC's exposure time. Maybe it's caused by different focal length, or maybe the algorithm of metering are different in these two cameras (silicon vs. CdS).