K-30 / K-50 Aperture Block Failue - Repair Solution available

Altglas · 05-24-2016, 06:01 AM - **3 Likes**

Hi together,

our colleages from the russian Pentax forum have worked on the aperture block failure problem and semm to have found an explanation for the cause of the failure and have documented the repair. Only problem: I don't speak Russian and google translator is not much better. So we need a russian speaker or somebody wth a better translation software to understand the details of the repair approach. Here is the link to the repair documentation. Goggle translator at least gives a rough idea.

In Russian:
???????? ? ?30! - ?????? ?????-????? - ???????? 7

Anybody able to carry on from this point?

Bob

automorphism · 05-24-2016, 08:25 AM

I can't translate it but it looks like it actually worked with a few people. The repair looks scary though.

Altglas · 05-24-2016, 10:16 AM - **1 Like**

As far as I understood, the cause of the failure is an electromagnetic actuator that develops a resident magnetism and starts to stick. Since the google-translation is somewhat creative I didn't really understand what in this long thread was just speculation or a test, and what is part of the repair solution.

My own K-30 ist still working, but I hate to take a camera system to important shooting situations, when the camera body is likely to fail. Hopefully the russian documentation of the research and repair solution will sooner or later lead to a permanent and cheap remedy. Mabe the Russians have offered what Pentax is declining their customers.

The untrustworthy way Pentax is coping with their K-30/50 serial error has cost them my sympathy and I don't have any special preference for Pentax products any more. For the moment I won't invest any more money in Pentax lenses and have an occasional look around.

Bob

**JoseFF** · 05-24-2016, 01:29 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by Altglas

As far as I understood, the cause of the failure is an electromagnetic actuator that develops a resident magnetism and starts to stick. Since the google-translation is somewhat creative I didn't really understand what in this long thread was just speculation or a test, and what is part of the repair solution.

My own K-30 ist still working, but I hate to take a camera system to important shooting situations, when the camera body is likely to fail. Hopefully the russian documentation of the research and repair solution will sooner or later lead to a permanent and cheap remedy. Mabe the Russians have offered what Pentax is declining their customers.

The untrustworthy way Pentax is coping with their K-30/50 serial error has cost them my sympathy and I don't have any special preference for Pentax products any more. For the moment I won't invest any more money in Pentax lenses and have an occasional look around.

Bob

I hope Pentax will hear Altglas complaint. It is so true.

**JoseFF** · 05-24-2016, 01:40 PM

Can anybody translate the yellow Russian words in the photo? I think they explain what to do to the piece in order to solve the problem. Thanks.

**THoog** · 05-24-2016, 03:39 PM

I think the photo just indicates the actuator that is the problem. Reading through the thread, it sounds like the fixes tried were to clean, file, polish, or shim the armature of the solenoid ("el.magnit") so that it does not stick.

The following is according to my reading of the font in the picture, and Google's interpretation of the words

Left arrow:
В это разъём аккуратно нужно вставить лезвие и чуть провернувь, чтобы эл.магнит соскочил со штифта.
In this connector gently to insert the blade and just having turned to el.magnit jumped off the pin .

Right arrow:
Собственно вот она, наша цель (винт уже откручен)
Actually, it 's our goal (screw unscrewed already )

These are the critical steps of the process (still in Googlish, sorry) (Google may be inaccurate, but I totally agree with the warnings in the thread about what appears to be their term for the flash capacitor: "the beast that bites")

8. gently with a scalpel ( in my case a small vegetable knife with a thin blade ) magnet separated from the body , except the screw holding it on the pin even at the expense of lacquer .
9. The magnet holding hands , tweezers pulled anchor
10. in the absence of the grip , just holding needle file on the table and hold down two fingers to anchor a couple of times they spent on needle files to bring down the "mirror" at the ends
11. nulevku walked around the edges of the ends of the armature to remove burrs
12. " pomusolit " in the hands of the anchor in order to remove chips that could primagnititsya him
13. Anchor tweezers dipped into gasoline waited until dry , and put in place
14. el.magnit screwed into place and " planted " on the drop of varnish on the pin and screw
15. neatly arrayed on the front of the body lens mount , and checked that AF.S / C / MF switch on his seat simply by moving it through all of the provisions , if the switches to all three , then hit ( I missed on the first try , and did not immediately notice I had to re- assort

