Nikon F3 Meter staying at 2000+

[nic_olas]

Picked up an F3, sold by a guy that was somewhat unaware or maybe knew of the poor condition of the F3.
Had some corrosion and generally a bit mucky.
Anyways have cleaned it up, new batteries and the shutter fires. A few things i'm chasing some help on:

Shutter sticks at some slower speeds and bulb, maybe it just needs to be worked a lot to wake up again?

Light meter ONLY shows 2000 and the over + on AUTO and doesn't change no matter what light changes.
In manual it shows the shutter speed, but again only a + and never +- or -

Under the mirror, when the shutter is opened there's a circular little lens / window. It looks pretty dirty. Could this cause the meter to always show over and not work?

Any help would be great before I chase up a return to sender on this one.
(It was sold via Ebay as "used" which apparently covers the buyer as the camera should be working, but condition can vary. I should be able to return...)

Thanks all!

ATTACHED IS A PHOTO OF THE GRIMEY LITTLE CELL UNDER THE MIRROR

 

Edited June 2, 2023 by nic_olas
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[Niels - NHSN]

Return it.

There are plenty of working F3's out there. No point in throwing energy and money into a broken sample.

[orsetto]

1 hour ago, Niels - NHSN said:

Return it.

There are plenty of working F3's out there. No point in throwing energy and money into a broken sample.

Agree 100!%.

Of all the things one can choose to waste money and time on, a three-quarters-dead Nikon F3 would be last on my list. You generally cannot DIY repair a badly malfunctioning F3 due to its electronics, and the F3 is pretty much a "deal or no deal" camera model to begin with. Nikon went to great effort to make their first electronic F body as rugged and robust as possible, so a great many of them have held up quite well, but the ones with major problems aren't worth the trouble and expense of repair when you can instead just choose another of the thousands of fully operational F3 bodies.

IOW, there are very few "bargain" F3 bodies in circulation today. There is no such thing as buying a funky cheap F3 and nursing it back to health with DIY: either spend the going rate for a guaranteed fully working F3, or don't get an F3. Repair costs for a defective F3 will equal or exceed the cost of a replacement fully functional F3 body.

BTW, corrosion on electronic cameras is very bad omen: any corrosion on an electronic camera is an instant no for me.

Edited June 2, 2023 by orsetto

[nic_olas]

I figured this would be the case, being mostly electronic. Now I'm reminded why I prefer mechanical cameras!

On the off chance, would cleaning and poking around in here do anything?

I wonder if it's simply a bit of corrosion or dirt on an electronic part that's blocking the signals?

I'd prefer to revive a camera than throw it to the heap!

Thanks!

[orsetto]

Put it this way: it depends on how much you paid for it and whether you can afford to lose that entire amount if you render the camera inoperative, making it unreturnable for refund. Sure, eBay is a buyers market these days, so you could basically shatter it with a sledgehammer and still get an undeserved refund. But thats really unethical and damaging to the used camera marketplace, so I'm gonna assume you're not "that guy".

If you paid very little and are willing to risk it in pursuit of knowledge, go ahead and poke around, but be aware you'll likely make things worse. The little wires can be brittle and easily break internally if moved (or simply snap right off the board). Ditto traces in the board etched circuits. Also note if the meter is pegged on overexposure due to (common) hidden impact damage to the ASA/compensation assembly located under the rewind knob, the camera is toast and nothing you can do will restore it (requires replacement of the cracked gold resistor ring buried in the assembly).

The "adjustment nerve center" of the F3 is under the front plate to the left of the lens mount, where you'll find multiple trim pots to fiddle with. You need to refer to the F3 service manual for details on which trim pot adjusts what function (they aren't marked). Simply cleaning the meter eye won't help much: it should vary the display response even if dirty, but yours seems permanently locked and loaded at 2000+.

If it were me, I'd just return it cleanly and move on to another specimen from a seller capable of proper testing and function guarantee. Its rarely worth the effort to tinker with a defective electronic camera unless you know for certain the defect is mechanical and you have info on how to remedy the specific issue.

Edited June 3, 2023 by orsetto

[hjoseph7]

Sometimes a few drops of lighter fluid will help with the corosion issue, if you can find the light meter board on your camera. However if the cell is defective, you might need to replace the entire cell. Here is a much simpler exposure meter  board from the pentax k1000.  You should be able to find a "Nikon F3  repair manual" online.  Good luck. 

[Niels - NHSN]

If you start doing repair attempts on the camera, you can’t expect returning it in good conscience.

[BeBu Lamar]

As I have told you on the Photrio forum that you should consult the service manual. There are many voltage points at the bottom of the camera you can check and find out what is wrong. First I would recommend you to check and see if the camera still function correctly as a meterless camera in manual? You want to veify that the electronic shutter control is still functioning. Then you can also check if the automatic shutter still function. The display circuit is separate and can be malfunction alone. 

If you don't have the service manual let me know.