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shutter release not working S100

sandysorlien
Apprentice

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?

575 REPLIES 575

I've fix it!

I suffered from the not working release button also. What I've done was soldering the pads of the release button. The button is placed on flex ribbon, which may be a problem because soldered pads may break after many pushes.

I will describe what I've done exactly in case You want to try this fix by yourself.

s100_shuter_repair.jpg

I've reheated three pads of the release button that are marked as 2. Those are easy to access. I've tried to solder the pads that are marked as 3, but those are hard to reach because the other switch is too close. Nevertheless, soldering the pads marked as 2 seams to fix the problem. 


My camera is working now 🙂

 

As a side note: Before I’ve fixed the problem, I've tried to shut a photo with the camera case disassembled. When I pressed the release button, I could not trigger my camera, same way as all S100 owners in this discussion. Nevertheless, when I was pressing the trigger button and I pressed the flex ribbon in a place close to the button and marked as 1, then a picture was capture. I’ve done this few times, and it has always triggered my camera. I assume that pressing the ribbon distorted the broken solder in some way and the proper connection was back. I’ve probed the pads of the release button with camera switched on. When the second stage of the button was pressed and released then the pad most to the left was switching between hi and 0V states. Therefore, I assume it is the faulty pad.

 

I think that mounting the release button on flex ribbon was not the best choice that engineers from Canon could have made. It is pressed many times and solders are not meant to handle such stress. A proper PCB should be used here.

Good luck anybody that still uses their S100. I am going on my vacation next week and I hope to capture it with my fixed camera!

Great job digging in and finding a solution. Especially since the part is no longer available. How annoying that little piece of weak solder can break a camera that cost hundreds.

Hey!! Where is Jaykub's post?  It vanished! 

I've fix it!

I suffered from the not working release button also. What I've done was soldering the pads of the release button. The button is placed on flex ribbon, which may be a problem because soldered pads may break after many pushes.

I will describe what I've done exactly in case You want to try this fix by yourself.

s100_shuter_repair.jpg

I've reheated three pads of the release button that are marked as 2 (I've used pointed soldering iron). Those are easy to access. I've tried to reheat the pads that are marked as 3, but those are hard to reach because the other switch is too close. Nevertheless, the pad most to the left (in the group marked as 2) seams to be the problem.


My camera is working now 🙂

 

As a side note: Before I’ve fixed the problem, I've tried to shot a photo with my camera case disassembled. When I pressed the release button, I could not trigger my camera, same way as all S100 owners in this discussion. Nevertheless, when I was pressing the trigger button and I was pressing the flex ribbon in a place close to the button and marked as 1, then a picture was captured. I’ve done this few times, and it has always triggered my camera. I assume that pressing the ribbon distorted the broken solder in some way and the proper connection was back. I’ve probed the pads of the release button with camera switched on. When the second stage of the button was pressed and released then the pad most to the left was switching between hi and 0V states. Therefore, I assume it is the faulty pad.

 

I think that mounting the release button on flex ribbon was not the best choice that engineers from Canon could have made. It is constantly pressed and solders are not meant to handle such stress. A proper PCB should be used here.

Good luck anybody that still uses their S100. I am going on my vacation next week and I hope to capture it with my fixed camera!

PO
Contributor

Hi, Jakub! Thank you for your successful repair of the S100. What do you mean by "reheat the pads"? Does it mean to melt the soldering points in those positions? What do you use to do that? A very pointed soldering iron? Thanks!

 

PO

jakub
Contributor

Hi PO,

Yes, I've used pointed soldering iron.

PO
Contributor

Thanks! Was it just heating up or to the point of melting the solding point! I am a bit afraid of too much heat melting other points around. 

 

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.

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!

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.

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