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Maxxum 7D Repair Hints

Started Nov 23, 2007 | Discussions
c_oflynn New Member • Posts: 4
Maxxum 7D Repair Hints
2

Hey guys,

I recently bought a Maxxum 7D D-SLR off e-bay that would shut off after you try to take a picture. I repaired it OK, so thought I'd give a few hints if anyone wants to try repairs themselves...

First off, some background:

The camera is NOT easy to repair, it is considerably more difficult than simple digital cameras. Which you should have experience ipping entirely apart and putting back together some cheap digital cameras first! A lot of the way cables are connected is similar.

The flash capacitor in these will retain a dangerous charge long after the camera has been turned off and the battery removed. It's typically charged to a few hundred volts. THIS COULD KILL YOU IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, AND WILL HURT LIKE HELL. YOU WILL DROP/THROW THE CAMERA AS A MUSCLE REFLEX. I OR THIS FORUM IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR CAMERA OR LIFE, DO AT OWN RISK.

You will need to be comfortable soldering. Many of the wires on this thing do not have connectors for some reason, and instead are soldered right to a flexible PCB. Always take lots of pictures when taking apart the camera!

The outer case uses tons of different types of screws. Some are just different by a mm or two, some are the same length but different thread spacing. Take a piece of masking tape by each hole and label the screw type, then put that screw in a small zip-loc bag. By the time I was done ripping it apart I had about 21 different screw types in the camera (that's different types, not just number).

There's a service manual somewhere for this, which would make this a lot easier. I didn't have that though alas, so will post some photos for other people who might not have it.

For my camera the shutter would not open. You can test that by disabling the shutter-lock in the menu, and the camera won't bug you to attach a lens.

To get to the shutter you have to remove the CCD. You will have to unsolder the shutter to remove it. I just had to play around with it a bit - I'm not sure exactly what I did! I suspect the camera was dropped and it got jammed. It might be related to the issue other people have, i'm not sure. There's a page at

; that has a picture that is handy when putting the shutter back together.

When the Maxxum 7D goes to take a picture, it moves the lens up. At the same time this "preps" the shutter. You will have to figure out how this two-sided gear piece fits in based on that, my crappy camera wasn't good enough to take a picture of how it fit.

The rest of the images are at:

http://www.newae.com/images/maxxum7d

(Don't want to post them all!)

AdamT
AdamT Forum Pro • Posts: 62,282
The Big question is

Why not just send it in for service saying that it's got FBF because it looks like it had an extreme case of that !! ..

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OP c_oflynn New Member • Posts: 4
Re: The Big question is

I didn't know about the problem beforehand... I only paid $50 for it, and had no idea what happened to it before. Plus the viewfinder glass was broken too.

EvilOne
EvilOne Forum Pro • Posts: 14,627
Here is a suggestion..

being as this is your first day on the forum, I would suggest that you do a search of your concerns about a 7D and instead of trying to tell us how to fix it, Check and see if what you post won't make you look so bad. Most here already know of this problem and we all know that it is a free fix with a free tune up. As badly hacked as that 7D pictures shows, I would not think that many would want to listen to anything you have to say about how to repair anything... other than that , welcome to the forum.. No we are not hostile... but as a newbie here,you should be 95 % looking and searching and 5% posting... of course asking questions and soliciting help is always accepted.
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OP c_oflynn New Member • Posts: 4
Re: Here is a suggestion..
1

Uhh... I wasn't posting this saying people shouldn't use the free fix. I was trying to help people who have problems that don't get a free fix - people who have an old one with other problems. People who dropped the camera, etc. At least to give someone with a technical background an idea if they could tackle the repair themselves without shelling out, or to help someone pick up a cheap one by fixing a broken camera.

I'd be a fool to suggest someone takes their camera apart when they don't have to. Maybe someone will find this helpful, but if not sorry for wasting your time I guess.

Aad van Boven Forum Member • Posts: 73
Re: Here is a suggestion..

As an interested technical guy with a 7d I enjoy these posts. It gives insight in the technology used. Keep on posting this kind of information. Everybody should decide for themselves to use it or not. I personally will not open up the 7D if not needed, but the look inside is most welcome !

regards, Aad

James Pellenbarg Regular Member • Posts: 264
Re: Maxxum 7D Repair Hints

Geez! Can't folks just take the post for what it is and not have to "bite" back for whatever reasons they feel necessary. The guy got it real cheap and wasn't intimidated delving into his own "repair". Kudos to him. Not what I'd want to do and probably not what most of the folks reading this forum would choose to do, but you have to give him some credit!

