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08-24-2010, 01:45 PM   #1
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MX meter never shuts off

I did a forum search and didn't find anything related to this, so I'm hoping to find some guidance. I bought an MX off eBay, and it arrived last night. The meter showed no life, which surprised me since the seller said the batteries included were fresh. I put in a fresh set today, and it looks like the meter doesn't turn off. I put the camera down with the advance lever parked in the off position, and 20 minutes later the meter was still on. This explains why the batteries installed by the seller were dead after 7 days of shipping. I have the service manual at home, and I'll take a look at that tonight, but has anybody else had an MX similarly afflicted? Were you able to fix it yourself? Or is this a "Send it to Eric" situation?

Thanks.

08-24-2010, 02:33 PM   #2
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I had an MX w/ exactly the same problem. No choice but sending for repair
08-24-2010, 04:40 PM - 1 Like   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by Groundloop Quote
I did a forum search and didn't find anything related to this, so I'm hoping to find some guidance. I bought an MX off eBay, and it arrived last night. The meter showed no life, which surprised me since the seller said the batteries included were fresh. I put in a fresh set today, and it looks like the meter doesn't turn off. I put the camera down with the advance lever parked in the off position, and 20 minutes later the meter was still on. This explains why the batteries installed by the seller were dead after 7 days of shipping. I have the service manual at home, and I'll take a look at that tonight, but has anybody else had an MX similarly afflicted? Were you able to fix it yourself? Or is this a "Send it to Eric" situation?

Thanks.
IIRC, this can be fixed by taking off either the baseplate or the front cover (under the shutter button) and adjusting the length of the actuator.
Sorry, I had a similar problem with an MX years ago and did fix it, but I don't remember exactly what the process was. It should be fairly well laid out in the service manual though.
08-24-2010, 05:32 PM   #4
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Thank you both.

Wheatfield, that is encouraging. I can't make any sense of the service manual. I searched it for "meter", and the information is regarding calibration and presupposes access to tools to do so. Also, the SM doesn't have a lot in the way of diagrams, so I'm wondering if they're might be a separate repair manual. I took the bottom plate off and there are no obvious signs of a short or anything else amiss. To take the top plate off it looks like I'd need a small spanner to remove the film advance lever first. I kind of suspect the problem lie in the top of the camera, as the film advance acts as the master on switch for the meter.

I've emailed the seller about this. Maybe he has some ideas. It's especially sad because the meter agrees pretty well with my K10D, so it's well within the "Close enough for Tri-X" range.

And if anybody else has any thoughts, I'm all ears.

Thanks again.


Last edited by Groundloop; 08-25-2010 at 03:53 AM. Reason: clarity
08-24-2010, 07:21 PM   #5
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I had the same problem with mine. I sold it, full disclosure, because it drove me crazy.
08-25-2010, 01:21 AM   #6
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I also had this problem, but you can easily turn the meter off by using the shutter button lock lever.
08-25-2010, 03:59 AM   #7
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Thanks Wieland. I was pretty sure that I had the shutter lock on yesterday, but I just tried it again and no dice. The meter stays on.

I got an email from the seller last night apologizing, and offering a full or partial refund. I'd like to keep the camera, so I'm leaning toward a partial refund, running a roll through it and then sending it to Eric.

Thoughts?

08-25-2010, 04:12 AM - 2 Likes   #8
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Remove bottom cover. The meter switch will be plainly visible as you press the shutter button; there's a piece of spring metal that makes the contact. It can get slightly deformed with age so the switch is always closed (or on other cameras, always open). A little tweak with fine needle-nose pliers to slightly open the switch should be all you need.

Of course if you're at all nervous about bending things, Eric can do it right, and he'll make everything else in the camera shipshape too.
08-25-2010, 04:58 AM - 1 Like   #9
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Sluggo, is this the switch in question? When I press the shutter release, the yellow tube moves straight up and makes no contact with the plate to the right. What am I bending, and in which direction? I should mention that when I originally took off the bottom plate, another piece of the yellow tubing fell out, and I still have it, though I can't see where it might go.

Thanks all.
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08-25-2010, 05:33 AM   #10
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I'm sure that is the one, though I'd have to get a look at my MX (not possible at the moment) to compare against your picture. When you press the shutter, does anything seem to happen near the switch contacts? If not, I wonder if you do have something actually broken.
08-25-2010, 06:35 AM   #11
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Thanks Sluggo. When I press the shutter release, things happen around the contacts, but nothing seems to touch them. When I get home tonight I'll try to shoot a video to illustrate what is and isn't happening.

Edit: Just looking at the pic I posted, I'm wondering if the other piece of rubber tubbing is supposed to be attached to the lower contact, so that when the shutter release is "at rest", it pushes the contact down away from the upper contact, opening the circuit. Note that when I say "Up" or "Down" it's in reference to the orientation of the pic in my post above, which is of course upside down.

Anyway, I'll try that piece of tubing for fit when I get home. If it looks to do what I think it will, the next step will be to epoxy it in place and home it stays.

Last edited by Groundloop; 08-25-2010 at 06:47 AM. Reason: Added information.
08-25-2010, 01:02 PM   #12
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Is the meter supposed to shut off on an MX?

On the Spotmatic F, which doesn't predate the MX by all that much, the meter never shuts off. You must use a lens cap or body cap when the camera is not in use. This is by design.

I don't have an MX, so I don't know.
08-25-2010, 02:40 PM   #13
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Paul, the meter should absolutely shut off when you're not touching the shutter release. On the MX, the exposure is indicated with LEDs, and if the meter is on 24/7, a couple of 1.5V alkalines don't last long.
08-25-2010, 05:32 PM   #14
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So I wasn't able to fit the 2nd piece of yellow tubing between the lower contact plate and the arm attached to the shutter release with everything in place, but to test my theory, I slid a piece of thin cardboard between the contacts. As I thought, the meter doesn't work. So I'm going to go ahead (as soon as I can buy some suitable adhesive), and pull out the meter switch as much as I can, attach the tube to the lower plate, reassemble everything and see how it goes.
08-25-2010, 05:47 PM - 1 Like   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by Groundloop Quote
So I wasn't able to fit the 2nd piece of yellow tubing between the lower contact plate and the arm attached to the shutter release with everything in place, but to test my theory, I slid a piece of thin cardboard between the contacts. As I thought, the meter doesn't work. So I'm going to go ahead (as soon as I can buy some suitable adhesive), and pull out the meter switch as much as I can, attach the tube to the lower plate, reassemble everything and see how it goes.
my MX only has one piece of tubing, and my meter works the way its supposed to work. or at least it did! I pulled the batteries out for storage when I stopped using my MX as my main camera and now i cant find them. but I believe my meter works just a it should. I recorded a video of the meter switch in operation im just waiting on vimeo to ‘convert’. i uploaded the mp4 file here: IMGP2125.mp4

please excuse my general inability to hold and operate the MX with one hand, the K-7 in the other, all in low light with an f4 aperture. but I think this should give you an idea of how a working switch should look. I cant tell from the angle of your photo, if your switch is broken or not.

I hope the video helps.
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