[Desperado]

i can feel that my five years old ks2s solenoid will die soon.Buying green solenoid again would just be waste of time and money?White ones 5x more expensive than green ones.

[photogem]

I can feel that my five years old K S2s solenoid will die soon.

Well, if you have the known symptoms, then yes.

Buying green solenoid again would just be waste of time and money?

Not only those two but also each time you open your K-S2 to repair it you weaken the threads for those many screws!
So one day you might feel screwed because for sure buying the green solenoid on ebay is even a worse solution that
the original, they are worse!

White ones 5x more expensive than green ones.

Well, not really if you take your time: You can find it in many DSLR from the *istD up to the K-r.
In many two of them, so one you sell and get the money in you paid for it.
And don't believe in fairytales either. Lube, Sanding.... sand in your eyes!

[Desperado]

Well, if you have the known symptoms, then yes.


Not only those two but also each time you open your K-S2 to repair it you weaken the threads for those many screws!
So one day you might feel screwed because for sure buying the green solenoid on ebay is even a worse solution that
the original, they are worse!


Well, not really if you take your time: You can find it in many DSLR from the *istD up to the K-r.
In many two of them, so one you sell and get the money in you paid for it.
And don't believe in fairytales either. Lube, Sanding.... sand in your eyes!

Thank you very much for the quick response,i have also k100d,its solenoid would work properly in ks2?And after that repair wiil i able to use my k100d with m manuel lenses?

[photogem]

Thank you very much for the quick response,i have also k100d,its solenoid would work properly in ks2?And after that repair wiil i able to use my k100d with m manuel lenses?

You have for sure 1 Japan Solenoid in your K100D in the aperture section.
But most likely you have 1 Japan Solenoid as well in the flash region:
See this photo:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/members/85274-photogem/albums/13036-gree...ture127676.jpg
Here you see the green solenoid in a K200D which was typical for many Pentax during that time sold in Europe but not USA and Japan!

So you find out.

You can then built the green solenoid in the flash section and have zero disadvantage, the flash works perfectly fine with the green solenoid,
the tension on the spring is stronger and release is easier, it is not that much "in demand"; that is why Pentax after 6 years testing it thought it should be fine
in the aperture section. This was a logical conclusion and thats why I think they did nothing wrong in the first place.


See here:
A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY: Development of the solenoid in Pentax cameras - PentaxForums.com

Good luck and let us know!
Take your time and do it well, exactly each step as shown in the tutorial!

[ehrwien]

Well, after only showing one black picture once in a while, yesterday the first 10 or so stayed dark, so I think I should get to changing it.

I already have a defective *ist DL as a donor body. There should be two good white solenoids in it, right? So while I'm at it, I might get them out both at once. Regarding the one in the flash compartment, I'm safe if I leave out the battery for a few days, right?

Then I've never soldered before, and I haven't got a soldering iron yet and I don't think I'll use it after I've done the deed here. Could I use a cheap one? I've seen some between 5 and 10 €, with mixed but mostly positive reviews, USB or battery powered, described as 8 W. Would that work or does it not get hot enough? What about the pencil tip, I've seen ones between 0.1 and 1.1 mm described as pencil tip. The smaller the better, or would something in the middle be best, 0.4-0.8 mm?
Could I just use the solder that comes with those or do I need some other special stuff?

[marcusBMG]

You'll be fine with a simple pencil type soldering iron of modest wattage (say 30W odd), with a pencil point tip. The portable/USB ones may well be good for this type of small electrical contact job, but I can't say definitively cos' I don't have one.You don't need to go very small or fine, just a 1mm tip will work.

If you haven't soldered before check out U-tube videos on basic soldering. Unsoldering the old solenoid is just a matter of applying the slightly wetted (with solder) tip to the right point and the solder holding the wire will melt and allow you to tickle it loose with eg a pair of tweezers in about a second or two. Soldering the new one in is a matter of placing/holding the tinned wire end (normally it's already tinned from before) in the right place then holding the lightly wetted iron tip against the pin, so that the solder on the wire end and the pin melts and the wire end merges against the pin. Good light, a steady hand (I used a block of wood as a wrist rest); and a bit of motion and hand practice with a cold iron are recommended.

[photogem]

Well, after only showing one black picture once in a while, yesterday the first 10 or so stayed dark, so I think I should get to changing
I already have a defective *ist DL as a donor body. There should be two good white solenoids in it, right? So while I'm at it, I might get them out both at once. Regarding the one in the flash compartment, I'm safe if I leave out the battery for a few days, right?

Yes, both solenoids are perfect for it.

