EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 does not zoom out with zoom ring

[dave_n_s]

I prepare better quality photo gear for sale for the local thrift store that supports our non-profit hospice and have a bag of Canon crop lens gear on my bench. I'm a Canon full frame DSLR owner with a bag of L lenses, so very familiar with normal operation and have another Digital Rebel, already prepared for sale that works fine, along with its kit lens.

The 17-55 does not move at all when I turn the zoom ring out. It pulls out normally - it appears to be engineered like my EF short zooms - and the zoom ring follows. The zoom ring will bring it back in to about 20, initially it was bringing it back somewhat less than that. It appears that autofocus and aperture control in AV mode are working correctly. 

Any advice on what may be going on and how to fix it would be appreciated. 

[ebiggs1]

It's broken. It needs service call Canon 1 (800) 652-2666 they will tell you everything.

[dave_n_s]

Well yes, it's broken and I'm sure Canon could fix it, but as a charity, we try not to pay for repairs and use skilled volunteers, with guidance from forums like this or sell as-is for repair. 

[Waddizzle]

It sounds like it needs to be serviced.  A camera lens repair isn’t a typical DIY project.  Internals need alignment, etc. 

The lens is likely well beyond Canon’s Support timeline, which is typically 10-15 years from date of original release.  Getting spare parts is another obstacle.

You might be out of luck.  

[normadel]

I did the same (volunteer) job at a thrift/reuse business. It's amazing what incredible gear people dump because they're tired of it, don't know what it is, etc. But lots of stuff gets donated that is inoperative and would cost money to repair, if possible. This lens is an example of that.

Thrift stores don't spend money to fix/refurbish bad equipment. Whatever I couldn't get to work was given to someone to tinker with, or thrown in the scrap heap.

You can't save everything.

[dave_n_s]

@normandel, I agree. Because of my personal online turn-over for the thrift store, I have an agreement with the manager that I can buy parts up to a certain value, when the diagnosis is very likely. I'd certainly tackle this if the usual cause was a bad electrical connection, but I fear this will be a broken plastic part in the mechanism, for which spares are unavailable. In these cases, I sell online at appropriate prices, in the knowledge that there are specialist repairers for almost everything where there is sufficient value. In this case, I expect a $300 lens will raise $100 for the hospice in this condition, however I'm still hoping for inspiration from an expert here.

[ebiggs1]

"The lens is likely well beyond Canon’s Support timeline, ..." "Getting spare parts is another obstacle."

Important points and will certainly complicate the project.

[dave_n_s]

Thanks all, message received. Don't try to fix it! A Canon repair will be uneconomic for us so I'm going to sell it for parts and repair as optics, focus & aperture are all good and there'll be some folk out there who will pay for that - any contribution to our hospice makes a difference.