VC Meter II - battery compartment door

foma · 07-20-2007

Let me start by saying I did a quick search under VC meter battery and didn't find any thread on it. So here goes.

I got a new VC Meter II today in the mail. After putting in the batteries, much to my surprise the meter didn't light up.

When I took the meter off the shoe the batteries spilt out! It didn't take long to recognize that the battery comparment door's "lock" is not that tight or sturdy.

Is this a known issue? I carefully slipped the meter back on, then it worked fine, but I don't want to worry every time I remove the meter about accidentally touching the door to see those little batteries fall all over the place. Should I ask for an exchange or do I live with it?

SteveM(PA) · 07-20-2007

I've seen some pnet guys talking about the flimsy door. I can never get mine open without a coin or something, but I've carried it in my pocket a lot (as did William, it's previous owner) so it's pretty dirty and nasty. What you can do, maybe, is beef up that tooth at the front of the door a little bit with a couple drops of krazy glue. It's a great little meter, I hope you enjoy it.

foma · 07-20-2007

Thanks SteveM. I also googled and realized this has been an on-going problem. I really don't want to go through the exchange-and retry route. So I scotch-taped the wide area over the door and the surrounding area. Hopefully the batteries will last long enough so I won't have to do this too often.

I am a little disappointed that Cameraquest's "review" of the VC Meter II points out the battery door as an improvement over the previous version, since the Meter I apparently had a screw-on cover. Perhaps it was not really an improvement.

I am aware that the website is (partly) a marketing tool for his wares, and I didn't buy the VC meter from Mr. Gandy, so I cannot say I was mislead, to be technical. But I hope my thread will serve as a heads-up to potential buyers that *some* may have the same issue with the VC Meter II.