SQ-Ai Battery check light doesn't work

[ricklb55]

<p>Recently acquired a Bronica SQ-Ai and depressing the battery check light button produces nothing. Fresh matching alkaline batteries are installed whose voltage was checked by volt-meter, the exposure indicators in the ME prism viewfinder light up, the shutter release warning LED lights up, the shutter remains open according the specified shutter speed, but no battery check light. I thought LEDs were supposed to last forever. Anybody experienced a similiar problem? Is this a known problem with the SQ-Ai?</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>I used Bronicas as my main camera for over ten years. Mostly they were trouble free, but I was initially plagued with connection/PCB type issues and I don't think that's uncommon. Possible for the LED light itself to be OK but that won't help if the right signal's not reaching it. Like most MF cameras of that era, there was an expectation that the camera would be serviced at regular intervals.</p>

[euangray]

<p>The SQ-Ai is notorious for poor connections in the battery compartment. Common fixes include (gently and carefully) bending the battery contact springs or using conductive foil as a padding.</p>

<p>I have an SQ-A (which uses one 4LR44 instead of 4 individual button cells) and occasionally get the same thing - removing the battery and wiping the contacts or sometimes just prodding the battery seems to fix it. My SQ-A drains the battery quickly even when not in use, so I remove it when not using the camera and always carry a spare with me. This is also a common problem.</p>

[david_smith35]

<p>Richard, it does sound as if you have a faulty LED or battery check circuit. I wouldn't worry too much if the camera operates normally - if the battery goes flat in the SQAi, the shutter will not fire at any speed. From a personal standpoint, I've never experienced battery connection problems with my Bronica. I do however handle the batteries with a clean handkerchief to avoid contamination with greasy fingers, and I also make sure the sprung contacts on the battery holder are well tensioned to enable a snug fit with the batteries.</p>

[ricklb55]

<p>It appears I have multiple problems with the my SQ-Ai. I just developed a test roll of Delta 3200, of which half the images were exposed through my Ai, on multiple finders and multiple lenses. Half of the 6 frames exposed through my Ai are completely blank – nothing at all – with no commonality except the camera body and film back. Both the lens cap and dark slide were positively removed. I can only conclude that the batteries are only making intermittent proper contact and that the battery check LED and/or circuit is permanently dead. <br>

Is it safe to assume that the batteries are making proper contact for shutter release if the other lights in the finder are lighting up?</p>

[dave_thomas8]

<p>Enh -- the shutter is in the lens, so there's another set of connections between that and the body. Between the electronics and the mechanical interlocks, the SQxxx series is more complex than one might expect. I have an SQ-A which has a simpler battery compartment, which I'm sure helps a little. <br>

As a one time electronics tinkerer, I'm inclined to suspect something electrical is either loose or corroded inside that body, but that's based on speculation, not direct experience. After a problem with my first SQ-A body, I've wound up with two more, so with those plus multiple lenses I can do lots of switch and swap to try and localize a problem. I intend to try and peek inside the first body "one of these days" but it's at the end of a lo-o-ong do-list. I have found a service manual for an ETRSi, so maybe that will offer some hints if I ever get that 'round tuit'.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>Is this the first roll you've put through the camera or has it been working well for a while beforehand. If the former and you have any sort of warranty or right to return I'd be thinking about exercising that right. From my experience the sort of issue you're having is not always easy to diagnose and of course given its a long while since discontinuation, parts could yet be an issue, or worse yet a struggle to find a part that then turns out not to have been the problem. </p>

[ricklb55]

<p>Yes, the Delta 3200 was the first roll I had exposed through the Ai body. I bought it from a company, KEH Camera, with supposedly a solid reputation for thoroughly checking the stuff they sell. However, this is the third piece of Bronica equipment I have bought from them that doesn’t work perfectly: A 120J back that winds film very stiffly, an ME prism finder whose meter is at least 1 stop off, and the Ai body. Perhaps I am expecting too much or perhaps I’m being thickheaded to keep buying from KEH. I’m returning the ME prism but the Ai body I bought 8 months ago, foolishly not testing it immediately, so it’s too late for returns but the warranty is supposed to still be in effect, whatever a warranty on 30-year-old equipment means.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>Sadly I think that offering a warranty /return facility is probably viewed as an alternative to expensive testing and repair these days- so basically for the proportion of items that are OK they don't have to spend any time on them at all. </p>

<p>Still a warranty is better than nothing, so I'd suggest you take them up on that right away on the basis that the first go at a repair might not totally solve the problem. </p>

[ricklb55]

<p>I have discovered that what I thought was a poor battery connection is nothing of the kind. A more thorough inspection of the test negatives shows that the blank frames only occurred when using the 150 PS lens I had recently purchased from Roberts Camera/Used Photo Pro. Test firing of the lens on both my SQ-Ai and SQ-A, without a back on, clearly demonstrated that the shutter on the lens does not open under any condition when the shutter is released. This really puts me off future purchases from Roberts Camera. I don’t expect every feature on a used equipment to be tested but to sell me a Bronica lens whose shutter doesn’t work, which is extremely easy to test, is beyond the pale. Fortunately, I’m still within the return period.</p>

[yichiyang]

I'm not sure if I am too late to join this faulty SQ-ai party. I have the the same problem as mentioned above. Fresh batteries inside, SQ-i prism meter works fine, shutter fires at all speeds, and the shutter release warning LED (aka dark slide not removed indicator) lights up correctly. But nothings happens when battery check button is pressed (actually I got the battery check Led light up at one time today, but I failed to do so since that test). Upon closer inspection, I'm pretty convinced that shutter release warning LED and battery check Led is the same LED, which is the right one (if you take off the prism finder, and it is red) located on the top of the focusing screen.

 

I'm not sure if it is the circuit that is broken or the battery check button is broken. Can you confirm that the battery check button is shorter than the film back release button> If this is not the case I may have encountered a mechanically damaged button.

 

If this problem can be fixed I'd appreciate anyone who offer my a solution.

Edited February 12, 2018 by yichiyang

[jo_dad]

Can you confirm that the battery check button is shorter than the film back release button> If this is not the case I may have encountered a mechanically damaged button.

 

Sorry to revive an old thread guys but my battery indicator doesn't work either. Also, my battery indicator button is lower in (as if depressed somewhat) compared to the film release button.