[Walkingwolf]

As soon as it starts with the first few dark photos the solenoid will stick more and more.
With the K30/50/500 it was possible to use Eneloops which deliver more mA's (due to the characteristics of NiMH's compared to Li-Ion) but this wasn't always an infinite solution.

Best to prepare for what most possibly will happen and find the time for DIY.
It is pretty easy!

Anyway: If the solenoid is stuck again, by all means don't do serial shooting (which some sadly recommend):
This can bring the complex system into disorder, i.e. misalign it.
Alignment can be done but needs further knowledge, more complicated then just to exchange the solenoid.
Misalignement does also happen when sanding/filing

But many don't even notice it as much as they don't notice that exposure is wrong when taking photos via Liveview, because all solenoid based DSLR cameras measure exposure-time in Liveview-mode with f4, but with stuck solenoid not f4 but full-closed aperture, such as f22 or whatever the max. f is for the given lens.

Thank you for your reply and the additional information- I was toying with the filing idea (if I were to have difficulty getting the white solenoid) but now understand the error of doing that.
Thank you again for all your work on this issue- you have helped a lot of people.

[tonyzoc]

I'm in the middle of this repair and I have 2 problems. First, when resoldering the green solenoid, the base fell off and into the camera. I can't find it a d it won't fall out. I think it's magnetized so it stuck somewhere. Second issue, I have a part the dropped while looking for the solidoid prongs, I don't know where it came from. See attached picture.



---------- Post added 12-14-19 at 10:22 AM ----------

I'm in the middle of this repair and I have 2 problems. First, when resoldering the green solenoid, the base fell off and into the camera. I can't find it a d it won't fall out. I think it's magnetized so it stuck somewhere. Second issue, I have a part the dropped while looking for the solidoid prongs, I don't know where it came from. See attached picture.

Desoldering... Not resoldering

[tonyzoc]

Thank you for your reply and the additional information- I was toying with the filing idea (if I were to have difficulty getting the white solenoid) but now understand the error of doing that.

Thank you again for all your work on this issue- you have helped a lot of people.

I found the solenoid base...it flipped behind the top... Didn't fall inside camera. I'm ready to reassemble but need to figure out what that part is first.

[tonyzoc]

I found the solenoid base...it flipped behind the top... Didn't fall inside camera. I'm ready to reassemble but need to figure out what that part is first.

And the part is the screen hinge bottom cover. Repair is completed but a failure. Something is wrong with mirror positioning... On power on, mirror moves up and down and on focus, it shifts...image is darker and exposure is off.

[photogem]

And the part is the screen hinge bottom cover. Repair is completed but a failure. Something is wrong with mirror positioning... On power on, mirror moves up and down and on focus, it shifts...image is darker and exposure is off.

The problem is that the filing method which was applied in your previous repair does often lead to further damage.


The plunger of your solenoid wasn't just filed but really badly filed as you showed HERE
I have explained HERE in detail why filing is no good idea: The complex mechanism goes out of order.

Also, as it later turned out, you used a propan-soldering-iron, which is of course a NO-GO!

[cfrpcopy]

I followed this guide and all I got was:

• A shock from the flash capacitor
• A small brass washer (see attached) (not the ring in step 16)

So I'm calling the procedure a success! The instructions were excellent, aside from not mentioning this washer. I "found" it after rotating the camera with all of the panels off while trying to find a good angle to de-solder the solenoid, so I have no clues to where it came from.

Obviously, I won't know if it's really fixed for a while. I only had early signs of failure: it happened when the camera first turned on, and I could clear it with a few clicks of the DOF preview, but I wanted to get this fix over with. But it works fine right now, and the donor was a *ist DS, which should have had an authentic old-style solenoid.

I did have a scare afterward that I created a light leak, but that was just light getting in through the eyepiece. Who knew! (Everyone. The Nikon D810 I use at work for non-photography purposes has a built-in cover. A strip of gaffers tape seems more appropriate cost-wise for the K-S2)

If anyone has an idea of what that washer is, if it's important, and if I really need to open this thing up and put it back, please comment below.

[photogem]

I followed this guide and all I got was:

• A shock from the flash capacitor
• A small brass washer (see attached) (not the ring in step 16)

So I'm calling the procedure a success! The instructions were excellent, aside from not mentioning this washer.

Well done!

