yashica gsn dead

[sapienz]

i just got myself a minty looking yashica gsn from ebay.
I got myself a 4LR44 battery a metal nut to make up for the empty space inside the compartment.
The camera didn't light up when i press on the battery test button.
I did try using a paperclip to do a spring coil just incase the nut wasn't good enough. Both didn't work for me.

Is my yashica gsn dead? 🙁

another question
Is the 4LR44 6V battery the same as 4 x LR44 1.5V batteries?

 

[dan1son]

It's relatively normal for those cameras to come in "dead." The one I recently bought needed to be taken apart and a wire replaced because a battery corroded in it at some point and ate through the wire. Looked on yashica-guy.com and followed his instructions for taking the camera apart. Grabbed my multimeter and started testing the leads and found the one that was bad. Had to take a little more of the camera apart but a little soldering later and it was fixed. I clean and calibrated the rangefinder while I was in there. Took maybe an hour and a half and was good to go.

Unless you buy a camera that specifically has been tested and/or CLA'd chances are it won't work, but rest assured they are relatively easy to fix.

Good luck.

 

[sapienz]

I'm not a very handy man when it comes to taking things apart and fixing them back.
I visited the yashica-guy's site and the camera interior certainly look very intimidating with all the wires and electronics everwhere.
How would you go about testing the voltage or the connection of the battery compartment.
I suspect it had been cleaned up by the previous owner cause it faintly smells of vinegar.

 

[Bigeejit]

I'm like yourself when it comes to camrea repairs,and most of the cam's. I've taken the top-plate off have ended up in the bin.Try a PX28a battery,it's a six volt but all one piece so there is less chance of the current going awol along it's circut.You'll have to make it "fatter" to fit the chamber and use an old spring from a flashlamp or use two to make the connection and don't forget current has to flow so you need a snug fit .P.s ,I got an old Yashica FX-3 to come back to life by blowing cigarette smoke into the battery compartment! Good Luck...Liam