VF101 meter not working.

[JKilroy]

Hi everybody! I'm new to the forum, and new to RF in general. I hope this won't come across as a foolish question. I have just gotten my hands on a VF101, but I'm having problems with the light meter. It wasn't reading at all, so I cleaned the batteries (new) and all the contacts in the battery compartment/carriage with isopropyl alcohol. It worked for a little while, and now a couple of weeks later it's totally dead again. The manual suggests that the meter only activates upon film advance, and turns off automatically after about a minute, so I don't think the batteries are dead.

Should I take this camera in for repair, or is there something simple I'm missing? Is there something better than iso for cleaning electrical contacts? I found the manual fairly terse, so any little bits of info on this camera would be helpful.

Thanks in advance for your wisdom and patience.

Christopher

[petronius]

The manual at www.butkus.org says that the camera deactivates after 40 secs. My VF101 doesn´t, whether advanced or not. The meter only turns off when setting the main switch to the flash symbol, which I do to save batteries.
I converted my camera for the use of a CR123A Lithium cell. WDG shows this in a picture here: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/search.php?searchid=9298

[JKilroy]

Hmmm, thanks. I will test my batteries as well.

[JKilroy]

The batteries are still new, and the whole carriage system is putting out the proper voltage, so I guess the problem is internal with the camera. I'll probably take it to the shop for a repair estimate. Thanks for the ideas!

[petronius]

Good luck, its a nice camera. Hope you can get it repaired.