- This washer you found was used in very early K-S2 versions, because there was small difference in height which needed to be corrected,

it belongs here onto the bottom plate and is fixed with the same red thread-locking laquer used to fix the solenoid:


- There is another black ring which sits on the microphone-socket:

This one is very important for WR!


- The flash capacitor is so well protected in the K-S2 and K-70 (both indentical for changing the solenoid) that I am surprised you got a shock.

Discharging it with either a lightbulb or a resistor is more complicated and more dangerous due to the fact that the radial leads are well protected, meaning also that touching them for discharge could very easely lead to shortening them, i.e. killing the capacitor.

But particular for eliminating the danger of a shock I gave clear instructions of how to discharge this flash-capacitor anyway.
It is in the tutorial for the K-S2 (and any other tutorial I wrote for all the other Pentax bodies with solenoid) as well as there
is a tutorial just for this:
How to discharge the photo-flash capacitor of a DSLR (here K-30/K-50/K-500) - PentaxForums.com

Did you follow those instructions? It is easy and every time I tested this method it worked well.

Obviously, I won't know if it's really fixed for a while. I only had early signs of failure: it happened when the camera first turned on, and I could clear it with a few clicks of the DOF preview, but I wanted to get this fix over with. But it works fine right now, and the donor was a *ist DS, which should have had an authentic old-style solenoid.

It is fixed if you did a good soldering job. If the problem returns, the only because one of the two wires would not have been soldered well and comes off again. I had this once.

The Japan-Solenoid which you easely can distinguish by the white color of the PTFE body against the green PET body of the China Solenoid was built the only one used in the *ist DS and it never failed.

---

Last edited by photogem; 11-29-2020 at 11:24 AM.

[cfrpcopy]

Did you follow those [discharge] instructions? It is easy and every time I tested this method it worked well.

Nope. I was reckless. Got the shock from the side opposite the grip, not near the capacitor itself. Wasn't a big deal, more surprising than anything else. Not sure how long it had been discharging, at least a few hours.

I'm not worried about the washer. It wouldn't have come from any optically important components since they're not touched in this disassembly. My soldering job was great on one contact, questionable on the other. That's the first place I'd look if something goes wrong again.

[photogem]

The capacitor doesn't discharge within a few hours. It needs days.
If you apply "method 1" in my tutorial which activates the discharging process,

after 24hours the voltage has dropped down to uncritical 24V
and after 48hours almost to zero!

[marcusBMG]

I have now replaced the solenoid on my KS2. Purple lead looked a little "dry", most of the solder has flowed down on to the underside of the post, so I resoldered onto the underside.
While I was manipulating the front casing both these washers dropped out (that's a mm scale). Any ideas? I suspect off the MF-AF mechanism.

[photogem]

The black ring sits on the microphone-socket (see #16 of the tutorial!) and is important for WR:


The copper washer was only used in very early K-S2 versions and was fixed with the same red thread-locking-laquer as the solenoid.
It was used to even a tiny hight-difference which was solved more elegant in later versions and the K-70 (same body).
It belongs here:

[marcusBMG]

Thanks photogem.
Update: all reassembled now and working great (but careful inspection still did not identify a likely origin for that little metal washer, oh well I don't think it's important).

[sergiogonzalez]

Thanks photogem.
Update: all reassembled now and working great (but careful inspection still did not identify a likely origin for that little metal washer, oh well I don't think it's important).

Dear MarcusBMG.

I would like to greet you.

Attached an explanatory photograph of itself, where it is clarified where the excess copper washer goes.

It is important to place it, because this will prevent deformations on the lower cover, and will provide proper operation of the battery cover, and a correct seal of all insulating joints.

I hope it's useful.

Greetings

[marcusBMG]

Thank you Sergio

[photogem]

Here photos of the later versions of the K-S2 without this mysterious copper-washer:

Photo 1 shows the body of the K-S2 with frontcover:


Photo 2 shows the bottom-cover with the battery-door open:


The red arrows point at the (mirrored) parts which are to be connected if the bottom-cover is placed onto the body with front-cover.

So the round plastic part on the bottom-cover which is on the left side is slightly higher!

Exactly this difference (in height) is that bit lower on the left part of the body/front-cover!

Addition Oct.2020:
Just repaired another K-S2: No washer either! It was again a late version, manufactured 6/2017!

So Pentax changed something that was rather flimsy.

And yet, the solenoid which is for sure one of the late versions and even has the screw on the other side as does the K-70 failed after a shuttercount of 2700.