)

Basically, I think they are removing the actuator, then removing the steel/iron armature ("anchor") from the solenoid and polishing it with a needle file (or very fine-grit sandpaper - there is some discussion of sandpaper in the thread), cleaning any filings, then reassembling it.

Altglas · 05-25-2016, 01:06 AM

I had the impression, that they talked about parts becoming permanently magnetic and sticking to their counterpart. Somewhere I remeber to have read that they changed the shape of the contacting parts so that the residing magnetism would not be able to make the parts stick together. If nobody here is able to improve the google translation, we might try to contact the russian researchers and ask for help. Though I can't read their language, it is clear that they did a great job. They not only repaired their camera and went on with their other projects, they took the time to document the solution. I think I should thank them since this has been really nice of them.

**JoseFF** · 05-25-2016, 11:41 AM

Originally posted by Altglas

I had the impression, that they talked about parts becoming permanently magnetic and sticking to their counterpart. Somewhere I remeber to have read that they changed the shape of the contacting parts so that the residing magnetism would not be able to make the parts stick together. If nobody here is able to improve the google translation, we might try to contact the russian researchers and ask for help. Though I can't read their language, it is clear that they did a great job. They not only repaired their camera and went on with their other projects, they took the time to document the solution. I think I should thank them since this has been really nice of them.

I tried to post on their forum to ask for more details but you have to be logged in....

---------- Post added 05-25-16 at 11:46 AM ----------

Originally posted by JoseFF

I tried to post on their forum to ask for more details but you have to be logged in....

I am sure those guys speak, at least some English. By the way, thank you all for your responses

**niceshot** · 05-25-2016, 04:17 PM

Originally posted by Altglas

Hi together,

our colleages from the russian Pentax forum have worked on the aperture block failure problem and semm to have found an explanation for the cause of the failure and have documented the repair. Only problem: I don't speak Russian and google translator is not much better. So we need a russian speaker or somebody wth a better translation software to understand the details of the repair approach. Here is the link to the repair documentation. Goggle translator at least gives a rough idea.

In Russian:
???????? ? ?30! - ?????? ?????-????? - ???????? 7

Anybody able to carry on from this point?

Bob

nice find

stevebrot · 05-25-2016, 04:27 PM

Originally posted by Altglas

The untrustworthy way Pentax is coping with their K-30/50 serial error has cost them my sympathy...

UntrustworthY? You mean accepting and fixing the cameras under warranty? I was unaware of warranty service problems in Europe. If your camera is out-of-warranty and believe you will be better served with foreign language instructions on a home-brewed repair, be my guest. Given the cost to replace with a new camera vs. cost to repair you have little to lose.

FWIW, the warranty repair involves replacement of the actuator assembly and controller component.

Steve

**JoseFF** · 05-25-2016, 05:24 PM

Originally posted by stevebrot

UntrustworthY? You mean accepting and fixing the cameras under warranty? I was unaware of warranty service problems in Europe. If your camera is out-of-warranty and believe you will be better served with foreign language instructions on a home-brewed repair, be my guest. Given the cost to replace with a new camera vs. cost to repair you have little to lose.

FWIW, the warranty repair involves replacement of the actuator assembly and controller component.

Steve

But if they are replaced by parts with the same level of quality than originals likely to fail too, I wonder if the deal is worthwhile...

stevebrot · 05-25-2016, 05:29 PM

Originally posted by JoseFF

But if they are replaced by parts with the same level of quality than originals likely to fail too, I wonder if the deal is worthwhile...

