pentax digital spotmeter V disassembly

[speedtrials]

Hi Guys,
I have a Pentax Spotmeter V I would like to open up because there is something rattling inside. I can't seem to figure out any way to do it! There are 2 screws on the base of the handle (beside the battery compartment) but after unscrewing these, I have no idea how to take off that bottom plates....it seems the tripod mount and the battery chamber are attached to that plate as well as the body so it doesn't budge. I have removed the lens but what ever is in there, is on the other side of the mirror so it won't come out that way. The only other options I can see is to take off the viewfinder, but that requires a spanning wrench so i thought i would throw it out to you guys incase someone has experience with this before I go out and buy one of those wrenches. Thanks!

[Eric Woodbury]

I don't know if I can remember w/o one in front of me, but there is a screw under the serial number tag. Take that out and take off the eye piece ( and rings). I think then the cover peels off. The bottom stays put.

Good luck.

[speedtrials]

cool thanks, thats makes sense....but also sounds like a PITA!

[RichardRitter]

Then you grab the case and the barrel, twist and shove and the case may pop off and the loss part will go flying off to never never land to be loss forever. It's not until you get the meter together that you realize that in taking the case off you slide the case into one of the calibration pods and the meter is off.

[Alan Curtis]

I highly recommend that you carefully pack your meter and send it to Richard Ritter to find out what is rattling around . You might get it apart, then what? I'm guessing that Richard would rather take it apart himself than receive a box of pentax parts. He can also calibrate it for you at the same time.

[speedtrials]

Thanks for the advice guys...I decided to sell the meter at a reduced price and let the buyer decide if they want to do something about the rattling or not. Cheers!

[Scott --]

Mine rattles, too. Never impacted the way it works. FWIW.

[pyro]

Yeah, send the thing to Richard. That's what I did with my old Pentax V about three years ago to repair a faulty trigger switch and erratic readout. It came back to me good as new, working perfectly and fully re-callibrated....and it's still working like new. Good price, quick turn-around. Highly recommend Richard Ritter.

Years ago I tried to take a meter apart...I dropped my old Gossen Luna Pro down a concrete stairwell, it bounced a dozen times, cracked the case and the needle was left hanging loose. Thinking I might be able to salvage what appeared to be a trashed meter, I tried taking the thing apart to see if I could 'fix it". Well, I totally screwed the thing up and never did get it back together, much less functioning again.