Fix Your Camera DIY




According to my experience, digital cameras can be very easy to fix:



No really, usually they are! As I said the most likely problem is a loose connector. These cameras come with so many pieces that need to connect to each other with tiny and fragile connectors, and I’m sure you have dropped your camera or bumped it here and there many time. It is actually amazing how these cameras don’t fail sooner with so many connectors in them.

If you see strange behaviors in your camera, such as intermittent performance or not performing well, there might as well be a loose connector. Of course if you have dropped your camera in water and it doesn’t work right anymore, don’t look for loose connectors!



A few cameras I have fixed before all showed the same issues with connectors, and all I did was to open them, push the connectors in place and reassemble the cameras and they started working.

And yes, I have zapped myself with that stupid flash capacitor and it hurts! You may say a 300V should not hurt remotely close to a 25KV ESD, but you are absolutely wrong! the 25KV ESD coming out of the ESD simulator is a very short burst of voltage faster than one micro second, and the 300V is continuous. It is a different kind of hurt and you have to experience it for yourselves. But I rather you just trust me on the pain level!

In the video I short the capacitor with a piece of wire. Although flash capacitors are made to handle high current surges, it is not a good idea to short a capacitor in general since it degrades the component. The best way to discharge a capacitor is to place a resistor, small enough to discharge the capacitor fast, but large enough not to exceed ripple current rating of the capacitor. Also the power rating of this resistor must be able to handle the current flow from the capacitor for the period of discharge.

And like I said, keep track of all the bits and pieces or like me, you will end up with a few extra screws every time!

Hope you have a better luck with your camera!