I went through the warranty repair process here in the U.S. with a friend Jan 2015 (K-50 purchased Jan 2014) and her camera is still doing fine. If one's camera is still under warranty, the deal is worthwhile (free is a very good price).

Steve

stevebrot · 05-25-2016, 06:25 PM

Originally posted by THoog

Basically, I think they are removing the actuator, then removing the steel/iron armature ("anchor") from the solenoid and polishing it with a needle file (or very fine-grit sandpaper - there is some discussion of sandpaper in the thread), cleaning any filings, then reassembling it.

Do you think they were trying to remedy some sort of mechanical binding of the solenoid?

Steve

**JoseFF** · 05-25-2016, 08:23 PM

Originally posted by stevebrot

I went through the warranty repair process here in the U.S. with a friend Jan 2015 (K-50 purchased Jan 2014) and her camera is still doing fine. If one's camera is still under warranty, the deal is worthwhile (free is a very good price).

Steve

What I don´t buy is the high level of uncertainty of the replacement part procedure without knowing whether they are revisions that supersede its high % of early failure. But anyway, this is only my opinion...

**THoog** · 05-25-2016, 09:25 PM

Originally posted by stevebrot

Do you think they were trying to remedy some sort of mechanical binding of the solenoid?

Steve

It sounds like it. They go through various discussions of causes, then there is some back-and-forth whether (filing?) the armature will affect the strength of the actuator. The term "air gap" comes up a few times. There is even a brief discussion whether the (better-quality?) actuator from a K-m would work. I think this photo will yield more information, but it will take at least a couple hours to copy and translate the text.

05-24-2016, 06:01 AM - 3 Likes	#1
Altglas Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 41	K-30 / K-50 Aperture Block Failue - Repair Solution available Hi together, our colleages from the russian Pentax forum have worked on the aperture block failure problem and semm to have found an explanation for the cause of the failure and have documented the repair. Only problem: I don't speak Russian and google translator is not much better. So we need a russian speaker or somebody wth a better translation software to understand the details of the repair approach. Here is the link to the repair documentation. Goggle translator at least gives a rough idea. In Russian: ???????? ? ?30! - ?????? ?????-????? - ???????? 7 Anybody able to carry on from this point? Bob

05-25-2016, 05:29 PM	#12
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by JoseFF But if they are replaced by parts with the same level of quality than originals likely to fail too, I wonder if the deal is worthwhile... I went through the warranty repair process here in the U.S. with a friend Jan 2015 (K-50 purchased Jan 2014) and her camera is still doing fine. If one's camera is still under warranty, the deal is worthwhile (free is a very good price). Steve Last edited by stevebrot; 05-25-2016 at 06:25 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Wanted - Acquired: KatzEye Focus Screen for K-3 (K-3, K-5, K-5II, K-7, K-30, K-50, K-500), New or LN	fwcetus	Sold Items	15	05-07-2016 08:01 PM
Why A K-S1 Instead Of The K-50 / K-30?	I'm A Pentaxian	Pentax K-S1 & K-S2	71	12-24-2015 03:50 AM
Wanted - Acquired: Wanted K-30/K-50/K-500/K-r	12345	Sold Items	13	09-12-2015 09:51 AM
For Sale - Sold: Focusingscreens.com EE-S Screen for K-3, K-5, K-5II, K-7, K-30, K-50 & K-500	Aperturae	Sold Items	6	10-06-2014 06:49 AM
For Sale - Sold: KatzEye Split-Prism Focusing Screen - for K-3, K-5, K-5II, K-7, K-30, K-50 & K-500	Eyewanders	Sold Items	7	04-15-2014 08:35 PM

05-24-2016, 08:25 AM	#2
automorphism Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Ontario, Canada Photos: Albums Posts: 791	I can't translate it but it looks like it actually worked with a few people. The repair looks scary though.

