Too far gone to be rescued K1000? Let's find out

**BigMackCam** · 11-16-2021, 03:13 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by ismaelg

Steve Austin,
Astronaut
A man barely alive
Gentlemen, we can rebuild him...

One of my favorite intros of all time, of course back in the day I lived it in Spanish

So, after it was "pretty much done", the hot shoe and the sync port were acting up and got worst to the point they were not usable.
So here we go again!
Pardon the crappy cell phone pics but these were taken live from the Operating Room!

So after some troubleshooting I isolated the issue to the sync contacts operated by the opening curtain latching cam. The part was distorted out of shape. The gap was inconsistent. I was worried bending the part into shape may break it.
Maybe I can scavenge this part from the parts camera. WAIT! This IS the parts camera!

I tried adding some extra support to the part but did not work.

At the end I carefully reshaped the part little by little adjusting the back contact, front contact, front contact support and latching cam itself. I honestly think I reinstalled, tested, disassembled back again, adjust and repeat well over a dozen times. My trusty Fluke-29 multimeter was there the whole time.
(As an electrical engineer I have literally trusted my life to that instrument more times than I can count in the last 25 years or so.)

The gap is finally correct and consistent. The wires broke (not surprisingly with all that handling) and had to be resoldered. Again, my soldering skills are not up to snuff and are just barely adequate.
But!
IT WORKS!
Fired hot shoe flash and sync port external flash over 10 consecutive times with 100% success!!!
I'll finish putting the whole camera back together again later in the week, hoping nothing else was broken

Thanks,
Ismael

Amazing! I'm as impressed by your trouble-shooting and diagnosis skills as I am your repair and restoration work, Ismael.

You've mentioned your soldering a couple of times... I wouldn't worry about it. So long as the joints are nice and shiny, that's all that counts, right?

It's not a beauty contest, and I've seen far worse joints than that. You may or may not know that I'm an occasional amateur radio user, and there's a company called MFJ that makes a lot of accessories such as antenna tuners. The soldering in their products is legendary - in a bad way. I've had a couple of units from them where they simply didn't work out of the box due to obviously-dry joints or short-circuits from bridges of excess solder. Their products are pretty good, actually, but when buying them you need to assume they'll need thorough testing and - as likely as not - a bit of time with a soldering iron

Last edited by BigMackCam; 11-16-2021 at 07:02 AM.

**ismaelg** · 11-22-2021, 05:23 PM - **4 Likes**

Hello,
Last step and...

THIS ONE IS DONE!

Yes, it is the same. The bottom plate center screw was the only casualty. Will replace it if I find another one.

The usual test in a minute or less video. The "IG" is just a little sticker with my initials.

Youtu.be

All it needs now is to go out in the wild!

Thanks,
Ismael

**BigMackCam** · 11-22-2021, 10:57 PM - **1 Like**

What an amazing job you've done on that K1000, Ismael. It looks excellent! Nice choice on the leatherette, too.

I'll be honest, I was unsure if you'd manage to save this one. I should have known better

andrewd · 11-22-2021, 11:21 PM - **1 Like**

great thread. Looking forward to the next restoration!

**Photos-by-Chas** · 11-23-2021, 08:49 AM - **1 Like**

A job well done on a wonderful camera proving the legacy of Pentax and giving credibility to the reputation of the K1000. Thank you for sharing the journey with us.

**John in OZ** · 12-04-2021, 01:53 AM - **1 Like**

Love to see some pictures taken with your restoration job complete to finish off the post. Well done. Good see persistence still exists.

DcnPat · 12-05-2021, 02:38 PM - **1 Like**

Great work!

sconut1 · 12-14-2021, 11:07 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by ismaelg

Hello,
Last step and...

THIS ONE IS DONE!

Yes, it is the same. The bottom plate center screw was the only casualty. Will replace it if I find another one.

The usual test in a minute or less video. The "IG" is just a little sticker with my initials.

https://youtu.be/9Ejnnj5K3mg

All it needs now is to go out in the wild!