Then I've never soldered before, and I haven't got a soldering iron yet and I don't think I'll use it after I've done the deed here. Could I use a cheap one? I've seen some between 5 and 10 €, with mixed but mostly positive reviews, USB or battery powered, described as 8 W. Would that work or does it not get hot enough? What about the pencil tip, I've seen ones between 0.1 and 1.1 mm described as pencil tip. The smaller the better, or would something in the middle be best, 0.4-0.8 mm?
Could I just use the solder that comes with those or do I need some other special stuff?

Those USB or battery powered will do the job. But you need to get some solder flowing at low temperatures as well!
Leaded solder is the best, just work with an open window, such a small job is not dangerous.
Get some kind of thin wire and try out soldering for a while. Read about prober soldering in the internet.

[ehrwien]

One more question before I tackle this: what's the best way to get to the screws behind the rubber grips (and how do I get it back the way it was before)? Do I try to get into a corner (with a thin screwdriver?) and peel it off a little, and will it hold as before when I just put it back like it was?

[photogem]

You just lift the rubber with a tiny screwdriver. You can peel it off complety even, the adhesive tape will work fine if you don't touch it or put honey or jam* onto it
*jam here similar to marmelade, because to others it seems to be an insult .... I had used today the word "jamming" = improvising in relation "not to post something without prior reading the thread properly or ... telling things which known not to be true and thus mislead others".

[ehrwien]

I did it! I was so nervous until I had put it back together and tried it and saw it worked... I got to use the soldering station of a friend instead of having to buy a cheap one.

Since I hadn't soldered before, the already defective *istDL proved worthwhile to practice on while taking out the two good white solenoids. They were pretty hard to get out since there was something else but solder around the cables, I don't know if it was hardened glue or some kind of plastic, but it took a while to get that hot enough. In the process I managed to touch the white plastic body cap which I only recognized when a long string of soft plastic got moved along with the soldering iron I wanted to put back



It's good that it happened then, so I was much more careful with the K-S2. Getting the green one out of it was easier than with the *istDL, and I'm not sure if that was because of the glue or what it was on the *istDL that was not present on the solenoid of the K-S2, or because I used a little higher temperature than when I was practicing on the *istDL.

Getting the old solenoid out was not as hard as getting the new one in, it must have fallen down three or four times before I got it in place.

Holding the cables in place in order to solder them on proved to be a challenge because of the tiny wires and space constraints by the body, but using a "third hand" clamp I managed to stabilize them good enough, even if the pink cable was squished hard by the clamp.

Soldering them on was the easiest part of the whole process I think.

Here's a pic of the new one in place after the fact:



The one on the left is far from perfect, but it's holding on good enough after trying to pull on the cable. I think the one on the right looks quite good?

After putting everything back together (the little washer on the microphone port did fall off at one time, but I saw where it came from), putting a card, battery and lens on, everything worked as it should again!

I want to thank you @photogem once again for those excellent, detailed instructions you've decided to share with us! I wouldn't have had the confidence to try this myself if it wasn't for this very thread!

Oh and something else which surprised me a bit: I hadn't realised just how big that flash condensator was... that's a lot of space to put some other tech in when you decide to produce a camera without internal flash...

[photogem]

Well done! Nice soldering points as well!

And yes, without the flash condensor there would be more space there.

The K-S2 and K-70 which are that bit smaller have it on the other side.
But a consumer camera without flash.... I already can hear those who throw a trantrum because there is no tilting LCD with the new Pentax whatever it's name will be...

The venerable KP is the smallest possibility with a weaker flash and a stepper-motor + tilting LCD.

I remember those pretty well who could not accept it.


I myself would be happy without flash.... the new Pentax as I got it won't have one.
I'm pretty sure that will be their masterpiece for the serious ABS-C and viewfinder photographer and smaller than the K3, even smaller than the KP.

[joebee49]

Just completed replacing the green solenoid with a white one from an MZ-50 (it was even the correct polarity) and my K-S2 lives again! Thanks for the How-To....very clear and easy to follow!

[swanlefitte]

if you don't touch it or put honey or jam* onto it
[I]*jam here similar to marmelade, because to others it seems to be an insult ...

Marmelade is a citrus preserve. There are jelly, jam, conserves(jam with multiple fruits) chutney, (jam with spice), preserves, marmelade (citrus preserves), butters, and fruit spreads and compote (same as fruit spread but can have spice)
I never let someone else get my preserves because they never get it correct. So yes it is an insult.😋

[photogem]

Just completed replacing the green solenoid with a white one from an MZ-50 (it was even the correct polarity) and my K-S2 lives again! Thanks for the How-To....very clear and easy to follow!

