I'm having hell finding a service manual for an A-1

<p>Does anyone know where i can find a free service manual for the Canon A-1? I have looked and looked to no avail; I keep finding either dead links, or books that cost money (that I can't spend at the moment). My A-1 has been dead for some time now, and I'm looking to fix it. I have taken all the screws out of the top plate, but can't seem to get the darn thing open... is there any trick to doing this? Then the problem becomes, once I have it open, what do i have to test? (hence the need for the book) Also, I can hear something rattling around inside around the prism/shtter dial area... not a good sign I'm assuming.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for all your help,<br>

Mike</p>

<p>Scroll down to the "Service Manuals" section at the following link:</p>

<p>http://www.canonfd.com/The_Canon_FD_Documentation_Project/Brochures.html</p>

<p>There's also one available here: http://camera-care.com/repair_manuals.htm<br>

I don't know if they will be any different?<br>

Best Wishes.<br>

Graham.</p>

<p>unless you are experianced at camera repair you chances of solving anything past an obvious problem are near zip. I can't tell you how many people I have consoled because they tried to repair their camera and the results were that a qualified tech wouldn't touch it cause it was so messed up.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I just worked on my A-1 today, funny how about a week ago I was looking for a copy of the repair manual which I know I have, but could not find it, will definitely look through these, thanks for posting the new links.<br />Anyway, to take the top cover off you need to take the lens mount cover plate off first as there're two more screws hiding under it and also the shutter blind switch, in addition to the obvious screws around the top. I presume you've already noticed the circlips under advance/rewind...</p>

<p>I highly recommend Ken Oikawa. He is an expert and will take care of any problem you might have at a very reasonable price. Give him a call at 951-246-9136, CA time.</p>

<p>A-1's are cheap, why not replace it with another or better yet get a T90 which imo is a highly upgraded A-1. I love my A-1, first A series body I bought but when it dies it gets sold off for parts, it's not worth fixing and I have no sentimental attachment to the body. My second T90 came from a eBay auction being sold by KEH and I won it for less than $100, replaced the foam for the mirror bumper and it's a like new camera.</p>

<p>To Gordon Yee: The A-1 manual link on the page was dead.. or at least it didn't work for me. Thanks anyway.<br /> To Graham Powel: Thanks for the manual! Greatly appreciated. <br /> To Zenit Zepplin: Yes, after examining it more yesterday I did come to the conclusion that the mounting plate would have to come off... Thanks for your advice. <br /> To Mark Wahlster: Errrr... well, I'm just crazy enough (read:stupid enough) to mess with it. I'm really more interested in finding out whats rattling around inside it than actually fixing it at the moment. I think it's actually the power switch that's shot. It no longer "clicks" into place.<br /> To Mark Stephen: I have looked at the T90 and it is very interesting. As an EOS 1 series user, I find it a very interesting camera because so much of the T90 design can be seen in the basic layout of the EOS 1 series. That said, I want to fix the camera because it was my first serious camera and it was given to me by my grandparents - so it's just simply a sentimental thing. That said, if I buy another Canon FD SLR I'm getting a New F-1, the camera I probably should have bought instead of my current F-1n. I could see myself getting a T90 sometime in the future though.... when I have extra money laying around...</p>

<p>Michael, I was able to access the manual yesterday at that link. It takes a while to download under the "Free user" option. I believe it's the same manual as available under link provided by Graham.</p>