A610 flaky on/off button, opening it up...

[pmin00]

:confused:

Hello,

for about a month now the on/off button on my Canon A610 has
been misbehaving: it sometimes takes 20-30 presses before it
switches on. Unfortunately my warranty has _just_ expired, so
I decided to open it up to see if I could fix it.

Unfortunately, from the circuit board below the on/off switch, it
looks like it connects multiple lines.. (?) Does anyone have a pointer
to more technical info about the A610? About this piece of circuit
board? A repair manual?

Many thanks in any case,

Patrick

[wutske]

I doubt you'll find such technical information freely availble so it's up to you to find out what, where and how :) .
Maybe the button is worn out in that case it's best to replace it, takes a few minutes of soldering and shouldn't be to risky if you know what you're doing :p .

Can you post some pics of the circuit boards ?

[pmin00]

ok, I was out of town for a bit, and of course had to find another
camera to take pictures of the broken one...
All pics below were taken with a Macbook onboard camera, which
doesn't do well in low light, hence the poor quality. (The last closeup
was taken with a Panasonic DV402 mini DV camera, which does a lot better)

You need a small Phillips screwdriver, good lighting, and a place to put
the screws so you can label them, and don't lose them.

Step 1: remove the 3 screws from the bottom of the battery compartment (already removed in this pic):
http://www.patrickmin.com/a610/01_screws.jpg

Step 2: remove the 3 screws from the left (as seen from the back) side panel:
http://www.patrickmin.com/a610/02_screws.jpg

Step 3: remove the 3 screws from underneath the "connector cover":
http://www.patrickmin.com/a610/03_screws.jpg

Step 4: gently lift the top off the camera a little bit, and remove the small
flat cable from its connector on the camera body:
http://www.patrickmin.com/a610/04_top_off.jpg
http://www.patrickmin.com/a610/05_top_off_2.jpg

Step 5: remove the single screw that holds the top circuit board in place. Note that
you may have to pry the small speaker a bit to get it out. Be very careful here
as several parts are loose after the circuit board is removed.
http://www.patrickmin.com/a610/06_pcb_screw.jpg

Here's a pic with pointers to the on-off button itself, and the actual button
on the circuit board, which is just a piece of metal bulging up.
http://www.patrickmin.com/a610/07_on_off_button.jpg

Here's a closeup of this piece of metal. It's attached to the circuit board, and it
is difficult to see which line(s) it actually shorts when depressed...
http://www.patrickmin.com/a610/08_on_off_button_closeup.jpg

I guess the next step is to try and remove the metal button to see which lines it uses :eek:

I hope this was at least helpful/interesting,
any pointers appreciated,

Patrick