Hi,

The rocker switch on my coolpix 900 is becoming dysfunctional. Has anyone opened up this camera and/or replaced the rocker switch themselves?

I called Nikon repair and they refuse to quote me a repair price over the phone for the switch replacement. They would only tell me that the average price for cp900 repairs is $150.

The camera is not worth putting that kind of money into simply to replace a switch.

I ordered a switch from nikon parts for $3.50. I sure would like to talk to someone who's opened up one of these before I dive in.

Geez, if I screw it up, I'll just have to buy a new camera :)

thanks much,

swest

-- Steve West (swest@as.arizona.edu), January 11, 2000

Answers

Steve:
I serviced cameras for about 7 years (Nikon, Canon, Minolta - mostly 35mm). I have not serviced any digital cameras - but I would think you could do it if you have done small mechanical and electronic repair in the past.
If you have not then you should pony up the 150 clams - IMHO. You will need to be comfortable aligning several parts at once - soldering and desoldering (use wick with a little non-acid flux on it and a grounded micro-tip soldering pencil no hotter than 450 - and if you don't know what all that is ... well that's another reason to spend $150 and save yourself $350).
I would occasionally get a camera in the someone tried a home repair on. Eeew! A little cold solder here, some super glue there and lot's of WD-40 everywhere....

Des

-- Dan Desjardins (dan.desjardins@avstarnews.com), January 12, 2000.

Des,

Thank you very much for the information. Yes, I have experience with instruments and electronics, and yes, I do know the terms you used.

My biggest fear is taking the hood off of the thing. Hidden clips, tricky this or that. That's why I'd like to talk to someone that has opened one of these up.

My plan at the moment is to rotate the two pieces of the camera. This exposes two screws on the side near the rotating joint. Combined with the third screw which is just to the right of the lcd display, it looks like the silver back should come off. It also looks like the lcd display is going to come with it though, and god knows what else...

Once I see the replacement switch, that should tell me a bit about how its anchored in there before I open it up.

If I do this, I'll try to get another digicam to take pictures of the operation. As far as I know, no one has any information on the web about opening one of these up.

I'm reminded of some of the gps sites where these little buggers are taken apart and exposed to the world on a site :)

At this point, my 900 is a throw away camera. Can't afford to put any significant money into it because of new models and its own depreciation. Nikon could have helped by not putting some cheap piece of crap switch into the camera (or made it easy for user replacment of the cheap switch).

I'm going to be wary of the quality of Nikon parts from now on, because a $3 switch can completely ruin the value of the camera if Nikon service has to replace it...

thanks again,

swest

-- Steve West (swest@as.arizona.edu), January 13, 2000.

Not directly relevant to getting inside the CP900, but a general caution with opening any camera: Watch out for the strobe capacitor! This should be in the "other half" of the CP900, but bears mentioning anyway. - I opened up my son's conventional Pentax point & shoot to extract a moth that had somehow gotten itself *inside* the autofocus window. I knew all about capacitors and high voltages, but only by theory, not experience. Blasted the HECK out of my hand not once but twice! Those things really pack a wallop, even when you'd think they are discharged. Painful but probably not fatal unless you got it across the arms. The biggest outright danger is probably to the camera, as you'll be amazed by how far you jump when you get a jolt of 300v DC! (Son's camera hit the concrete once, but somehow survived.) Benefit from my stupidity, and be extra-cautious...

-- Dave Etchells (detchells@imaging-resource.com), January 16, 2000.

Just a little tip, and a belated one at that! A flatbed scanner makes a very handy visual notebook for remembering how cameras and other small objects go together. Just place the thing on the scanner and scan it in. I've used this for mechanical shutters, and the detail is terrific. No more wondering if that spring went to the left of that lever or to the right!

Cheers,

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), January 21, 2000.

Well, I successfully bypassed the camera's internal zoom microswitches and put some new switches into the rocker and case assembly. My cp 900 works as good as new :) Total cost was less than the shipping to/from Nikon!

http://nemo.as.arizona.edu/~swest/cp900rocker/main.htm

Thanks for the above comments.

swest

-- Steve West (swest@as.arizona.edu), January 25, 2000.

i have experienced what flash charge condenser can do:)) i am living:) not so important but a terrible feeling and i will never touch any conductive part in a digicam in my life:))

-- mesut balci (mesutbalci_@hotmail.com), November 11, 2002.