What ever happened to service manuals?

[Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\]

Canada used to have a law that manufacturers were required to produce
schematics on the request of the consumer or repair shop...I wonder if
it is still in force - haven't thought of it for years....

John :-#)#

California has consumer lemon laws that require the makers to supply
repair parts for 3 or 7 years, depending on the cost of the appliance.
Trouble is, the makers keep one part in some warehouse somewhere, to
meet the legal requirements, and then price it so high that it's more
expensive than buying a replacement appliance!

Like, I'm gonna pay $200 for a replacement flyback transformer, when the
monitor was only a hundred and fifty new? Come ON! >:-(

 

[Michael A. Covington]

And what really gets my undies in a knot is that the only thing that may
be wrong with a VCR or TV, for example, is that the damn remote control
is bad, and there's no way to get a replacement that has full
functionality! Like you can buy a 'universal' remote, and it has the
usual volume, channel, play and record buttons, but you can't configure
the VCR because all that stuff was on the original remote, but not on
the VCR itself! And if you can't use the original, you can't do SPIT!
FURRFU!

The first ten minute power failure that comes along, and you not only
have to reset the date and time, but you have to re-enter all the
channels, too. And without the original remote, you're out of luck!

I have had very good luck locating specialist remote control vendors on the
Web. I think one of them is called Mr. Remote.

 

[Ed Price]

Thanks to a few for their helpful comments, and to the majority for your
pointless, boring academic commentary. %^)

Typical internet discussion -- 5% helpful 95%.

Regardless, I still can't fix my camera.

You're welcome!

Typical self-centered, argumentative Usenet analysis by an anonymous user.
You find the comments academic, pointless and boring because they do not
support your prejudices and you cannot comprehend them.

And yes, your camera is still broken.

Ed

 

[Ed Price]

economically repairable. The bottom line is that in many cases, it costs
much less (in labor and materials) to make a new camera (or whatever) than
to repair an old one. This is not a malicious practice of evil business,
it's just a fact of life.

True, but the owner (me) should have the chance to fix it and I don't charge
myself $70/hour. I work for free!! B^)

And I'm sure you're worth it!
Actually, look on this as a golden opportunity to learn something about
repair, and yourself.
Your camera is broken now, how much worse can you make it?

Ed
wb6wsn

 

[geo73]

Really worse
Try the phrase: <wash the board>
the next post will be
OK in the washing mashine at ? degrees??????

 

[Fred]

And I'm sure you're worth it!
Actually, look on this as a golden opportunity to learn something about
repair, and yourself.
Your camera is broken now, how much worse can you make it?

Hyuk... hyuk.... TOUCHE!!!!! B:^)
(You guys are a fun group, I'll have to say! Email is so easily
misunderstood, I have to start putting smiley in to be sure no one is
insulted -- not the intention, by the way.

Actually, you're absolutely right about the opportunity. Since Olympus will
fix anything for $150, I might as well root around in there and see what I
can find. From talking to others the best guess right now is it's in the
power circuitry. I'll post what I learn.

 

[Fred]

Typical self-centered, argumentative Usenet analysis by an anonymous user.
You find the comments academic, pointless and boring because they do not
support your prejudices and you cannot comprehend them.

Actually I'm trying to get my camera fixed -- not that interested in
POINTLESS COMMENTARY on this and that. Some folks have been great help, and
others, less than helpful.

 

[Fred]

One thought about the latter. In some equipment, they put a rectifier
diode across the battery with the cathode to positive, so that if the
batteries are put in backwards, the diode will short them out and save
the equipment from being damged. Well you may have such a diode, and
the backwards batteries may hav damaged it so that it's drawing serious
current and draining the batteries.

Thanks. I'll check those diodes. I know that the batteries aren't being
drained in this case, though, because the "dead batt" warning comes on upon
the first attempt to take a photo. Then, if I remove those batteries and
put them in a flashlight, they work like new.

Yesterday, one of the ladies at work came into the shop and asked me for
an AA cell, needed for the new wall clock she had just bought. I gave
her one, and what'd she do? Just shoved it into the holder on the back,
not even watching which way it was supposed to go in. And of course she
put it in backwards. Well, DUH, after she turned it around the right
way, it started working. Murphy's Law applies.

Good thing these ladies don't work at the local nuclear reactor, eh.

 

[Fred]

I feel the same way, but they are helping to ensure that they will be
able to sell more products in the future by preventing the old ones from
being repaired. I, also, want to have the schem and service manual for
stuff I buy, but after all these years of trying to get them, I've found
that sometimes it's just too difficult to sail against the prevailing
winds, so I just stoop to the level of the average consumer and buy a
new one instead of repairing the old one.

And what really gets my undies in a knot is that the only thing that may
be wrong with a VCR or TV, for example, is that the damn remote control
is bad, and there's no way to get a replacement that has full
functionality! Like you can buy a 'universal' remote, and it has the
usual volume, channel, play and record buttons, but you can't configure
the VCR because all that stuff was on the original remote, but not on
the VCR itself! And if you can't use the original, you can't do SPIT!
FURRFU!

The first ten minute power failure that comes along, and you not only
have to reset the date and time, but you have to re-enter all the
channels, too. And without the original remote, you're out of luck!

