Calling Electronics experts

[jonreid]

I had my light meter in my pocket this morning and bent down and broke the light receiving part.
I'm now left with two disconnected wires. See the pic. One is beige and I'm pretty sure this should connect to the soldered bit you can see in the centre of the frame.
The other wire is brown and disappears behind the brown film that lines the inside. Maybe it's a ground? It may on next tithe same points I can't see another piece of solder that's missing a wire.
Any ideas? The meter is a Sekonic L 328

Jon
94904

[Alan Gales]

It looks like you need a wire stripper, a soldering iron and a spool of solder.

Take it to Radio Shack and show it to an employee. They should be able to help you out.

[Leigh]

If you expect it to ever work again, send it to Quality Light Metrics in Hollywood.

If you want it to NEVER work again, take it to rat shack.

- Leigh

[jonreid]

Leigh,
I'm based in Sydney Australia. I know someone I'd trust to do the soldering. I'm just not sure where the brown wire goes.
Funny thing is it appears to still work.

Jon

[Leigh]

Hi Jon,

My point is that it needs to go to a professional service facility that's familiar with the product.
Sekonic doesn't publish service data on their meters, at least not that I've ever found. I too use Sekonic.

Light sensors are delicate items. It would be VERY easy to destroy one with a solder iron if the tech is unfamiliar with them, regardless of his proficiency in other areas of electronic service.

- Leigh

[jonreid]

Would a professional service facility be able to get their hands on a wiring diagram?
Without that its toast right?

Jon

[Leigh]

I expect any authorized Sekonic service center will have the proper documentation.

I was a warranty service center for Novatron studio strobes for several years.
As such I received a complete set of drawings and schematics for the products.
However, that was under a non-disclosure agreement. I was not allowed to pass that info on to anybody.

I expect Sekonic works the same way.

Check the Sekonic website, or ask the dealer where you bought the meter.
They should have a service center in Australia.

The only other alternative would be to give it to a tech who's experienced in working with fine (small) circuitry.
He might be able to find the other piece of the broken wire and re-attach same. It would be a delicate operation.
That is not an option I would recommend, since an error would destroy the sensor.

- Leigh

[jonreid]

Thanks for your input Leigh. I'll make some enquiries regarding Sekonic in Australia though I suspect it's not economically viable to repair it.

Jon

[John Koehrer]

After you have checked with your locals, if you think it's not worth the $$ there's no loss in attempting a fix is there?
Lift the film & take a look, there should be a spot of solder on a land with no wire. If the foil contact has been torn, you can scrape
a bit of insulation off & solder to that.

[Jody_S]

I could pop the cover off of mine to check, unfortunately I did a 'DIY' repair on it and I can't. The cover kept popping off, so I decided to Krazy-glue it on. My tube of crazy glue wasn't dispensing any, and when I pressed a little it opened up and flooded the entire meter with glue. I've got it working, but there's no way I can open anything to look. They're not really hard to open if you want to follow the wire inside.

[Leigh]

If a DIY repair is the only option, it's probably better than throwing the meter away.

My concern is the sensor could be damaged by the heat, resulting in inaccurate readings.
You definitely need to check for proper operation after the repair.

- Leigh

[welly]

Thanks for your input Leigh. I'll make some enquiries regarding Sekonic in Australia though I suspect it's not economically viable to repair it.

Jon

I had a similar-ish repair on my Sekonic 758 meter. They had to send it off to Sekonic in Japan. It cost $400 to repair. I wouldn't do that again.

[jonreid]

After you have checked with your locals, if you think it's not worth the $$ there's no loss in attempting a fix is there?
Lift the film & take a look, there should be a spot of solder on a land with no wire. If the foil contact has been torn, you can scrape
a bit of insulation off & solder to that.

John,
That end of the wire is fine, it is soldered to a foil contact. It's the other end I don't know where goes. You're right, it might be worth a shot if I can figure out the wiring.

Jon

[jonreid]

Jody,
Mine was bought second-hand, and there's evidence of the top being glued back on at some stage. Don't open yours please. I think that wire in question must be a ground. I'll get my friend to look it over, I know nothing about this stuff. It might be obvious to him.

Jon

[Dave Grenet]

I'm in Sydney too and have some electronics knowledge. Happy to have a look if your friend can't work it out.

[Otto Seaman]

I fixed mine myself too. It matches my iPhone light meter app so I know I did it right.

[Jody_S]

I fixed mine myself too. It matches my iPhone light meter app so I know I did it right.

Someone is about to have a heart attack, reading this.

[jonreid]

Thanks Otto! Your post will give me the confidence I need. Never again will I wear jeans that tight.

Jon

[jonreid]

I'm in Sydney too and have some electronics knowledge. Happy to have a look if your friend can't work it out.

Dave, I'm actually in Newcastle. I typed that a bit out I habit and a bit out of laziness. I'll be in touch if I need your offer. Thanks.

Jon

[E. von Hoegh]

It looks like you need a wire stripper, a soldering iron and a spool of solder.

Take it to Radio Shack and show it to an employee. They should be able to help you out.

Alan, this was true, once, if you went to the right shadio rack and found the right employee. But now.... it's the last place to go for advise about anything other than what cellphone to buy...
I bet the average employee doesn't even know what soldering is, and you should have been there a few years ago when a friend brought in one of their "Lifetime Guarantee" tube to be replaced.:D

[ic-racer]

Take it to Radio Shack and show it to an employee. They should be able to help you out.

That's pretty funny!

[John Koehrer]

John,
That end of the wire is fine, it is soldered to a foil contact. It's the other end I don't know where goes. You're right, it might be worth a shot if I can figure out the wiring.

Jon


Have you checked the leads for traces of solder? A bit more shiny or just a tiny lump of it on the lead?