Thinking about taking apart my broken digicam

yotes

My out-of-warranty Sony Cybershot is having issues with the lens cover not opening and the motor making grinding noises. The Internet tells me that it's probably a bad gear and that Sony would want $200 to fix it which is very unappealing to me, so I'd like to check inside myself and see if it's not just something that's popped loose or such.

I'd like to know what I should look out for, things falling out, things that might take some force to pry apart, etc, before I dive into it. Does anybody have any experience with this? I figure I can't break it any further and I haven't got any warranty to worry about anyways.

a foreign doctor

Beware of the capacitor for the flash. I took apart my digital camera a while ago and thought I would be fine without discharging it, but my finger slipped and I got a nasty surprise.
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/camera-flash3.htm has a picture of a the sort of cap you will find in there, also a nice picture of it being discharged.

I don't really know what else you should look out for.

blincoln

I took apart an older Cybershot to mod for a project last year. It was pretty easy, other than the capacitor thing that a foreign doctor mentioned - I also jolted myself.

If yours is like mine, the only tricky part is where the plastic tabs and slots fit together. Once you've removed all the screws it should come apart relatively easy, but IIRC, there are a few spots where you have to pry things apart (GENTLY).

Like most electronics, there are a bunch of different sizes of screws. So as you're taking it apart, put the ones you take out on your desk/workbench in a pattern that will let you remember where they go.

The gear should be fairly easy to get to. I removed that whole assembly from mine, as part of the project was that I didn't want to have a lens cover. It could just be out of alignment, as opposed to broken.

Obviously be careful of the lens and the ribbon cables, and if you end up taking it even further apart, be VERY CAREFUL about the CCD and shutter. You shouldn't need to dig that far into it, however.

yotes

Thanks for the replies, I didn't even think of the flash capacitor at all. Is there any (low-tech) way I could safely discharge it or is just very easy to avoid it? The pic doesn't look like it's something I'd want to stick my finger in.

Guess I'll start taking the cam apart as soon as I sober up, might take a few days.

blincoln

What I did is take a spare screwdriver (with a plastic handle), attach one end of a wire to the metal part of the screwdriver, and the other to a ground. Then (carefully) touch the tip of it to each of the leads on the capacitor in turn.

I've read that as a suggestion in DIY electronics stuff, but I'm not sure how safe for you and/or the camera it is, so YMMV. One time I did it, I accidentally bridged the capacitor lead with something else on the circuit board and scorched it a bit. Fortunately Sony makes a pretty robust camera and it still worked fine.

The other option is to wear rubber gloves, but that reduces your manual dexterity.

It's not a *huge* deal to shock yourself with the cap, but it does hurt for a second. Just be sure not to touch the two leads with both of your hands at the same time. DIY defibrillator FTL.