my fix of the K-30 aperture problem without disassembly

Jal-TO wrote:

I tried your aperture-problem fix and the immediate result was that it fixed the problem. Thank you.

Is there any information about the efficacy of this fix over the longer term, that is to say, is it temporary or will it last?

The reason I'm asking is that I'm considering upgrading my lenses and if, in fact, the camera is toast and it's just a matter of time before this fix will no longer work then I might choose to change systems now rather than later. And I'll certainly choose to NOT buy new lenses for it.

Has anybody had long-term success with this fix?

And, if anyone has had it repaired by Pentax or another repair service, what did it cost?

I'd appreciate your responses. Thank you.

This fix will probably be useful for a while, but it's going to get to the point where you'll start getting some random dark frames even shortly after performing this quick fix. Out of all the quick fixes that I've seen online, this is probably the easiest one to do, but it seems like all of them eventually fail.

The only proven permanent solution is to replace the "green" aperture motor with a "white" one. You have to buy a used "white" motor or find a new one online & replace it yourself or have someone else do it for you. If you send it back to Ricoh, they're going to charge you a lot of money & they will simply replace the "green" aperture motor with another "green" one that will probably have a 50/50 chance of failing again.

I replaced the "green" aperture motor with a "white" one in my black K-50. I've shot more than 5,000 trouble free images since then. I replaced it in August of 2017. It only takes about +-3 hours to do if you have a small soldering iron & some small screw drivers. It will require a bit of patience too. You can find the fix over at Pentax Forums, but do keep in mind that the capacitor in the K-30 will be exposed a bit more once you open the camera. Make sure not to touch it, or you'll have a shocking experience.