C750 Battery Door Delicate and miniature repair -Expert's challenge

[AndreLikesPhotos]

I wish I could put a post like this in a special thread. As we have more small things which might only have physical damage I believe
it will be prudent , occasionally, to repair the physical damage. Who to turn to? That's the subject of this post along with a suggestion for
how to respond.


Help with a delicate and miniature camera repair Olympus C750 Camera needs a jeweler's hand.



The battery door is damaged. The tabs are so tiny
and I know from my own experience that while they
can be fixed it's going to require someone with
the skill of a craftsman to do it.

I might try.

Has anyone ever had any experience with either this
problem or a similar?


A 0.5mm x 0.6mm plastic tab is missing and the hole it moves into has degraded. The plastic is simply poor.
It's cheap and needs to be rebuilt. I like the camera
but sadly for $120 I can probably buy a better one.

What I like is that I've bought accessories for it
that fit it and work well with it. I can shoot it
properly fast and get my shots. That's why I don't
want to switch. Buying another makes no sense. The
problem will recur.

It might as well be fixed. That way everyone can benefit
from it.

Here's some people who I think could fix it.

Fine instrument repair technician for violin or guitar
Jeweler who works with fine wires and pieces.
A surgeon.
A dental laboratory technician with experience under a microscope.

There's probably 100 more occupations that could repair it. I didn't mention camera repair only because I
just doubt that a camera person would repair it. I
don't think they get this kind of problem since the quality
is not up to the level of repair. People who have money
to repair camera's usually will pay enough to replace
entire assembles. In this case I do not think the
entire assembly would benefit from replacement. The
reason? Because it would expose too much of the delicate
wiring and pieces to damage or loss. The camera must
be disassembled too far to replace the section that
only has a small tab missing.

I do not care what it looks like. I only care that
it works.

Frankly. This is the case:

If I use an external battery pack it's immaterial whether the
battery door is ever replaced. However I would like
to have it working / fixed so that

1. It's done and I can show it can be done.
2. It will point out publicly that Olympus made a
poor selection of material and caused hardship to
owners of their product.
3. It's hope for people who want it repaired.

I believe the repair can be made simply when the correct
analysis of the problem is made and the proper fix
is designed. I believe the cost will be nil. The time
might be less than 1 hour and I think really less than
35 minutes total.

4. I believe that the people who are involved will gain
a significant measure of mental and physical pleasure
from the success of overcoming the problem.

5. It might begin a pattern of repairing more products which are
commonly thrown out for no reason other than they are slightly
damaged or cosmetically ugly.




Here are reference links:

Closeup of battery door.

http://www.digitalcamerapartsdepot.c...s/VC218800.jpg

The tabs are tiny and not visible. On the right you
can see a rectangle slot where a plastic tab fits into.
This slot degrades due to poor quality plastic.

http://www.digitalcamerapartsdepot.c...s/VC218800.asp

$40 - same place as photo

$24 here for a part missing metal. But might have the
plastic needed for the fix.

I'm loathe to buy more plastic but it might be a better grade. I can't judge it.
http://www.uscamera.com/vc2227.htm

Lastly some 'real' photos by users and repair persons.

You can see parts including the door
http://www.pbase.com/ociepka/750

http://www.pbase.com/ociepka/image/28782087

If you've made it this far. I'll mention where the
exact problem lies. There are slots at the left and right edges, not the end, of the door. Tabs in the body fit into these slots. The last image shows it best.
The slot in door is both a slot and a ledge. The ledge
is cracking away. And at this point I must say:

I really have not looked at it closely enough to actually decipher exactly what is wrong or needs to be done . I know for sure that the plastic is deteriorating. Tiny bits about 200um are falling off. It's dried out. The strain on the small
bits is too much. I don't know that it can be rebuilt.

Perhaps it needs a serious type of fix such as a 6-40
screw through the body into the door. (It's a rhetorical comment.)

Feel like giving it a try? You'll have to locate
a C750 with a bad door. If it's got a bad capacitor
too you're in luck. You'll probably get a $150 camera
for $20. Seriously. Some people get lost when the little
light goes off. One guy sold his Phase Linear Amp and
the buyer found out the power cord was bad. The guy
who sold it? ME. Many many years ago.

I'm willing to get involved a bit and take photos and
analyze this problem if anyone is willing to get involved too. If not. C'est La Vie

Andre

You can just connect power to the AC adapter input and all is OK.

If you want any help at all with this or anything within my power just ask. Here's
a bit about me.

--
My background is a degree in electronics in 1975. I was 20. I worked
in many related fields from satellite telephone communications to audio sound recording (my own business).

I acquired an appreciation for the highest quality laboratory instrumentation as I worked as a consulting
engineer and later scientist for Silicon Valley companies and many others around the world. I retired at 46 and have been
donating time for free. I'm willing to help you for free.

Work became to much like work and I knew my American Dream was fading away. I think it's made for young
people who begin early and work smart.

My work was with plasma physics, chemistry, and designing and building analytical laboratory instrumentation.
Later I designed experiments for analytical labs mostly for precious metals mining companies.

I've worked mostly with optics, electronics, chemistry at some of the best labs in the world including IBM, Stanford, Genentech,
and 100's more.

I studied basic human medicine for 2 years and am fascinated by surgery.

If you ever need help with materials or questions regarding inorganic (materials) elemental analysis (spectroscopy) photonics, or
electronics including batteries feel free to ask.
No question(s) are too small or large. And the help is free.

[sdromel]

Provided you really like the camera, I recommend replacing the door if it is believed that would be sufficient. Sometimes you can do things like bonding small plastic parts together or actually adding an extension to plastic & even molding it using JB Weld, but that is so time consuming & iffy that it is not considered worth it.

After replacing the door, then just be careful with it (eg, relieve the pressure on it using compression when opening & closing it). Also, sometimes replacement parts incorporate a manufactured correction in response to early failures (especially if it fails so soon as to be repaired under warranty). (Automobile parts are often like this.)

Another possibility is just to create/build a short 3/8 - 1/2" wide rubber strap that spans the door and camera body & is attached using stick-on velcro. The velcro provides for positioning & easy release of the strap & the actual rubber strap provides the needed compression/tension to maintain door closure.