How do I repair a broken Canon A80 battery cover?
August 29, 2004 2:46 PM Subscribe
I've got a Canon A80. It dropped. The battery door now does not close all the way, I know the door lost a 'latch' piece from the interior. I can't imagine it's under any sort of warrentee. So. Any thoughts on how to repair?
Look up authorised repair shops in your area, have them fix it. That's what I did with my camera recently.
posted by riffola at 3:39 PM on August 29, 2004
posted by riffola at 3:39 PM on August 29, 2004
Response by poster: I'm thinking of gluing a dot of velcro on the front of the case and the botton of the battery door, allowing me to 'strap' it closed, or variations on that theme. Thoughts on glue type? Other ideas?
posted by daver at 3:43 PM on August 29, 2004
posted by daver at 3:43 PM on August 29, 2004
I'm having a similar problem with a nikon 990. I'm thinking of taking it to a watchmaker and having him install a thin pin to keep the door shut.
posted by filmgeek at 3:54 PM on August 29, 2004
posted by filmgeek at 3:54 PM on August 29, 2004
this is the exact reason that i upgraded my last digital camera, daver. it's the sort of soft part that is put into cameras to ensure that they keep selling new ones.
posted by triv at 4:25 PM on August 29, 2004
posted by triv at 4:25 PM on August 29, 2004
I just dropped my oldskool Ricoh 300z for the nth time and it finally busted the latch on the battery door.
The latch was held in place and slid to and fro behind a stamped metal plate for the contact pad, and that plate was held on by those cheese melted plastic rivets. (As far as plastic melted rivets go, these ones were nice and polished.)
I duct taped the door shut, carefully balancing the plate inside as I did so..
Next time I change/recharge the batteries I'll have to glue in the plate or something so I won't lose it, and maybe work on a velcro strap or a better duct tape strap. (The right length and width of duct tape with a 2-3mm folded over tab for a peel-off handle is often just as (re)useable if not better than something like velcro, as it's profile is nearly paper thin.
posted by loquacious at 4:35 PM on August 29, 2004
The latch was held in place and slid to and fro behind a stamped metal plate for the contact pad, and that plate was held on by those cheese melted plastic rivets. (As far as plastic melted rivets go, these ones were nice and polished.)
I duct taped the door shut, carefully balancing the plate inside as I did so..
Next time I change/recharge the batteries I'll have to glue in the plate or something so I won't lose it, and maybe work on a velcro strap or a better duct tape strap. (The right length and width of duct tape with a 2-3mm folded over tab for a peel-off handle is often just as (re)useable if not better than something like velcro, as it's profile is nearly paper thin.
posted by loquacious at 4:35 PM on August 29, 2004
Two ideas. I don't own an A80, but from these specs, you might try a large rubber band around the circumference of the camera. Reasonably secure, but easy battery access. This solution would make it difficult to use a tripod mount though, and would partially obscure the scene selector wheel on top of the camera, and so isn't optimal.
The next idea is to go to your local electronics store and study a non-broken A80 battery door to see exactly what yours is missing. If it looks like an easy swap, and you're attached to your camera (at $400 it's probably not an option to discard it) look for a broken A80 on eBay that you can salvage for parts. Alternately, depending on the composition of plastic it might be possible to manufacture a replacement out of sheet plastic from a hobby store and model cement.
posted by Jeff Howard at 5:11 PM on August 29, 2004
The next idea is to go to your local electronics store and study a non-broken A80 battery door to see exactly what yours is missing. If it looks like an easy swap, and you're attached to your camera (at $400 it's probably not an option to discard it) look for a broken A80 on eBay that you can salvage for parts. Alternately, depending on the composition of plastic it might be possible to manufacture a replacement out of sheet plastic from a hobby store and model cement.
posted by Jeff Howard at 5:11 PM on August 29, 2004
It would be reasonable to use black duct tape and cut your losses.
posted by Keyser Soze at 8:21 PM on August 29, 2004
posted by Keyser Soze at 8:21 PM on August 29, 2004
Duct Tape - shepd, Keyser Soze and me : allies brought together in the calm, wise embrace of the hardy tape.
posted by troutfishing at 10:21 PM on August 30, 2004
posted by troutfishing at 10:21 PM on August 30, 2004
Response by poster: Followup: Some genius named Kyle found the answer and posted a comment on my blog. Kyle: my profound thanks. The rest of you w/ A80s: check here
posted by daver at 10:15 PM on September 15, 2004
posted by daver at 10:15 PM on September 15, 2004
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Duct Tape.
Sorry, but if you bust the battery door, that's about it. You could try phoning Canon for a replacement battery door, but you'll likely be told to buy the entire case at some ungodly price, instead.
Sooory if I made you depressed!
posted by shepd at 3:25 PM on August 29, 2004