Difference between revisions of "GX10/K10D Repair"

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(Finding The Reason)
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= Finding The Reason =
 
= Finding The Reason =
I removed the bottom of the camera´s housing first, then the rest of it. Of course I touched the supply voltage for the flash which can be quite painful. '''Discarge the flash before proceeding!''' A good spot for discarging is a solder pad near the view finder (see picture). I used a 1k resistor against the chasis ground.
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I removed the bottom of the camera´s housing first, then the rest of it. ''Of course'' I touched the supply voltage for the flash which can be quite painful. '''Discarge the flash before proceeding!''' A good spot for discarging is a solder pad near the view finder (see picture). I used a 1k resistor against the chasis ground.
[[File:Gx10 flash supply.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Flash supply voltage]]
 
I pushed the release button several times and noticed that the lower right corner of the main PCB was getting very hot. What´s wrong with it?
 
  
 +
I pushed the release button several times and noticed that the lower right corner of the main PCB was getting very hot. What´s wrong there?
 
The heat came from a motor driver IC which seem to control the GX10´s two motors.
 
The heat came from a motor driver IC which seem to control the GX10´s two motors.
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<gallery>
 +
File:Gx10 flash supply.jpg|Flash supply voltage
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File:Gx10 motordriver.jpg|Location of the motor driver IC
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</gallery>
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Unsoldering the two motor wires and testing with a meter showed that '''the motor got a short circuit'''. The wires seem to be ok so it really might be a broken motor. Luckily the motor driver IC survived. Without motor the IC is not heating up as expected. Anyway, a DSLR without working mirror and shutter is less fun.
  
[[File:Gx10 motordriver.jpg|500px|left|Location of the motor driver]]
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= The Motor =
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The defect motor drives the mirror and the shutter. It´s connected to the main PCB by two wires (red, black) in the lower right corner. It rotates only in one direction and is attached to a tricky set of gears and mechanics. Since the motor sits between the battery compartment and the shutter block, further or total disassembly will be needed.
 +
 
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= Disassembly =
 +
Dissassembling such a device with the goal of a successful reassembly takes a lot of time, a detailed knowledge of the construction and endless patience. Check if you´ve got all of them before proceeding :)
 +
In my case, time and patience was available, general knowledge of digital cameras not. The search for a service manual ended on [http://ricehigh.blogspot.com/ RiceHigh's Pentax Blog]. Thanks to the author, there is a [http://ricehigh.blogspot.com/2011/02/diy-reminder-pentax-service-manuals.html page] encouraging us to do repair attempts, including links to the wanted service manuals. Great so we´re ready to go!

Revision as of 12:04, 13 October 2011

I currently got a non working Samsung GX10 digital camera (DSLR). It turned out, that the GX10 is almost the same camera as the Pentax K10D. This promised a huge variety of how to´s and documents. Unfortunately I could not find that much information online.

The Defect

The camera refuses to take any pictures. When pressing the shutter release button, a rumbling noise can be heard and felt. It´s prduced by the moving SR block which carries the CCD sensor and reduces shocks while exposure. This noise is normal but hard to hear in a functional camera, because the mirror/shutter is much louder. Not in this faulty camera: The mirror is not moving a bit when pressing the release button. No mirror or shutter movement, also no noises from a blocked motor or electric magnet. The camera does not show any error messages. Everything works as normal but taking a picture is impossible.

OK, let´s take a look inside ...

Finding The Reason

I removed the bottom of the camera´s housing first, then the rest of it. Of course I touched the supply voltage for the flash which can be quite painful. Discarge the flash before proceeding! A good spot for discarging is a solder pad near the view finder (see picture). I used a 1k resistor against the chasis ground.

I pushed the release button several times and noticed that the lower right corner of the main PCB was getting very hot. What´s wrong there? The heat came from a motor driver IC which seem to control the GX10´s two motors.

Unsoldering the two motor wires and testing with a meter showed that the motor got a short circuit. The wires seem to be ok so it really might be a broken motor. Luckily the motor driver IC survived. Without motor the IC is not heating up as expected. Anyway, a DSLR without working mirror and shutter is less fun.

The Motor

The defect motor drives the mirror and the shutter. It´s connected to the main PCB by two wires (red, black) in the lower right corner. It rotates only in one direction and is attached to a tricky set of gears and mechanics. Since the motor sits between the battery compartment and the shutter block, further or total disassembly will be needed.

Disassembly

Dissassembling such a device with the goal of a successful reassembly takes a lot of time, a detailed knowledge of the construction and endless patience. Check if you´ve got all of them before proceeding :) In my case, time and patience was available, general knowledge of digital cameras not. The search for a service manual ended on RiceHigh's Pentax Blog. Thanks to the author, there is a page encouraging us to do repair attempts, including links to the wanted service manuals. Great so we´re ready to go!