Digital camera repair

[Virginia]

Hi -- could use a suggestion on digital camera repair. I have a
Toshiba PDR-M1, and have been successfully using an aftermarket 6V A/C
adapter for the past 18 months or so. All of a sudden the camera
won't operate with the adapter, but still operates on the four-AA
battery power supply. Thought it was an adapter problem, but a new
adapter gave the same result (no juice). I take a lot of pictures and
it tends to eat batteries, and the batteries fail at the worst
possible time, so I would prefer to have the adapter operating
successfully. I can't replace the camera right now, but plan to in
the near future (3-6 months)so I don't want to spend a lot of money
taking it to an "authorized" repair shop. I have done other repairs,
so I am not afraid of taking it apart and checking things out and
making most repairs. My main question, before I start taking this
apart, is if anyone knows if the adapter port has possibly just become
disconnected, or is the problem sounding somewhat more serious (the
port is fried somehow?). Is it possible the port has an accumulation
of debris/dust perhaps? Any suggestions are very welcome --
Thanks....

 

[Tweetldee]

"Virginia" <vawright@gbronline.com> wrote in message
news:e9a3fcd.0309260618.26aa7057@posting.google.com...

Hi -- could use a suggestion on digital camera repair. I have a
Toshiba PDR-M1, and have been successfully using an aftermarket 6V A/C
adapter for the past 18 months or so. All of a sudden the camera
won't operate with the adapter, but still operates on the four-AA
battery power supply. Thought it was an adapter problem, but a new
adapter gave the same result (no juice). I take a lot of pictures and
it tends to eat batteries, and the batteries fail at the worst
possible time, so I would prefer to have the adapter operating
successfully. I can't replace the camera right now, but plan to in
the near future (3-6 months)so I don't want to spend a lot of money
taking it to an "authorized" repair shop. I have done other repairs,
so I am not afraid of taking it apart and checking things out and
making most repairs. My main question, before I start taking this
apart, is if anyone knows if the adapter port has possibly just become
disconnected, or is the problem sounding somewhat more serious (the
port is fried somehow?). Is it possible the port has an accumulation
of debris/dust perhaps? Any suggestions are very welcome --
Thanks....

Virginis, it's possible that dirt or some kind of contamination is causing
the problem, however, it's more likely to be an electrical or mechanical
problem. Assuming that the power port is of the coaxial variety, take a
peek inside and inspect the contacts. Is the tang that contacts the outside
shell of the plug still intact? Has it broken off or become smashed back
insde so that it can't make contact?
If you can't see anything wrong there, you may have to open the unit and
look at the point to which it's soldered to the PCB, or the wiring attached
to it. Chances are good that the problem may be in that area, because of
the stress brought about by inserting and removing the plug.
Barring any problem there, the most likely suspect is the polarity
protection rectifier, or the regulator. You'll have to do a bit of circuit
tracing to find it if you can't identify it right away.
--
Tweetldee
Tweetldee at att dot net (Just subsitute the appropriate characters in the
address)

Never take a laxative and a sleeping pill at the same time!!

 

[Virginia]

Thanks Tweet,
I did check the pin and cleaned it off somewhat, but that didn't help.
When I opened it up I didn't see anything obviously amiss. Haven't
tried the advanced troubleshooting you mentioned. Since I have a lot
of work that needs to be done, I should possible go ahead and buy the
stupid batteries for now rather than risk killing the camera
altogether!! Electronics is not my strong suit. But I might pass
your suggestions along to my ex, who is an EE... he probably has the
knowledge/skills to check that out for me. So I am still open to
suggestions, since I can tell the ex that if my camera is broken I
will have to start bumming money off him!!
Thanks again, Virginia