On/Off switch on ELAN

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Hi, I have the Canon Eos ELAN (USA is the EOS Elan 100). The On/Off switch recently failed and now all it does is spin and you cannot turn the camera on. Does anyone know if repairing the switch is a job that someone who is technically inclined can change and does anyone know how you would go about changing it? Thanks for your help.

-- Terry M (terry_mah@yahoo.com), July 04, 2001

Answers

The original Elan/EOS 100 has nearly the same mechanism as the EOS 5/A2 for a Command Dial. They fail fairly regularly. I've fixed a few. A fairly talented individual can do this him/her self, but most people don't want to try. I'll copy the notes I've given to others & paste them into this reply.

First you need to remove the top of the camera. There is a screw inside the flash on the EOS 5/A2 models so pop the flash up before you remove the battery & look in the front of the flash housing. That screw is in front of the flash on the EOS 100/Elan instead. To remove the top cover you also need to remove the front cover (and the door latch assembly on the EOS 5/A2) just to get at all the screws. Don't forget the screw over by the right strap lug, the ones in back beside the viewfinder, and the ones in front under the front cover plate. There is a screw inside the battery housing that holds the top cover as well. When you think you've gotten all the screws out, start wiggling the top cover off. Don't pry it or use too much force. If it seems stuck in some area (it probably will) it's probably a screw that you missed. Keep looking.

Once the top cover is loosed, pull it up and pull the small ribbon cable out of it's connector on top of the mirror housing. The rest of the wires can be left alone for what you need to do. You'll want to have more space & will be tempted to remove more wires. you can if you want, but you really don't need to. Just pull the top cover up and lay it over the front of the camera.

Now you can see the Command Dial. The very small metal detent ball is usually just laying around stuck in the grease somewhere close. The spring that pushes it will still be there as well but it may be twisted. The way it's supposed to work is, the spring & ball are in the center of the Command Dial just under (actually, just above) the metal "lock button" tab piece. The spring is supposed to push the ball into the slots in the metal cage. That provides the detenting action. If the problem was just the detenting was broken you would just need to put the spring & ball back in their positions between the plastic side rails (molded parts of the Dial) & just under (actually, just above) the metal "lock button" tab piece. Since your problem is the plastic rivets that hold the metal piece to the Caommand Dial are broken, you will need to replace them with very tiny screws. You might be able to find some in old photo equipment, or watch/clock works. I just drilled very small holes for the screws with a tiny dril bit I bought at a jewelry supply store. The I placed all the parts into position and screwed it all back together.

If the spring is still intact you can reuse it, but cut 2 coils off of one end to loosen the tension. That excess tension is one of the main problems with the dial. The little ball is just being pressed too hard into the slots of the cage. If you can't use the same spring find another that has a little less tension. You can use the more common pull-type spring. They are easier to find. Just stretch it out so that it becomes a push-type spring. Also a ball with a LITTLE larger diameter can be used to lessen how far the all goes into the cage. In that case you will want to keep the spring tension high.

After you have the Command Dial back together, you just line the the slot (on the opposite side of the dial from the detent), with the pin sticking up from the rotary swithch inside of the camera. Place the top back on & put all the screws back into their right holes. Good as new. Better than new actually, as it shouldn't happen again.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), July 05, 2001.


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