[PKIDelirium]

My trusty Canon A610 that I got in February 2006 suffered a critical injury last night at Kings Island's Halloween Haunt. I had it in my jacket pocket while riding The Beast, and I forgot to flip the LCD around to protect it like I always do. The next time I got the camera out, this is what the screen looked like, and still does look like:



I almost dropped a F-bomb right there on the Stunt Track station platform...

Anyway, I got on eBay a little while ago and found, for $25, a dead A610 with a broken lens, but a fully functional screen.

So the question is, should I drop the $25 (plus $10 shipping) and attempt a repair, or just write it off and buy a new camera, listing this one on eBay to sell for parts?

[turtle]

I'd just replace the camera if it was me. I'd keep using it until I saved up about $300 for a new one.

[PKIDelirium]

That's the problem: I CAN'T keep using it, as the screen is completely shot. Viewfinders on P&S cameras suck badly, and I wouldn't be able to use anything but Automatic mode.



The unexpected expense of a new camera would be a little "ouch" right now, but I still might do it. I really like this camera though, so the cheap repair is tempting.

[scratt]

Go for it.. It's going to be fiddly and you might not pull it off, but for $25 why the hell not try!

Over here I'd source the parts and take it to a little man in one of the malls, but not without having a look to see if I could do it myself first..

When you strip the camera down, get a large sheet of paper and tape each set of screws to the paper and make a note of where you got them from. That's what I do when I strip down a Mac.

You may be lucky and it's simply a ribbon connector with some gnarly routing you have to contend with. It might be worth doing a quick hunt online to see if there is any site like MacFixit which has a step through guide, for your camera, or a similar one.

Another option is to see if the guy selling his broken camera wants to buy yours and fix his, thus giving you a saving on a new one...

[Majost]

Originally Posted by scratt When you strip the camera down, get a large sheet of paper and tape each set of screws to the paper and make a note of where you got them from. That's what I do when I strip down a Mac.

Better yet: an ice cube tray with a notepad that documents each 'cube'

[PKIDelirium]

Originally Posted by scratt Go for it.. It's going to be fiddly and you might not pull it off, but for $25 why the hell not try! Over here I'd source the parts and take it to a little man in one of the malls, but not without having a look to see if I could do it myself first.. When you strip the camera down, get a large sheet of paper and tape each set of screws to the paper and make a note of where you got them from. That's what I do when I strip down a Mac. You may be lucky and it's simply a ribbon connector with some gnarly routing you have to contend with. It might be worth doing a quick hunt online to see if there is any site like MacFixit which has a step through guide, for your camera, or a similar one. Another option is to see if the guy selling his broken camera wants to buy yours and fix his, thus giving you a saving on a new one...

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. If it fails, I can always stick them both on eBay for parts and make a few bucks.

I'm doing some exploratory surgery right now to see what kind of work I'm looking at, and using the paper/tape method to track the screws.

We'll see how this goes. The dead one on eBay also comes with a dead A80 that I could also resell for parts since I have no need for it. If all goes well, I'll have my camera working again, have the dead one on hand if I ever need more parts, and have an extra one to resell for parts.

[scratt]

Good luck... And remember post your results and some pictures here!

[murbot]

Originally Posted by PKIDelirium I almost dropped a F-bomb right there on the Stunt Track station platform...

You got so mad that you almost swore?

You badass.

[Freewell]

Be sure to take pictures (with your camera phone of course) as you go, so we can be duly impressed or laugh appropriately!

[Taskiss]

I always use my camera to take pics of the thing I'm working on with a pic of the appropriate screw/fastener after I remove it 'cause it keeps it in order, then play it backwards ... but I'm thinking you're a camera shy of doing that...

Good luck, Mr. Phelps.

[PKIDelirium]

Alright, here we go.

Last night (Monday night) I did the exploratory surgery on it. Turns out that thanks to the A610 having the swiveling screen, it will be a fairly easy job. I took all the covers off and unfastened the busted LCD unit from the swivel hinge.





Photos taken with my old, obsolete Pentax Optio that I dug out.

I'm dealing with three connections between the LCD unit and the camera. Two small plugs, and one single wire that appears to be a solder connection. It seems to be an easy repair, now I just need to win that dead one on eBay to get the screen...

[scratt]

Looks very promising. Thanks for sharing the info, and good luck in the auction..

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by murbot You got so mad that you almost swore? You badass.

[turtle]

Well, I didn't realize you were the kind to tear things apart. I think you've made a right choice on this one. The good part is you can use the viewfinder if you really need the camera.

[PKIDelirium]

Originally Posted by murbot You got so mad that you almost swore? You badass.

[Capella]

It's great that you should be able to repair it. Best of luck on the auction, and keep us posted.

[PKIDelirium]

Shit. The parts camera on eBay jumped from $25 to $60. Looks like this will be delayed while I watch the others that are on eBay right now.

There are several cheap ones right now, I'm messaging the sellers now to make sure the LCD panels are good.

[PKIDelirium]

Well I blew it on two parts camera yesterday on eBay, lost out to someone's excessively high max bid for both of them. One more is ending tomorrow, and another Saturday, so I'm not out of options yet. Anyway...

Today: Second Surgery.

My soldering iron arrived in the mail today, so it was time to disconnect the remaining connection between the camera and the dead screen.

Pre-Op:


Post-Op:


Everything went well. Only took a couple seconds of contact between the iron tip and the solder to free the wire, and the wire came out undamaged. Looking good.

[turtle]

Great work on that. Looks like you're gonna be better off making the change rather than getting a new camera. I guess that depends on the cost of a parts camera though.

Have you look into getting just and LCD?

[PKIDelirium]

I did look into that, but an LCD is $60 plus shipping. If I play my cards right in the bidding, I should be able to get a parts camera for $20 plus shipping, and then I'd have the rest of the good parts of that camera should I need them later on.

[turtle]

Cool.

[scratt]

Thanks for the update.. Looking good indeed. Fingers crossed for eBay.

[PKIDelirium]

FINALLY!

I just won a broken A610 on eBay for parts. Lens is screwed but the screen is good, and that's all I need.

$18.70 and $6 for shipping, so just under $25 total. Not bad, not bad at all.

[Wyatt]

Well done, PKI. Keep us updated.

[turtle]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing your fixed now.

[PKIDelirium]

The parts camera has arrived. I'm starting the disassembly now to remove the screen. Pics later.

[turtle]

I'm looking forward to hearing the good report. It's it just fun to do things like that? Maybe it's just cuz I'm a geek though.

[PKIDelirium]

Extraction completed. To keep the parts camera intact, I reassembled it using the broken screen. I'm going to pack it away should I need anything else from it at some point.

I'm going to go straight to the surgery now. Report once I'm finished...

[PKIDelirium]

Plugs and soldering complete. I'm letting it cool a few minutes before reassembling the case.

After I made the plug connections, I couldn't resist. I grabbed my batteries and put them in, and turned it on. IT LIVES! This was before I'd connected the soldered wire, and it worked. I wish I knew for sure what that wire is.

Resoldering it sucked. I don't have a solder sucker or a braid, so I actually reused the existing solder. Using tweezers to guide the wire, I melted the solder, held the iron on it and pushed the wire tip all the way in.

Connections are made, now I'm going to go reassemble.

[PKIDelirium]

DONE! Photos in a while.