Canon Service

[Jeff Donald]

Most electronic manufactures only sell the service manual to authorized service centers. Sony would only sell camera manuals after completing a Sony camera training class. PAL cameras needs different equipment to service them. The standard NTSC waveform monitor/vector scope won't work. Neither will standard oscilloscopes. The US Canon technicians are not trained to work on PAL equipment. This situation is not unique to Canon. None of the major manufactures will work on PAL equipment here in NTSC land.

[Don Palomaki]

Service manual policy changes from time to time. They often are available, but are not cheap, you may have to convince someone to sell one to you, and you may have to waive warranty in the process.

There are NO USER SERVICEABLE parts in a camcorder. And well qualified technicians usually know how to obtain a manual.

[Mizell Wilson]

The PAL XL1 was a little before my time here at ZGC but in talking to my partner Chris, any of the PAL XL1 units that were licensed for purchase in the US should have a US warranty card and be servicable here in the states.

She did mention that there were delays sometimes because parts had to be ordered from Europe but that the service was done here.

That being said, if they can service the ones that were under warranty, they should be able to service any of the PAL units. You might have to pay for the service, but better then paying for it to go to Europe, especially if your warranty is up anyway.

Seems like Canon's cages need to be rattled a little more to get to the bottom of this.

Nick, if you have the original warranty card and it states it's a US warranty I would raise a whole lotta hell.

mizell

[Andreas Fernbrant]

So it turned out that my Firewire on the cam was broken. I don't know how, but I would like to know..

But now when I'm sending the camera to service at Canon. Are there any other things they should correct? I know XL1s sometimes have som factory problems, Are there any corrections I should be aware of and tell the service center to correct on the warrenty?

Thanks!
/Andreas

[Chris Hurd]

Andreas, I don't know how it is at Canon Europa, but at Canon USA the camcorders automatically receive whatever software / firmware updates they need, and the service center tells you what other chargeable repairs they think should be done. Please let us know what you find out,

[Henry Bradford]

Has any one had this problem: I contacted Canon a couple of weeks ago to inform them of my problems with mosiac noise on my xl1, of which they promptly sent me a box to mail the camera in. was told I would get a call or an email on the diagnosis and estimate on the problem, this would come the Monday following the Thursday receipt of the product.

After about 3 business days with my camera, they sent me an estimate. The "estimate" for repairs was $400. This was basically a ballpark pitch at the problem, as they never itemized what $400 would buy me. It was a struggle being bounced around to service folks at their 800 number, finally I was given the local number to Irving to discuss the status.

I talked with Pete in Irving, who basically couldn't tell me nothing, then he told me he had a tech buddy who worked in service who would take a look at my camera and he (Pete) would get back to me.

Long story short, I never got a call back, when I called today I talked to someone else who threw some stuff at me and told me it would, again, take $400 to service the camera. The $400 would possibly cover it, but there would be a possibility that it could be more. On top of that, I got a revised email with the "quote" and an ADDED sales tax, what's that all about?

Any way, I really need some help. I need my camera repaired, I'm not sure why they can't itemize the repair estimate. Nor do I particularly understand why there are various rates for these adjustments floating around and I seem to be getting the boo boo end of the stick. Let me know what you think. Thanks

[Frank Granovski]

It wasn't dirty heads?

problems with mosiac noise

[Ken Tanaka]

Sounds like a bit of a frustrating, but unfortunately typical, camera service episode. I doubt that anyone here will be able to offer you any help, per se. At best, emotional support. At this point it will likely be a take-it-or-leave-it situation. And, of course, if you "leave-it" you'll still be stuck with shipping charges.

The "mosaic" problem sounds characteristic of a dirty head. I assume you tried to use a cleaning tape to remedy the problem before you sent it to service? Did you also send a tape exhibiting the problem with the camera? (Always a good idea.)

I would imagine that Canon looked at your general problem description and simply categorized it for their gross estimate (ex: "Not Too Bad=$200", "Kinda Bad=$400", "Really Bad=$650", "Devastating=(market price of new XL1S)"). As such, they probably don't have a detailed estimate..."Hey, we ain't Mr. Goodwrench, buddy!". Based on others' reports $400 generally buys a good cleaning, head realignment if needed, and a general reset to factory specs. But that's just my speculation.

Good luck, Henry.

[Henry Bradford]

I appreciate the responses; to the questions, yes I did run a head cleaner several times, to no avail. It never dawned on me to send a copy of a tape exhibiting the problem to Canon. I guess I need to do what I have to do and pony up with the dough. Thanks for the insights.

[Butch Jones]

Been there, done that. Got an XL1 on a stand now that has cost me $900 in repairs over a year period. Went out two weeks ago and decided to put it on a stand and use for studio drop only(firewire feed, no tape needed).

I talked to a guy named Mark Drury that does an outdoor show and has used the XL1 since it was fresh. He said that their problems with sticking heads seemed to be healed when they went away from Panasonic PQ-63 tapes. His words, not mine. Different lubricant seemed to be the difference.

Someone that is better versed in the details of the tape business may be able to help with that.

[Henry Bradford]

I started to wonder about that, I when I switched over to the AY-DVM brand made by Panasonic, the professional brand, I started to notice the mosiac stuff. Now, Butch, as far as your experience, did they start by saying it would cost $400 then hike the price up or what?

[Chris Hurd]

As Ken points out, the prices are typical. Usually it starts at $250 just to open up the camera. Another $150 for repair, total $400, sounds about right. What you're paying for is labor, primarily, plus a high premium on very rare parts... tiny springs, certain capacitors and the like. I have never heard of a detailed estimate. Once the camera comes back they will list what was done to it... replaced heads, braking mechanism, etc. You pretty much have to grin and bear it; after all it's the only way to get the thing fixed.

[Henry Bradford]

=(

I guess I saw it coming. One more thing, did anyone get charged sales tax for the repair? How does that work that they can tax me when they are in CA and I am in TX?

[Ken Tanaka]

Don't blame Canon; it's the law. Companies that have business operations in a state that imposes a service tax must collect that tax from customers in that state, regardless of where the service was performed.

[Jeff Donald]

If the company has operations (offices, warehouses etc.) in your state, htey are required by law, as Ken states, to collect sales tax on services. In some states, repairs are tax exempt, so it will vary from state to state.