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[OM] Re: Flash not working on OM-1?

Subject: [OM] Re: Flash not working on OM-1?
From: "PhotoSphere Olympus Camera Service" <olyfix@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 13:16:52 -0500
Lets start at the top:

First, with the camera un-wound, remove the flash, charge it, and slide it
back onto the shoe -- did the flash fire as it was attached?  If so, the
sync port under the shoe is likely shorted by metallic debris, a common
problem w/original OM-1's (that's why Olympus changed the shoe/port design
on the N's).  When the original shoe is attached, tiny bits of plating will
scrape off and fall to the bottom of the hot shoe port in the top of the
camera.  Eventually they move around and short the connection.  The solution
is to remove the shoe, make a small point of tissue and twist it down into
the opening, turning several times.  You can wet with alcohol, naphtha,
etc., if you wish.  Then remove and blow air into the port, reattach shoe
and check again.

If the flash did not fire as it was attached, slowly wind the camera.  Did
the flash fire as the camera was wound?  If so, let us know -- that's a much
more difficult problem to address, and very unusual.

Next, remove the flash, set the camera on "B", press the shutter release and
hold the shutter open.  With your meter, first check resistance across the
center post of the PC socket and any bare metal part of the body (I like to
flip out the rewind lever and use one of the screw heads hidden under the
rewind knob -- keeps the probe from slipping around and scratching).  You
should read almost zero ohms.  If the reading is tens of ohms or more, you
probably have a poor sync switch somewhere.  Two of the contacts can be
accessed by removing the bottom plate, the other requires removing the front
casting -- not a diy job.  Except for this third contact, removing the top
is unnecessary, but it's always good to check for foam, of course.

If the reading is near zero, attach the shoe and check from the center post
to the same ground, shutter held open on "B" again -- it should be almost
the same reading, maybe just a bit higher.  If not, remove the shoe and
clean if you haven't already and try again.  If still no good, the problem
may be inside the shoe itself.  Try wiggling the shoe -- if the meter jumps,
it's the shoe (or your meter, and this is all your imagination -- wake up,
now!).

If none of this has worked, you can remove the bottom cover and check the
contacts underneath.  Then may be burnt/dirty, or they may simply not be
making reliable connection.  Post a follow-up and I'll go into that process
later.



>
> I should point out the problem is more than intermittent, it almost never
> works.
> It has never worked when I needed it to, only a few times when I've
wiggled
> it
> while I was trying to figure out what is wrong.
>
> Darin



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