Something rattling inside my Canon Meter

[ScottS]

I've got a canon meter (selenium meter for the VI series) which, surprisingly enough, seems to actually work. The problem is that it sounds like there are a lot of loose pieces/rocks/something inside. I'm not sure what it is, but if it shakes even a little bit, a bunch of something is rattling around.

The problem is sometimes whatever is rattling around will block the needle, keeping the meter from giving an accurate reading. If I shake it around a bit, I can move them out of the way and it works again.

Is this something I can fix by just opening it up and dumping out whatever loose parts/dirt/whatever is in there, or will I likely ruin the meter in the process?

Scott

[kabkos]

Scott,
I would not be surprised if what is rattling around is a loose screw. I have had a couple of lightmeters with a similar problem and it turned out to be one of the meter mounting screws had come loose. You should be able to open up the meter and fix this problem without causing any harm. If the screw gets into the galvonometer coils and damages them, then the meter it toast.

regards,
karl

[ScottS]

As it turns out, there were two screws loose. But the rattling wasn't the screws. The plastic bottom plate of the meter has several plastic molded mounts which the screws fasten down the internal components. Turns out four of these have chipped away -- two of them completely, resulting in the loose screws, and the other two are partially gone. The loose plastic chips were actually blocking the meter needle on occasion. The only problem now is that the internal meter components are not fastened to the case as securely as they once were with these missing mounts. The only effect this seems to have is that the shutter speed and aperture dials are a bit loose.

Assuming I haven't lost any screws, I will soon have a working (non-rattling) meter...

Scott

[kabkos]

Scott,
I would recommend a bit of contact cement or pliobond to hold the cracked/broken pieces in place. Glad no internal damage occurred in the meter.

Good luck tightening teh real loose screw!

karl