Canon A-1 meter problem-is my meter dead?

[matthew_taylor1]

Hi, I have a problem with my A-1 meter. If I half-press the shutter release I always get a flashing display showing the selected shutter speed/aperture-as if underexposed. This happens even if I have no lense attached and set it at 30 secs/f1.8. Is my meter totally dead?

[thorsten_westheider]

Hi Matthew,

 

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just checked with my A-1, with no lens attached the display shows "M"

for manual operation and a suitable combination of shutter speed and

aperture (no flashing most of the time, depends on amount of light

entering the camera, of course).

 

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Cheers,

Thorsten

[carl_williams]

Hi -

 

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This sounds like the sort of Canon A1 meter problem I've seen a

few times - the film speed dial fails to make a difference and the

camera "thinks" it's on ISO 6 permanently. The fix, in my limited

experience, appears to be simple but very fiddly, so depending on

how brave you're feeling you can dismantle the camera and fix it

yourself or get someone to service it, which should sort it. A "CLA"

(clean, lube, align) type service is probably a Good Thing, so I

guess I'd have to recommend that.

 

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Any attempt to fix it yourself is obviously strictly at your own

risk, whereas a dealer will be honour bound to replace it if

they screw it up.

 

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That said, being no stranger to the innards of intricate gizmos, I

had a crack at fixing one with the same syptoms and found that the

problem was improper contact between the flexible circuit boards and

the film speed dial's circuit board. There a a *lot* of parts in a

Canon A1, and plenty of dis-assembly pitfalls to beware of; one

ball bearing to lose, part of the shutter release easily mislaid,

delicate flash sync socket wire to unsolder and re-solder, etc.

 

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The actual problem seems to be that the contacts between flexible

and rigid boards are made by a small cover plate applying pressure

via a rectangular rubber block about 2mm in section. There are three

of these types of connections on that board, and they're all suspect,

but the one which causes the most mayhem if it's not properly

connected is the most tricky one to access/clean. I have one in

bits at the moment, and plan to take some digital snaps and try

to slap together a page showing how to fix it, but don't hold your

breath 'cos I'm *very* snowed-under. It's *not* a fix for the

feint-hearted. Don't poke about in there without electrostatic

precautions, either.

 

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HTH

 

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Carl