05-24-2016, 10:16 AM - 1 Like	#3
Altglas Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 41 Original Poster	As far as I understood, the cause of the failure is an electromagnetic actuator that develops a resident magnetism and starts to stick. Since the google-translation is somewhat creative I didn't really understand what in this long thread was just speculation or a test, and what is part of the repair solution. My own K-30 ist still working, but I hate to take a camera system to important shooting situations, when the camera body is likely to fail. Hopefully the russian documentation of the research and repair solution will sooner or later lead to a permanent and cheap remedy. Mabe the Russians have offered what Pentax is declining their customers. The untrustworthy way Pentax is coping with their K-30/50 serial error has cost them my sympathy and I don't have any special preference for Pentax products any more. For the moment I won't invest any more money in Pentax lenses and have an occasional look around. Bob

05-24-2016, 01:29 PM - 1 Like	#4
JoseFF Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 184	Originally posted by Altglas As far as I understood, the cause of the failure is an electromagnetic actuator that develops a resident magnetism and starts to stick. Since the google-translation is somewhat creative I didn't really understand what in this long thread was just speculation or a test, and what is part of the repair solution. My own K-30 ist still working, but I hate to take a camera system to important shooting situations, when the camera body is likely to fail. Hopefully the russian documentation of the research and repair solution will sooner or later lead to a permanent and cheap remedy. Mabe the Russians have offered what Pentax is declining their customers. The untrustworthy way Pentax is coping with their K-30/50 serial error has cost them my sympathy and I don't have any special preference for Pentax products any more. For the moment I won't invest any more money in Pentax lenses and have an occasional look around. Bob I hope Pentax will hear Altglas complaint. It is so true.

05-24-2016, 03:39 PM	#6
THoog Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: North Carolina Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,685	I think the photo just indicates the actuator that is the problem. Reading through the thread, it sounds like the fixes tried were to clean, file, polish, or shim the armature of the solenoid ("el.magnit") so that it does not stick. The following is according to my reading of the font in the picture, and Google's interpretation of the words Left arrow: В это разъём аккуратно нужно вставить лезвие и чуть провернувь, чтобы эл.магнит соскочил со штифта. In this connector gently to insert the blade and just having turned to el.magnit jumped off the pin . Right arrow: Собственно вот она, наша цель (винт уже откручен) Actually, it 's our goal (screw unscrewed already ) These are the critical steps of the process (still in Googlish, sorry) (Google may be inaccurate, but I totally agree with the warnings in the thread about what appears to be their term for the flash capacitor: "the beast that bites") 8. gently with a scalpel ( in my case a small vegetable knife with a thin blade ) magnet separated from the body , except the screw holding it on the pin even at the expense of lacquer . 9. The magnet holding hands , tweezers pulled anchor 10. in the absence of the grip , just holding needle file on the table and hold down two fingers to anchor a couple of times they spent on needle files to bring down the "mirror" at the ends 11. nulevku walked around the edges of the ends of the armature to remove burrs 12. " pomusolit " in the hands of the anchor in order to remove chips that could primagnititsya him 13. Anchor tweezers dipped into gasoline waited until dry , and put in place 14. el.magnit screwed into place and " planted " on the drop of varnish on the pin and screw 15. neatly arrayed on the front of the body lens mount , and checked that AF.S / C / MF switch on his seat simply by moving it through all of the provisions , if the switches to all three , then hit ( I missed on the first try , and did not immediately notice I had to re- assort ) Basically, I think they are removing the actuator, then removing the steel/iron armature ("anchor") from the solenoid and polishing it with a needle file (or very fine-grit sandpaper - there is some discussion of sandpaper in the thread), cleaning any filings, then reassembling it.

05-25-2016, 01:06 AM	#7
Altglas Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 41 Original Poster	I had the impression, that they talked about parts becoming permanently magnetic and sticking to their counterpart. Somewhere I remeber to have read that they changed the shape of the contacting parts so that the residing magnetism would not be able to make the parts stick together. If nobody here is able to improve the google translation, we might try to contact the russian researchers and ask for help. Though I can't read their language, it is clear that they did a great job. They not only repaired their camera and went on with their other projects, they took the time to document the solution. I think I should thank them since this has been really nice of them.

