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12-12-2011, 12:56 PM   #1
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Took K100D apart to polish dirty viewfinder, now camera turns itself off immediately

I'm hoping one of you guys might have a clue what's going on. I recently got a K100D Super with the knowledge that the viewfinder was very blurry. I disassembled it per the service manual (no desoldering or anything, just removing screws) and was able to pop the eyepiece out and clean it successfully with some plastic polish. After reassembling it though, I found that the camera would no longer stay on. When I flip the switch to On, the top LCD display turns on for a moment, before immediately turning off, and the rear LCD does not turn on at all. In that split second that the display powers up, it does show the correct icons/settings/picture count/battery (depending on where the camera mode dial is). I tested it successfully before disassembly and used the same 4 batteries afterwards, so it seems pretty obvious that something occurred while it was apart, but I was very careful not to avoid any of the electronics, so I just don't know what happened. Does anyone know what I might have done to cause the camera to do this? The only thing I can imagine is a problem with the switch itself.

12-12-2011, 01:37 PM   #2
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Either that or it thinks that the voltage might be too low for some reason or another. Take it apart again and see if it can be turned on then!

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12-12-2011, 01:58 PM   #3
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I've taken it apart/put it back a couple times so far and nothing stands out as obviously off, that's why I'm so confused as to what's going on.
12-12-2011, 03:10 PM   #4
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I would still try it with another set of batteries. Are they low leakage batteries?

12-12-2011, 03:35 PM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by kiwi_jono Quote
I would still try it with another set of batteries. Are they low leakage batteries?
4 Amazonbasics NiMH give me the quick turn off problem. When I tried 4 Duracell Alkaline batteries, it doesn't flash on at all. The NiMH were all around 1.3v and the alkalines were all right around 1.6v.
12-12-2011, 05:37 PM   #6
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I'd suspect a ribbon cable, just because they are so finicky.
12-12-2011, 08:59 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by borno Quote
I'd suspect a ribbon cable, just because they are so finicky.
There were only 4 that I can remember being obvious, one coming from the diopter assembly, and 3 connecting to the bottom of the back piece (I assume for the rear LCD and buttons) and I'm pretty confident all of those were solidly connected.


Last edited by loddie; 12-12-2011 at 09:06 PM.
12-14-2011, 07:10 AM   #8
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I take back the observation about different batteries. Every battery gives the same problem: I flip the on switch, about 2-3 seconds later the displays flashes on very quickly then turns back off. A new thing I've noticed that if the flash is manually raised, when I turn the camera on, the display flashes twice before turning off.

Last edited by loddie; 12-14-2011 at 07:29 AM.
12-16-2011, 05:57 PM   #9
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Possibly a daft question, but are all the screws the same length? It sounds like something could be shorting out, and a long screw in a short hole could do that.

I've never taken a DSLR apart, but I've worked on computers and laptops for years, and have seen similar things happen in the past
12-17-2011, 07:22 AM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by Tippon Quote
Possibly a daft question, but are all the screws the same length? It sounds like something could be shorting out, and a long screw in a short hole could do that.

I've never taken a DSLR apart, but I've worked on computers and laptops for years, and have seen similar things happen in the past
This was one of my first thoughts, but I've tried turning it on without any screws (holding everything together by hand) and the problem persists.
12-17-2011, 03:14 PM   #11
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Just a shot in the dark, but is there any chance it could have something to do with the shake reduction system? It could be that testing/initializing the SR is part of the boot sequence, and maybe it's detecting a problem and shutting down. Some kind of physical interference or misalignment or something. Again, just a shot in the dark, and I don't know if you ever got deep enough into the camera that the sensor/SR could have been effected.
12-18-2011, 04:23 PM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by Edgar_in_Indy Quote
Just a shot in the dark, but is there any chance it could have something to do with the shake reduction system? It could be that testing/initializing the SR is part of the boot sequence, and maybe it's detecting a problem and shutting down. Some kind of physical interference or misalignment or something. Again, just a shot in the dark, and I don't know if you ever got deep enough into the camera that the sensor/SR could have been effected.
That's the craziest part though, I didn't really go that far. All that the process really consisted of was removing the rear, bottom and top plastic pieces (left everything intact, no desoldering). Really got nowhere near the innards of the camera itself.
04-08-2012, 04:39 AM   #13
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Have you solved your problem?
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