New Camera/Help

[CoreyS]

Hello my name is Corey,
I wanted to get my steps into photography and have never owned a Camera. I just bought a used 40D yesterday that came with 2 lenses.(70-210 & a 35-135). It also came with a 2 GB Memory card, 2 batteries, a battery grip, and a case. Anyways.. Now to where I need help..

It will only turn on with the battery grip(With just one battery in the battery compartment it won't work. The Camera came with out a battery door unfortunately so I ordered a new one and hopefully that will solve the problem.

An additional problem.. To take pictures I can rarely get it to snap any pictures with the primary button(idk what it's called). How ever with the battery grip button it snaps pictures just fine. Could this be because the battery grip is attached? I have reset the camera settings, and turned off the battery switch and still nothing..

Thanks for your help and time!

[CoreyS]

I tried it and letting it dry over night. I'll let you know if it fixed it!

[CoreyS]

Thanks, that makes more sense to my now. Hopefully I can get the shutter button cleaned.

[CoreyS]

It's fixed! I used some WD40, and contact cleaner. I'm going to get a keyboard air duster, and some alcohol to clean it out better. Thank you!

[Waddizzle]

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@CoreyS wrote:
It's fixed! I used some WD40, and contact cleaner. I'm going to get a keyboard air duster, and some alcohol to clean it out better. Thank you!

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I suggest that you quit while you're ahead.  Introducing foreign objects and substances into what should be a "clean room" type of environment is never a good thing.  

Cameras and lenses, cameras most especially, should be cleaned by professionals.  

Compressed air can introduce frozen air moisture onto surfaces where it is sprayed, because they sudden drop in pressure is accompanied by a sudden drop in temperature.  WD40 and electronics do not mix.  There is really no such thing as "contact cleaner", because any solvent leaves residue behind.

[Ray-uk]

Well done for fixing it, but in future do not even think about using WD40 on camera equipment it is not made to be a cleaner or a lubricant it is made to disperse water (hence the WD). Sometimes it can cause more problems than it cures because it dissolves some lubricants and can leave a nasty residue.

If you want to clean out the battery compartment use a little Isopropronal fluid on a brush otherwise as the previous post has stated "quit while you are ahead"

[CoreyS]

I understand, there were a few times where the shutter button still didn't work so I want to clean it better. I understand that the WD40 was a bad idea won't be using that any more. I am going to try an isoproponal just once more and hopefully it fully fixes it.

[RobertTheFat]

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@CoreyS wrote:
I understand, there were a few times where the shutter button still didn't work so I want to clean it better. I understand that the WD40 was a bad idea won't be using that any more. I am going to try an isoproponal just once more and hopefully it fully fixes it.

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Just remember that some (all?) alcohols form a constant-boiling solution with water, which means that you can't get pure alcohol out of an aqueous solution by simple distillation. So what they do is add some amount of an adulterant, notably benzene. That gets the water out, but can leave a trace amount of benzene in the "pure" alcohol. And benzene may not be something you want disappearing into the recesses of your camera. It's one thing to use alcohol to clean lens contacts (of questionable efficacy, but harmless) and another to pour it around the shutter button.