| |
| 2010 Feb 03 - #2 Camera
Failure, Broken Flash Socket Pin |
I received a dead #2 camera
from a camera owner.
SYMPTOM: The camera did work, but now doesn't. When the USB cable is connected, windows
now reports:
One of the USB devices connected to this computer has a
malfunction, and Windows does not recognize it.
PROBLEM: One of the pins in the internal
micro SD flash socket has
broken off. Once broken, the camera died. The flash
card is OK.
COMMENTS: The #2 camera uses an internal
micro SD card, in an internal socket that has 8 gold plated
pins. A pin was probably cracked, so the camera worked for
a while. These pins are usually made from a spring beryllium
copper that can be brittle. Any camera that uses a micro
SD flash card (#2 or #3 camera) could suffer this failure.
Also, in a high vibration application (like an RC airplane) you
could get some very strange results
when a pin resonates, like truncated or lost AVI files if the flash card does not
make good contact.
REPAIR ATTEMPT: I cut the battery wire so that
I could work on replacing the broken pin with the power off. I
replaced the broken pin by soldering in its place a gold plated
pin from a DIP IC. I repaired the cut battery wire.
REPAIR RESULT: With the flash card in or out, I
still get the same Windows error when connecting the USB cable. When the pin broke off it was not
captive in the socket. It probably rattled around inside the camera
and probably shorted something out causing permanent, un-repairable
damage.
Click photo for full size.
|
#2 camera, internal flash card, broken pin in the flash
connector |
#2 camera, internal flash card, broken pin in the flash
connector |
Repair part - Took a gold plated pin from a ceramic DIP IC to
replace the socket pin. |
Repair - #2 camera, flash card socket, soldered the DIP IC pin
in place of the broken pin. |
