know of any sites with repair hints/instructions?

[Jonathan Wienke]

Canon hasn't made the information you're looking for public. Your only real option is to send the camera in for service.

[DiaAzul]

The only thing that has been circulated so far on the web, to the best of my knowledge, is the parts catalogue for various pieces of Canon equipment - this excludes details of circuits diagrams, adjustments, etc, but does include exploded views of the lens and bodies.

Even if you can get the camera to work again it may still be appropriate to send it in for re-caliberation.

[DiaAzul]

Even if you didn't find the tech manual, you still won't have the test bench and other diagnostic equipment the factory techs use to recalibrate things and diagnose problems, so it wouldn't do you much good.

You make it sound as if the Canon test bench is composed of equipment which has be developed for some high tech endeavour.

In reality the most apropriate tools are:

1...Distilled water
2...Toothbrush (one hard, one soft bristle).
3...Multimeter
4...Set of screwdrivers (small)
5...Magnifying glass.
6...Anti-static mat, etc..


I spent much of my time repairing telephone exchanges (both electro mechanical and digital) and the tools required to do most electrical and/or mechanical repairs in a service lab are not exotic.

Jonathan - whilst it may be beyond your capabilities to undertake such a repair, there are plenty of other people for whom this would be more easily done at home than shipped to Canon.

[Jonathan Wienke]

Jonathan - whilst it may be beyond your capabilities to undertake such a repair, there are plenty of other people for whom this would be more easily done at home than shipped to Canon.

If it's a simple loose wire or connection, fine. But if one of the chips has gone bad, you don't have a chance in h--- of diagnosing and repairing the problem with the tools you mentioned.

[thermarest]

Anyone know of any websites that have bootlegged canon repair manuals, hints on fixing things, etc?

My 10D won't flash. It suffered some water damage. Quite pleasingly, everything else works perfectly.

I took a lot of it apart and everything is all dry inside. Some corrosion on the back but not too bad, really. I can't see corrosion anywhere else. All the wires and connections appear good. The pop-up flash button still makes the flash pop up, but the shutter won't release when the flash is up. I get a 'busy' in the viewfinder. Sometimes I'll get the old "Error 99."  The flash doesn't charge, as evidenced by the lack of that sonic charging sound. My 550ex wont flash either when attached to the hotshoe. So, it would appear that no signals are reaching flash head area.

I've searched around a little bit but nothing useful yet.

[rickster]

Sometime back in the spring someone posted a link in this forum to a site with detailed drawings, with part numbers if I remember correctly, for Canon cameras. I don't know if I saved the link, I'll look for it.

[Jonathan Wienke]

Even if you didn't find the tech manual, you still won't have the test bench and other diagnostic equipment the factory techs use to recalibrate things and diagnose problems, so it wouldn't do you much good.

[thermarest]

while I don't have any special expertise at this, I'm figuring that a multimeter will go a long way. Signal and/or power is not getting to the flash and I have to figure out where the problem is. I don't know what is supposed to be connected electrically to what, however, so I can't check it.

I know it 'should' go to canon, but Canon is going to charge an arm and a leg, I'm pretty sure to fix it, I'd guess. I suppose its worth checking out. As 10D's go down in price (watch the ebay prices drop when the rebel replacement hits the shelves!) it makes less sense to spend lots on a repair. It all depends on how much.

If I could fix it myself by messing around it'd be fun. Besides, then I'll know a little something when my next DSLR bites the dust in some remote spot. Before I was afraid to take it apart even. Now, that's the first thing I'd do if it got wet again.