Erratic meter Chinon Memotron CE-ii

I have started using a CE-II and love the meter system ...when it works! It drops out, needle down although green battery check lamp is on. Wiggling the ASA dial seems to bring it back to life. Any ideas where to look inside to fix it?

It's a circa 1976 camera, and I would guess service for it is a forlorn hope

 

All the same, Butkus (LINK) has a fond spot for this marque; and there, or elsewhere, you might find some more detailed info.

 

The "wiggle" functioning may suggest that a connection has come loose, if you are very lucky. If you can disassemble it enough to get to that, you may see a loose or broken wire.

 

I would guess the top cover is where you need to look, but I actually KNOW nothing.

 

I'd also check the battery and make sure all the connections there are clean.

Edited March 26, 2018 by JDMvW

I have a GAF L-ES (Chinon CE Memotron) which only has some minor differences from the CE II. Another possibility is that there is a dirty contact somewhere under the top cover. Sometimes, turning the ASA and shutter speed dials back and forth several dozen times is enough to clean them. You might also check that the ASA dial is tight; on mine, there are three screws under the rewind crank holding it on.

Thanks for the ideas. I checked the ASA dial; on mine it is secured by a nut with 2 holes. Using a pin wrench showed it to be tightened OK. I did however discover that the meter (if unresponsive) could be activated by pressing down on the ASA dial... so I think I´m getting closer. Are you familiar with what is under the cover - and what steps to remove it? What is the expected electronics there, perhaps a potentiometer disc with spring load wiper of some sort? In which case would a drop of switch cleaner spray help? (like on crackling audio pots, for example). Meanwhile I will continue searching for a service instruction. Butkus site only has the users instruction book.

I'm not aware of any service instructions online, but Thomas Tomosy has the following brief notes in his first camera repair book for the GAF L-ES/2: "Remove the cover plate from both the winding crank and the shutter-speed dial. Take off the ASA dial. A small lever at the ASA side comes with the cover (eyepiece shade switch)." On my body, I don't actually see any screws holding the top cover on. The film advance lever should come off in the conventional manner (you man need a friction tool).

 

I suspect you are probably right about the ASA dial configuration, in which case the wiper may be dirty or making poor contact. Some contact cleaner/conditioner should work OK.

I have read that the speed dial can be removed by soaking in a drop of alcohol to loosen the glue, then prising off. I cannot see how to tackle the winder... what is that friction tool you mentioned?

There should be a screw-in metal cap on top of the winding lever. Mine doesn't have any holes in the top, so you'll need to use a rubber stopper, jar opener, etc. to press down and turn. Not sure if it's a left-hand or right-hand thread, though.

 

Just looking at mine again, though, it may not unscrew that way, as I thought. If it doesn't, the flat metal cover on the cap may need to be pried off (as you mention, with a drop of alcohol or naphtha to soften the adhesive).

Edited March 26, 2018 by m42dave

P.S. When Tomosy refers to removing the cover plate on the winding crank, I think that is what he means (prying off the plate on the cap, as with the shutter-speed dial). Some of his instructions are pretty terse. :confused: Edited March 26, 2018 by m42dave

This is like brain surgery.

Here from Tomosy, Camera Maintenance and Repair, Book 1 revised, are some instructions which may provide some hints/analogues for your model:

Thanks for the help! First the good news... the covers for the winder and speed knob were indeed glued on and simple to remove by leaving a drop of zippo lighter fluid seeping in for a minute, before lifting away with an X-acto blade. The further removal of the top cover was intuitively straightforward, involving pin-face nuts and a few cross-head screws - (on my Memotron CE-ii it was different than the CM4s description above). This revealed the ASA dial assembly which has two wiper contacts running over copper track contact pads of a PCB, this makes connections through a chain of surface-mounted resistors.

Air duster to clean, then a few drops of contact spray. No need to re-assemble to test, fortunately. Great, it works fine! Put it all back together... same erratic needle.

Opened it up again, flushed the ASA mechanism clean with lighter fluid... it works! Put back together, it´s erratic.

Ehhh - seeing a pattern here? Must be a mechanical twist/clamping issue. So I started poking around with a toothpick, probing for loose connections. Found one of those resistors seemed to make the meter needle respond with a gentle pressure, perhaps a failing solder joint? Tried soldering it... this is where it starts to go downhill, trying to solder through a magnifying glass! Didnt help - another resistor was also seeming to respond to a poke -yep, same result - so to cut a long story short I suppose I never really found the root cause and now have a fine manual camera with no metering. And of course no automatic function which really defeats the whole point of this unusual camera. At least I still have a decent lens from it.

BRAIN SURGERY INDEED ...unfortunately I have now lost the patient (and patience!)o_O

Thanks for the update, and for sharing what you learned. At least you gave it a try. :)

 

If you decide to replace your camera, you might consider a GAF L-ES, which is only slightly different than your model. Since the name isn't sought after, they often go for dirt cheap. I think mine was $10, in near-mint condition and it works great. I believe it was also sold as the Sears 2000 ES.