Thanks,
Ismael

I really enjoy your posts Ismael. I'm always curious to see what your next restoration endeavor will be.

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11-16-2021, 03:13 AM - 1 Like	#31
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,674	Originally posted by ismaelg Steve Austin, Astronaut A man barely alive Gentlemen, we can rebuild him... One of my favorite intros of all time, of course back in the day I lived it in Spanish So, after it was "pretty much done", the hot shoe and the sync port were acting up and got worst to the point they were not usable. So here we go again! Pardon the crappy cell phone pics but these were taken live from the Operating Room! So after some troubleshooting I isolated the issue to the sync contacts operated by the opening curtain latching cam. The part was distorted out of shape. The gap was inconsistent. I was worried bending the part into shape may break it. Maybe I can scavenge this part from the parts camera. WAIT! This IS the parts camera! I tried adding some extra support to the part but did not work. At the end I carefully reshaped the part little by little adjusting the back contact, front contact, front contact support and latching cam itself. I honestly think I reinstalled, tested, disassembled back again, adjust and repeat well over a dozen times. My trusty Fluke-29 multimeter was there the whole time. (As an electrical engineer I have literally trusted my life to that instrument more times than I can count in the last 25 years or so.) The gap is finally correct and consistent. The wires broke (not surprisingly with all that handling) and had to be resoldered. Again, my soldering skills are not up to snuff and are just barely adequate. But! IT WORKS! Fired hot shoe flash and sync port external flash over 10 consecutive times with 100% success!!! I'll finish putting the whole camera back together again later in the week, hoping nothing else was broken Thanks, Ismael Amazing! I'm as impressed by your trouble-shooting and diagnosis skills as I am your repair and restoration work, Ismael. You've mentioned your soldering a couple of times... I wouldn't worry about it. So long as the joints are nice and shiny, that's all that counts, right? It's not a beauty contest, and I've seen far worse joints than that. You may or may not know that I'm an occasional amateur radio user, and there's a company called MFJ that makes a lot of accessories such as antenna tuners. The soldering in their products is legendary - in a bad way. I've had a couple of units from them where they simply didn't work out of the box due to obviously-dry joints or short-circuits from bridges of excess solder. Their products are pretty good, actually, but when buying them you need to assume they'll need thorough testing and - as likely as not - a bit of time with a soldering iron Last edited by BigMackCam; 11-16-2021 at 07:02 AM.

11-22-2021, 10:57 PM - 1 Like	#33
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,674	What an amazing job you've done on that K1000, Ismael. It looks excellent! Nice choice on the leatherette, too. I'll be honest, I was unsure if you'd manage to save this one. I should have known better

11-22-2021, 11:21 PM - 1 Like	#34
andrewd Senior Member Join Date: May 2021 Posts: 238	great thread. Looking forward to the next restoration!

11-23-2021, 08:49 AM - 1 Like	#35
Photos-by-Chas Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Northwest Pennsylvania, USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,318	A job well done on a wonderful camera proving the legacy of Pentax and giving credibility to the reputation of the K1000. Thank you for sharing the journey with us.

12-04-2021, 01:53 AM - 1 Like	#36
John in OZ Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2020 Location: Ringwood, Victoria Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 347	Love to see some pictures taken with your restoration job complete to finish off the post. Well done. Good see persistence still exists.

12-05-2021, 02:38 PM - 1 Like	#37
DcnPat New Member Join Date: Dec 2021 Location: Alexandria, VA Posts: 5	Great work!

12-14-2021, 11:07 PM - 1 Like	#38
sconut1 Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2020 Photos: Gallery Posts: 33	Originally posted by ismaelg Hello, Last step and... THIS ONE IS DONE! Yes, it is the same. The bottom plate center screw was the only casualty. Will replace it if I find another one. The usual test in a minute or less video. The "IG" is just a little sticker with my initials. https://youtu.be/9Ejnnj5K3mg All it needs now is to go out in the wild! Thanks, Ismael I really enjoy your posts Ismael. I'm always curious to see what your next restoration endeavor will be.