shutter release not working S100

[sandysorlien]

Hello,

I am suddenly having problems with my S100. It will not take the picture when I press the shutter release. In case I had accidentally changed something, I did a Reset to Defaults. Then it worked, briefly, before returning to not working. It also would not let me change My Colors.  Everything else seems to be working fine.  Any ideas?

[kisonay]

I still have an unworking/unmodified S100 that I will try this on.

[Danluckett]

I would like to hear from Jakub, but be cautious! You would need your iron to be hot enough to melt solder -- but it would be easy to cause collateral damage. Ideally you would have a temperature-controlled soldering iron with a very fine, clean tip. And you would apply heat very very briefly.

[PO]

That is what I cam afraid of because my iron has just high and low temperature. Say, Danluckett, do you know if changing that whole strip from another working camera, involves soldering or not. I do have another S100 (with lens stuck) ready for transplant!

[John_]

Great post-Jakub this is exactly why I bought a used, working S100 with a waterproof housing for $99 to use at the beach, in pools etc. I was confident, because of all the information found in this very long thread, more like tugboat rope now, that if anything happened I could fix it myself. Switches like this need a stable mount and a flex PCB is not a good idea. You nailed it, great job!

[John_]

I have several full-service manuals for other Canon cameras and in all of them the flex PCB's use connectors and do not need any soldering to R&R.

[Danluckett]

Someone who repairs cell phones might have the right iron for the job.  The flex strip is part of the shutter release assembly. Replacing it does not require soldering, but does involve a lot of disassembly/reassembly. See earlier posts on this, and find Youtube videos to see how. I successfully replaced on mine with a new part. Disassemble your parts camera first, to see how it comes apart. Trickiest part is reinserting the main connector with just the right amount of force. Also, there are a lot of screws. You will need a system to keep track of which screw goes where -- they are not all the same. 

[John_]

Good points Dan those small  screws are very hard to keep track of without some kind of tracking method. Some are only 0.5mm different from others.

[PO]

Thanks for the advice, Dan! Will try to proceed with extra care but I need enought "bile juice" so to speak in Chinese before I do the transplant! Will post after I do it! 

[jakub]

@PO You need to melt the solder.
@ Danluckett You are right, it needs to be done with caution. Temperature-controlled soldering iron makes it easier, but the most important is a fine, pointed and clean tip. Temperature of a pointed tip is harder to be controled. Tip tends to be at lower temperature than set, especially for a low-cost soldering iron, therefore, most soldering irons should be set to slightly higher temperature than theoretical one.
Solder used in consumer electronics is lead-free, which requires higher temperatures. 250 degrees should be OK, and that was what I used. From my expirience, the temperature can be higher and nothing bad will happen but the time of soldering should be limited. Soldering for too long makes the flux from the solder evaporate and the solder itself starts to be ... lumpy? (it stops to shine). Then, it is harder to melt it and all the job starts to goes wrong. So my advice is to do the melting fast and you should see that the solder solidifies once more after a fraction of a second.

[PO]

Thank you, Jakub! That is good tips! I shall try reheating it first and if it does not work I shall do the transplant. I usually blow air into the soldering to cool it faster! Thanks again!