Yep, the fellow who wrote about the Greenies was on to something. They
should give up the "legalize dope" campaigns and push the repair/recycle
thing.

 

[Fred]

To my ol' buddy Ed.... my original post... try to pay attention this time
and stay on topic...

In my case, I have an Olympus C700 digital camera, 2-3 years old with a

power drainage problem. This should be a simple matter to isolate but I'm
finding only operator/user info available. None of the camera repair shops
in the LA area even work on this model bcause they have no documentation
from Olympus. I have taken the camera completely apart (yes, and back
together) and it is very simple to do, but not seeing anything obvious, like
burned points, bad contacts, etc., I can't do much else until I know the
test points, etc.

 

[Michael A. Covington]

Actually I'm trying to get my camera fixed...

You might also try the appropriate newsgroup in rec.photo.equipment, since
specific experience with similar cameras is going to be more relevant than
general electronics. Some of the people over there are quite technically
inclined.

 

[gothika]

To my ol' buddy Ed.... my original post... try to pay attention this time
and stay on topic...

power drainage problem. This should be a simple matter to isolate but I'm
finding only operator/user info available. None of the camera repair shops
in the LA area even work on this model bcause they have no documentation
from Olympus. I have taken the camera completely apart (yes, and back
together) and it is very simple to do, but not seeing anything obvious, like
burned points, bad contacts, etc., I can't do much else until I know the
test points, etc.

Does the camera have any sort of memory functions?
Ones that'd keep memory chips or whatever hot even when the camera is
turned off?
I've serviced some of the later model electronic film cameras that
have just such and will suck the batteries dry over a relatively
short period with the camera in off mode.(All for the sake of
retaining certain mode or exposure settings.)
If you've had the camera apart look and see what it'd take to run a
couple of wires and mount an external power jack to the outside of the
camera body.
You could then use an external battery pack with an on/off switch to
conserve batteries.(You could also mount a small slide switch on the
camera body wired to the main power leads from the battery thus
disabling whatever is draining the batteries.)
I've found that with an external battery pack my digital cameras go
for hundreds of shots with full flash power and none of the
degradation of image quality one gets when the internal batteries
start going down.

 

[Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\]

Thanks. I'll check those diodes. I know that the batteries aren't being
drained in this case, though, because the "dead batt" warning comes on upon
the first attempt to take a photo. Then, if I remove those batteries and
put them in a flashlight, they work like new.


Good thing these ladies don't work at the local nuclear reactor, eh.

SHHHH!! Don't talk about that!

By the looks of this, they already do! (Or did!)

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/nuclear_safety/page.cfm?pageID=790

Local? You might think you're glad that you live a long ways away from
Cincinnati. But statistically, Chernobyl raised the incidence of cancer
of the thyroid over the whole world. :-(

 

[Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\]

Does the camera have any sort of memory functions?
Ones that'd keep memory chips or whatever hot even when the camera is
turned off?
I've serviced some of the later model electronic film cameras that
have just such and will suck the batteries dry over a relatively
short period with the camera in off mode.(All for the sake of
retaining certain mode or exposure settings.)
If you've had the camera apart look and see what it'd take to run a
couple of wires and mount an external power jack to the outside of the
camera body.
You could then use an external battery pack with an on/off switch to
conserve batteries.(You could also mount a small slide switch on the
camera body wired to the main power leads from the battery thus
disabling whatever is draining the batteries.)
I've found that with an external battery pack my digital cameras go
for hundreds of shots with full flash power and none of the
degradation of image quality one gets when the internal batteries
start going down.

"Degradation of image quality one gets when the internal batteries
start going down?" Sounds like those are really poor quality cameras.

I would keep away from slide switches. They are too easily switched on
by brushing against something. And nowadays, cameras as wo small it
would be difficult to fit one into it.

But external battery packs are very helpful.

 

[Mike]

And if you can't use the original, you can't do SPIT!
FURRFU!

That's a nasty cough you've got there

 

[Fred]

I did that first. They ain't much help.

 

[Fred]

Many thanks, Gothika, for the tips!

 

[Fred]

OK. That's enough complaining and carrying on, you knuckleheads...

Let's get back to the original subject...

Anybody know where I can get service documentation on the Olympus C-700
digital camera? Olympus does not supply this to the general public OR
service techs.

Anyone? Hello?

 

[Mark D. Zacharias]

OK. That's enough complaining and carrying on, you knuckleheads...

Let's get back to the original subject...

Anybody know where I can get service documentation on the Olympus C-700
digital camera? Olympus does not supply this to the general public OR
service techs.

Anyone? Hello?

If they don't supply it to the public or to repair techs, I don't know who
else would possibly have it - a defector from Olympus Service, or their
Chinese vendor?

Mark Z.

 

[Michael A. Covington]

Let's get back to the original subject...
I'd try 2 things:

(1) www.zuiko.com, www.olympusguy.com, and some other well-known Olympus
experts on the Web;

(2) posting a thread titled "Olympus C-700 Service Manual Wanted" and not
trying to use the long-defunct groups "news.electronics" and
"news.electronics.repair," which are still in the list of newsgroups for
this thread and are limiting its distribution.

The reason this thread turned into a general discussion of industry
practices is that that's how it's titled.