Spotmatic Battery Cover, need suggestions:)

[gnashings]

<p>Hi All,<br>

The CMC gang is an industrious and inventive bunch of tinkers and out of the box thinkers...<br>

(wow, that rhymed - I promise, I am not going to start rapping, despite my campaign to popularize CMC, etc.,)</p>

<p>Ehmm.. ok, so - I have two SP's - a 500 and a 1000, and "real" Spotmatic in the mail (it was black, I had to... I mean...they're just so cool in black, they really look the sh!t...), anyhow - BATTERY COVERS.</p>

<p>One, bought at a camera show, is missing it all together (hey, it was $10) and the other, from a garage sale, had a battery spill inside and it was welded to the bottom cover - I got it off, and yes, its functional, but its very ugly, and its very obvious that I happened to it...<br>

My question is -<strong> is there a cheap source of these </strong>(I see them on eBay sometimes, but they cost more than the cameras)<strong>?</strong> <br>

If not - and without access to a machine shop - has anyone figured out a way to keep a battery in there without the door - I know duct tape and some conductive material would work, but I was wondering if there is a more elegant solution?</p>

<p>I was wondering about a piece of springy metal, or even packing alumnium foil in there to make a "self-tapping" cover that would be held in place with a half case (which I do have for one of the cameras).</p>

<p>Anyhow - any and all suggestions, even just brainstorming out loud, will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance,</p>

<p>Peter</p>

[john_shriver]

<p>If you can measure it well enough to use the free CAD software to draw them, <a href="http://www.emachineshop.com/">this online machine shop</a> might be a solution.<br>

Or maybe S K Grimes has the pattern, and can knock one off.</p>

 

[gnashings]

<p>John - I have considered a machine shop, even thought that if I knew the thread specs I could look around and see if a piece of metal could be threaded and hacked off somehow, but I don't have the means to measure the thread pitch accurately... Thanks for chiming in:)</p>

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p>Peter Hi! I am not familiar with the size of the Pentax battery compartment. I gues it would be about the same as that in the Praktica [px 625 or 675 size]. I have used a copper penny in similar problem conditions with a sticking tape to hold it in place. It fits snugly into the cavity and makes good electrical contact. As you use an ever ready case it would stay in place. That would do well until you find a junked body from which you can salvage a battery cover. SP.</p>

[maderik]

<p>The Spotmatic uses the PX400 size - even a dime is too large. You could try cutting a bit of brass shim stock into a rounded square. That might be able to engage the threads (e.g. your springy metal idea.) You can get a package of ~4x5" pieces of brass shim of various thicknesses from most HW stores for about $5. I use this stuff all of the time to bodge in new battery contacts in old cameras where they have corroded or to adapt a modern battery type of different dimensions.</p>

[gnashings]

<p>Guys, thanks for your ideas - I think I will try to maybe walk through a hardware store and see if something just leaps out at me:) I wish i could find a longer screw like the one that is on either side of the tripod mount, then I could bolt down a piece of metal (kind of like an old school door peep-hole) that could be swung over the batt compartment after loosening a screw... But that would be harder to come by than a battery cover itself :) THanks again for throwing more ideas my way!</p>

[rick_drawbridge]

<p>I solved the problem with a Minolta, ages ago, by taking the camera down to the local hardware store and finding a nylon bolt of the same diameter and thread....Easy to slice a disk off, smooth it up and run a groove for a coin. Not overly elegant, but better than tape.</p>

[gnashings]

<p>Rick - how did you get the contact? Just a strip of metal? That seems like a great idea, thanks!</p>