05-25-2016, 11:41 AM	#8
JoseFF Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 184	Originally posted by Altglas I had the impression, that they talked about parts becoming permanently magnetic and sticking to their counterpart. Somewhere I remeber to have read that they changed the shape of the contacting parts so that the residing magnetism would not be able to make the parts stick together. If nobody here is able to improve the google translation, we might try to contact the russian researchers and ask for help. Though I can't read their language, it is clear that they did a great job. They not only repaired their camera and went on with their other projects, they took the time to document the solution. I think I should thank them since this has been really nice of them. I tried to post on their forum to ask for more details but you have to be logged in.... ---------- Post added 05-25-16 at 11:46 AM ---------- Originally posted by JoseFF I tried to post on their forum to ask for more details but you have to be logged in.... I am sure those guys speak, at least some English. By the way, thank you all for your responses

05-25-2016, 04:17 PM	#9
niceshot Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: NY Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,564	Originally posted by Altglas Hi together, our colleages from the russian Pentax forum have worked on the aperture block failure problem and semm to have found an explanation for the cause of the failure and have documented the repair. Only problem: I don't speak Russian and google translator is not much better. So we need a russian speaker or somebody wth a better translation software to understand the details of the repair approach. Here is the link to the repair documentation. Goggle translator at least gives a rough idea. In Russian: ???????? ? ?30! - ?????? ?????-????? - ???????? 7 Anybody able to carry on from this point? Bob nice find

05-25-2016, 04:27 PM	#10
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by Altglas The untrustworthy way Pentax is coping with their K-30/50 serial error has cost them my sympathy... UntrustworthY? You mean accepting and fixing the cameras under warranty? I was unaware of warranty service problems in Europe. If your camera is out-of-warranty and believe you will be better served with foreign language instructions on a home-brewed repair, be my guest. Given the cost to replace with a new camera vs. cost to repair you have little to lose. FWIW, the warranty repair involves replacement of the actuator assembly and controller component. Steve

05-25-2016, 05:24 PM	#11
JoseFF Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 184	Originally posted by stevebrot UntrustworthY? You mean accepting and fixing the cameras under warranty? I was unaware of warranty service problems in Europe. If your camera is out-of-warranty and believe you will be better served with foreign language instructions on a home-brewed repair, be my guest. Given the cost to replace with a new camera vs. cost to repair you have little to lose. FWIW, the warranty repair involves replacement of the actuator assembly and controller component. Steve But if they are replaced by parts with the same level of quality than originals likely to fail too, I wonder if the deal is worthwhile...

05-25-2016, 06:25 PM	#13
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by THoog Basically, I think they are removing the actuator, then removing the steel/iron armature ("anchor") from the solenoid and polishing it with a needle file (or very fine-grit sandpaper - there is some discussion of sandpaper in the thread), cleaning any filings, then reassembling it. Do you think they were trying to remedy some sort of mechanical binding of the solenoid? Steve

05-25-2016, 08:23 PM	#14
JoseFF Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 184	Originally posted by stevebrot I went through the warranty repair process here in the U.S. with a friend Jan 2015 (K-50 purchased Jan 2014) and her camera is still doing fine. If one's camera is still under warranty, the deal is worthwhile (free is a very good price). Steve What I don´t buy is the high level of uncertainty of the replacement part procedure without knowing whether they are revisions that supersede its high % of early failure. But anyway, this is only my opinion...

05-25-2016, 09:25 PM	#15
THoog Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: North Carolina Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,685	Originally posted by stevebrot Do you think they were trying to remedy some sort of mechanical binding of the solenoid? Steve It sounds like it. They go through various discussions of causes, then there is some back-and-forth whether (filing?) the armature will affect the strength of the actuator. The term "air gap" comes up a few times. There is even a brief discussion whether the (better-quality?) actuator from a K-m would work. I think this photo will yield more information, but it will take at least a couple hours to copy and translate the text.