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Don't leave batteries in your AA equipped EL

wbulte

wbulte

Active Member
Folks,

I thought it would be good to share some insight I gained with 2 553ELX cameras I have over here for repair. Both of them suffered from leaking AA batteries which really messed up the aluminium motor housing. The electrolyte "ate" the aluminium, it is really not a nice sight.

They also both exhibited the interesting effect that once you install a full set of AA batteries the battery compartment lid becomes really hot. Obviously something was shorting out the batteries.

Only 2 of the 5 batteries got hot, this was the pair located towards the rear of the camera. After considerable head scratching I found out what caused this: the battery contacts sharp ends are pushed through the soft rubber isolation that is between the contacts and the metal lid itself. This in turn shorts the 2 batteries which get seriously hot, at some point start to leak etc. I hope the photograph illustrates the effect (sorry 'bout the Dutch text)

ELXdeksel-small.jpg

Note that you can only measure the short when the contact is depressed towards the lid. Like a battery would push it towards the lid.

So in summary: do not keep batteries in your AA-equipped EL camera. They can easily cause hunderds of EUROs worth of damage!

Wilko
 

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Thanks Wilko for these images.

You send me some more as I am the lucky owner of both these horrible cameras.
I call them my cocaine addicts see the pictures you send me earlier on.

Cocaine is not my thing.
I bought both cameras in the condition they are in now and thought it would be a jiffy for you to get them going.
Now you tell me it is complicated........

Paul


2.jpg

snow....

3.jpg

more snow...

4.jpg

damaged but not all is lost yet.
 

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polypal said:
Thanks Wilko for these images.

You send me some more as I am the lucky owner of both these horrible cameras.
I call them my cocaine addicts see the pictures you send me earlier on.

Cocaine is not my thing.
Click to expand...

Coke is not my taste either, give me a Hefeweizen or a Tripel any day. Powdering your nose with the HB powder is likely to be your last sniff, or at least it will be the last time you really smell properly..

Anyway, after donning my HAZMAT suit I managed to clean up the mess. The end result is as follows

better.jpg

Obviously the aluminium that was eaten away by the leaking electrolyte you will never get back. But the end result is not too bad. I also invented a fix for the battery lid which proves to function to satisfaction.

Wilko
 

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Wow....after seeing these photos I pulled the batteries out of my 553ELX last night. It looks practically new....and I want to keep it that way!

Come to think of it, I'd better pull the batteries out of the motordrives on my pair of lovely Nikon F2s also....they don't get used very often anymore.

Thanks for the reminder about this.....I knew I shouldn't keep the batteries in the cameras, but hadn't been good about following thru on it.

Paul -- other than this problem.....are there other reasons which lead you to call these "horrible cameras"? I kinda like mine.

Gary Benson
Eagle River, Alaska
 
Hi Gary,



I like mine too.
Horrible has to do with the poor condition both 553ELX cameras are in.
I have been trying to get the first 553ELX back to working condition:
Meaning Wilko takes them apart, employs all sorts of secret chemicals to remove the "cocaine" after that all parts are sealed again.

I love motordrive Hasselblads.
They are also used handheld by me.
From early EL till 555ELD I have them all except the 553ELX.

The first I bought was offered as parts/repair camera.
Turned out that one suffered from a cocaine addiction.

The second was found by a friend in Sweden.
Surprise, surprise it turned out to be an addicted camera also.
Any idea what leaking batteries is in Swedish?
It was described that way but neither of us understood what was written.

Good news one of these is now back in good condition.
The other one still needs a battery container.
As soon as that part is found they both are saved thanks to Wilko.

BTW Hasselblad price for this plastic batterybox is only 215 USD.
That is about what I paid for both 553ELX cameras together.



Hasselblad stock2.jpg

Right case center 2nd shelve: 8x Hasselblad EL/ELM/ELX
 

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Hi guys,

I do not see any problems.
All these cameras, lenses and accesoires are in excellent condition.
They all get a chance to do some work from time to time.
They are all paid for. OK the 500 magazine is just for fun. That is not used much.
I take that along to camera fairs and it comes along on holidays.
Loading film is not my strong point. The 500 back is ideal for a vacation.
No need to reload that one.

What I did not mention yet, this picture is two years old.
It was taken just after I moved to the house where I live in now.
The cameras were unpacked before the kitchen gear or anything else.
In those two years I found some more interesting gear.
At the moment there are four show cases filled with beauties......


Paul
 
@Wilko, what is your fix for the problem? Do you have a suitable isolation to put between battery contact and battery lid? I have to apply the fix to a few cameras as all my 500 EL/M and 500 ELX cameras have AA battery cases. At least in one case the battery contact is very close to the casing.

Best Regards
Ulrik
 
ulrik said:
@Wilko, what is your fix for the problem? Do you have a suitable isolation to put between battery contact and battery lid? I have to apply the fix to a few cameras as all my 500 EL/M and 500 ELX cameras have AA battery cases. At least in one case the battery contact is very close to the casing.

Best Regards
Ulrik
Click to expand...

Hi Ulrik,

I used very thin (0.2mm I think) glasfiber-reinforced epoxy. Basically the material which printed circuitboards are made of, just thinner and without copper surface.

I cut a small epoxy strip approx 5mm wide. Using a thin, narrow and flexible strip of RVS I created a little "tunnel" through the rubber insulation between the lid and the contact strip. In this tunnel I pushed the epoxy strip. Things are tight enough to fixate the new epoxy isolation without having to use glue or something like that. It is even completely invisible :)

This proves to work quite satisfactory. I contemplated taking the whole stack of contact strips, rubber isolation etc etc out of the metal lid but decided against it. The black hard-plastic isolation plate you can't get out without wrecking it I fear, the rubber isolation with the glue that holds it into place forms just too strong a bond. Of course you can make a new isolation plate to replace the original one but that will be a lot more work.

Wilko
 
What better way to express my gratitude to Wilko for his persistence to solve this problem than to show the 553ELX is fit for action again.


553 + 100MK.jpg


The 553 is ready to do a job with the 100 mm Planar MK70 lens.
I like motordrive Hasselblads.
They are excellent cameras for studio work but they can also be used handheld.

Paul
 

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Thanks Gary.

Motordrive Hasselblad cameras are very good models.
They look good in a picture.

Paul
 
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