Originally posted by clawhammer Chris, who is this Eric that you speak of? Does he repair cameras, and if so, do you have any contact info?
Eric worked for various iterations of Pentax (Honeywell, Asahi and Pentax USA) for 20 years as a flash, then camera repair technician, and eventually manager of the Chicago service center. For another 12 or so years until 2004 he owned Premier Camera Service, an independent camera repair facility specializing in Pentax equipment.
Many here believe (I include myself) Eric is the best Pentax repair expert in North America (could be anywhere, but I've only tried USA repairs).
Here is a link to his website and email aaddress / Contact info.
Home - Pentax Camera Service
I would review all the pages linked on the right to understand what he does for the $55 or $60 you will spend.
BTW - if you send him your camera and you don''t accept the bid, he sends it back to you at his expense with no charge for the estimate - you are only out the cost of shipping your camera to him for evaluation.
Mark Hama in Georgia
http://www.markhama.com/ was another high-quality resource, but he is better for Yashica and Leica, and he has gotten pretty slow lately, in my opinion.