It is nice that the tutorial helped but did you get it that I don't recommend to use the MZ50 solenoid?
Even if it fits, it has different datas, it is not worth to save that little bit of money to take that risk:
Read more about it here:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/53-pentax-dslr-camera-articles/389194-li...x-cameras.html

Greetings and hope for your K-S2 that it will survive anyway and that it shall give you lots of "good light"

[peggers]

Solenoid-Replacement Pentax K-S2
(K-70 is identical except the position of the solenoid-fixing screw on left instead of right side)

Tools required:
- Soldering iron with pencil-tip: Ersa Multi-Pro 20W or soldering needle/USB soldering iron. Butan-gas s.iron = No-Go! Too hot, it will do damage!
- Solder: Good quality thin resin flux solder (I use thin leaded solder, for such a small work it is not really dangerous due to its lead-content)

- Screwdrivers JIS 000 or PH000+PH00 (JIS is best, PH000 for the solenoid screw)

- Tweezers or precision plyers
- Headlamp is very useful!
- Photos of K-S2 from all sides with location of screws

Preparation:
- Print out all those photos, glue them on some cardboard, drill 2mm holes were the screws are located so you can later on stick all those screws into those holes. Makes it easier and safe due to different length of the screws.
- Make sure you took the battery out 24 hours prior undertaking the repair. This is for discharging the flash-condenser, which is well protected within the K-S2, nevertheless you don't want to risk getting a nasty shock! This condenser charges as soon as you open the pop-up-flash with battery inside the switched-on camera! So don't open the flash prior removal of the battery! You need to open it for access of 3 screws!
- For a better option how to discharge the flash-condenser read HERE

Sequence of opening the body (Body-cap is mounted on the K-mount for protection of sensor etc.)

1. Remove all screws from the bottom part:
- 11 x screws direct access (green arrows)
- 3 x behind the battery-door (blue arrows)

- Like with other Pentax DSLR, there is one screw deep within battery-case left side: DON'T take this one out!



2. Remove all 3 x screws from the left side (2 of them hidden behind the rubber grip):






3. Remove all 3 x screws from the right side (all 3 hidden behind the rubber grip):






4. Open the flash (battery is out!):
Remove the 2 x screws there underneath the pop-up-flash and the 2 x screws where next to where you fix the strap/belt:






5. Remove the 2 x screws behind the rubber-eye-cup:





6. Now you lift the TOP-PART 1 cm (with the open flash). This is very important because otherwise the front-part is more difficult to remove!



7. Set the AF-MF switch on MF (see photo #2 where it is yet on AF)! Check position again when you assemble it back!
Make sure you understand its position: When on AF, the screwdrive is out, when on MF, it is retreated inside this small hole of the stainless-steel bayonet!
Take the FRONT-PART OFF: It is a bit tight, you might have to lever a bit to release it but don't worry, this is normal!



8. Now you have access to the green solenoid:





9. Unsolder both leads and unscrew the screw on the right side (K-70 left side, only difference). Take the solenoid out.


10. Install the white-Japan-made Solenoid (the only correct solution, avoid filing/grinding/sanding!):





11. Make sure you tighten the screw, you might want to fix it with threat-locking-laquer or nail-varnish, but I never needed to do it!



12.Solder the two wires back to the pins (left=pink//right=lilac). Crucial to do a good job, hold the wires with tweezers and pull to make sure they really are well soldered!


13. AF-MF-Switch alignement: The is crucial now:
- Outer part of AF-MF-switch on the front-housing on MF:


the same switch from the inner side of the housing, you can see the rod which needs to be aligned:




- The internal part (black plastic, white arrow left) has to be upwards...


.... so the screwdrive mechanism "retreats" into this tiny hole (white arrow right). This mentioned rod of the AF-MF switch connects with the internal part!
(you have checked this before and understood the principle well, remember!)


14. Assemble the front part back and then the top-part (with flash).


15. Test AF-MF-Switch again! If it doesn't work correctly, take the front-part off again and realign!


16. There is this small plastic ring on the microphone-socket, don't lose it!

When you come to the bottom-plate, make sure you haven't missed this small part, which sometimes comes off:


It slides just on and off easely and is there to protect the cables from the display:


On its place it looks like this:


and with the bottomplate back on place it looks like this:



17. The rest is clear now, all screws in the same order as you got them out.


18. Test the K-S2 and all should be fine

I have not written here about the differences of the solenoids, you can read more about this important issue HERE

Good luck!


If you are interested in this very interesting history of the development of the solenoid in Pentax SLR and DSLR bodies, then read this post:
A little history about the development of solenoids in P

This is fantastic. A friend of mine has just had this happen to his KS2, and this will be very useful