Vivitar 285 -- How to Disassemble for Repair

[mrbob]

After years of service and about a year of non-use my Vivitar 285 no

longer will fire up. The probable cause appears to be a faulty battery

connection or a bad capacitor. The problem is that I'm unable to

disassemble the unit since there is some kind of trick to doing so.

All is explained in the service manual, but I don't own one.

 

Please don't reply with dire warnings of shock and electrocution were

I to get at the innards of my 285; I know how to discharge an

electrolytic capacitor without harming myself having repaired my own

TVs and monitors.

 

I know where I can purchase a service manual for about 20 bucks, but

I'm a cheapskate, and besides, the unit may turn out to be not worth

repairing. So, I'd appreciate it if anyone can tell me how to open up

the patient so I can operate. Also, somewhere along the way I

misplaced the battery cover; I'd be grateful to anyone who can provide

me a spare from a dead or broken 285 or 285HV.

 

Thanks,

 

Bob

[garry edwards]

"Please don't reply with dire warnings of shock and electrocution were I to get at the innards of my 285"

 

But it IS dangerous. As moderator I can either delete this thread or point out the dangers, in case there is anyone else out there who is thinking of doing the same thing

[clarence_l]

Before you decide to risk electrocution and death, try this:

 

Take a pencil eraser and rub the battery contacts in the battery holder to get rid of any oxidized metal. Then put your batteries back in and try turning it on. This is possibly the primary cause of Vivitar 285 and 283 problems.

 

If that fails, the hot shoe might not be working. Just do yourself and your Vivitar 285 a favour and get a Vivitar pc sync cord. You'll be able to continue using it for years to come until it finally does encounter final death.

 

So don't die before your Vivitar.

[rickvandenberg]

Bob - please contact me by email.

[jmf]

At the risk of belaboring the obvious, you've tried fresh batts? No lights, no whistle?

[jo_o_m_rio_carreira]

Hi. I'm having some problems with my vivitar 285 - sometimes it doesn't fire at correct power. For example I use yellow or 1/4 or 1/16 and I get a full power burst.

Can anyone, please, tell me how to repair it.

Or can anyone tell me how to get a cheap service manual?

Thanks