GL2 suddenly died just after scuba diving

[James Holtzman]

GL2 in underwater housing has been working fine for years, I was shooting video under water, came up from the dive, removed the camera from the housing (on the boat), turned it back on, and ugh, dead, no lights, noting in display, opening cassette door, doesn't extract cassette. Changed battery, nothing.

There might be a sudden change in humidity, if the dew tripped, would I know, would there be a message or does the camera just die.

Probably more likely a fuse blown somewhere. Don't think a drop of salt water got into the cam, but all it might take is one drop in the wrong place.

Down in Belize, would be nice to get the camera running again before heading home.

Jim

[Chris Soucy]

Hi, James.......

I think I may have just discerned a question in there somewhere, but perhaps not.

Try the camera with another battery if you have one, or the low voltage power cord from the charger, if it has one.

I have heard of batteries dying for no apparent reason, but it's rare. Else it does sound like the main power fuse has dropped off it's perch.

No, I don't know where it is or how to fix it, and as there isn't a Canon Service Centre for those cameras in Belize (Guatemala, yes, Belize, no) guess it will have to wait till you get home.


CS

[James Holtzman]

The first thing I tried, another battery, even recharged the first one, no luck.
Have not tried running off the power supply though. Strange, worked one
minute, then dead the next.

What I get back to the US, I'll get into it, do most of my repairs myself.

Thanks - Jim

[Chris Medico]

The most important thing is if you think it might have a condensation problem - STOP. Don't power it up again.

You will want to dry it out gently. A good way to do it is to put it in a warm spot. I would recommend under a heat lamp so you got it nice and warm but obviously don't melt anything. Put a small fan or something to circulate air around it. Leave it alone under these conditions for a few days.

Cool it down and then try and power it up. If it doesn't work after that its time for a trip to the service center.

[James Holtzman]

Chris:

I had a condensation problem one time years ago while diving. No error msgs, but the video got hazy, and I could see the condensation in the lens, after opening the housing, letting the cam in the sun for a while, fixed itself. I'm back in the good ole USA again, normal environment, still completely dead. I've found 95% of the service manual on the internet, about to take the cam apart, which I've done before. I'm going to start with the power distribution, from the battery through switches, through fuses. I might start on the surgery today if I have time. I've owned the cam for over six years, the only problems, the famous "remove tape" error, which canon fixed, after two trips to their facility, and me replacing the zoom rocker pot.

Any more input, I'm all ears - btw, I'm a retired electronic tech, and work at the component level on circuit boards, not afraid at all to go into these devices.

Jim

[James Holtzman]

Status report, checked all six smd fuses on the main board, all check ok and are getting power. Didn't get voltage to the common at first, seems I had to reseat the battery. I then tried the main power switch, the one that goes between plan and record, suddenly worked. I put the side panel back on and ejected the tape.

Will it was working, I rapped on the rear cover a few times, died again, looks like an intermittent somewhere, lots of flex ribbon connectors. When I find the cause, I'll post again. Don't know if I mentioned, found the service manual in the internet, about 90% of it, good enough for now.

Jim

[James Holtzman]

Spent the whole day working on the camera, found the problem. The pins that stick out the back of the camera that make contact with the battery had a problem. There was no visible corrosion, although I scrapped them a little, didn't help. Inside the camera are two leaf springs, that cause an outward pressure on the gold plated battery contacts. Riveted to the springs are the metal contacts, it would appear that although there was metal to metal contact between the pins and the spring material, there was a bad connection, probably corrosion. I lightly filed the parts on the inside of the back plate and soldered the connections. The camera now works 100%. I could get into the trouble shooting details but won't bore you.

Important thing, it works, was an intermittent connection, what I suspected all along.

Jim