George Senior Member • Posts: 1,358
Re: Maxxum 7D Repair Hints

I don't see where your issue was in your camera. What exactly was the free fix you speak of? More details please.. Thanks! George
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Steen5 Regular Member • Posts: 123
Re: Maxxum 7D Repair Hints

I agree with James. Besides I have for weeks (or months?) tried the search function, with this result every time:

"Sorry: Searching is temporarily unavailable due to an index update, please try again later."

Do you experience the same?

Best regards

M i c k e y Regular Member • Posts: 194
Re: Maxxum 7D Repair Hints

I am always intrested to see what is inside 7D, thanks for the post and pics!
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Lesuave Forum Member • Posts: 86
Re: Maxxum 7D Repair Hints

It's like looking inside the body of an old friend.

You wrote that you repaired it OK. Didn't you have to calibrate focusing or some other things ?

OP c_oflynn New Member • Posts: 4
Re: Maxxum 7D Repair Hints

Hi,

I didn't calibrate focus or anything when putting it back together. I'm sure to do it properly one should.

However I don't think it is totally needed. All the calibration adjustments were a different type of screw-head (they used hex) and had loctite or similar on them. Hence I just treated them as "do not touch". There was no need to remove any of them, hence I shouldn't have affected the focus that badly. Since I didn't replace any parts either it should be similar to original. So far the autofocus works great from what I can tell...

For what was wrong with my camera:

-Glass in viewfinder was broken, fixed by just removing that piece of glass (it was just the straight one, not the optics and not really needed)

-On power-up a motor would spin for some time. This was for the aperture control, it's supposed to hit a little stop. However the motor wasn't engaging anything and hence it tried for a while. Had a small piece of plastic jammed in there, might have broken off from somewhere else but didn't look important.

-The shutter problem. Fixed by removing and resetting shutter. Probably FBF problem, but I can't be sure it wasn't something else. Haven't had any FBF issues, but then again I haven't really let the camera be off for too long since getting it

Regards,

-Colin

crice New Member • Posts: 24
Re: Here is a suggestion..

You are being hostile. You also don't represent every user on this forum.

Like others, I like knowing what's going on inside of my camera. I personally am NOT going to open up my 7D myself, but it's nice to hear that others have done so successfully.

janetsayers New Member • Posts: 5
malfunctioning maxxum 7D

Help!! I'm a newbie to the forum & have some questions. Has anyone ever experienced/heard about a problem w/ capturing a shot w/ their Maxxum 7D? In Egypt a mo.ago I would press the shutter release button (camera in green P mode) half way down, see all the info & highlighted focal point, & press the button all the way down. The click did not "sound" right & there was never a photo on the playback screen. After about 1/2 hr., 15 -20 shots not being recorded, the camera started to work & everything was normal. This was really frustrating & continued throughout the trip. My questions are: where do I take my camera, can I trust them to repair it, should I try to get a body on e-bay (I have a Tamron XR Di II for it)??? Thanks for your input. Hope I gave you enuff
info!

digitalshooter
digitalshooter Forum Pro • Posts: 19,604
was the display accidentally triggered off? (nt)
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Thanks,

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darobin1 Regular Member • Posts: 428
Re: Maxxum 7D Repair Hints

Thanks for these great shots -- I have
saved all of them -- most enlightening...
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Tony Sx Senior Member • Posts: 2,164
Well done and congratulations.

You seem to have handled the problems very well. So for $50 you've got yourself a really nice camera.

Welcome to the forum and please don't be put off by the relatively rare posters who think they know what everyone wants to read.

Your description was clear and interesting and - you never know - might encourage others to try some 'simple' repairs. For instance, there has been at least one post in the past describing how to adjust the problem of back focus. I bet quite a few readers of this forum tried that one - it was a bit simpler than your fix!

bob91343 New Member • Posts: 1
Re: Maxxum 7D Repair Hints

I would like help in repairing my Maxxum 7D.  First I want to find out where the backup battery is so I can remove it to do a hard reset.

Can you help me?

Bob

charroo New Member • Posts: 1
Re: Maxxum 7D Repair Hints

Hi everyone, seasons greetings, I am located on the Island of Trinidad in the Twin Island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, I used to be a radio TV  and VCR technician, and also Telecommunication hobbyist for many years, I no longer practice these skills on a regular basis, I have taken up photography instead, I work part time as an event photographer, I am interested of attempting to repair my Maxxum 7D, can someone help me to find all the necessary information, I am only seeing one photo on this forum, i tried fallowing the suggested link without any lock, of anyone is willing to assist me can you please email the info to charroo@gmail.com please?

unclebrudy
unclebrudy Contributing Member • Posts: 575
Re: Maxxum 7D Repair Hints

charroo wrote:

Hi everyone, seasons greetings, I am located on the Island of Trinidad in the Twin Island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, I used to be a radio TV and VCR technician, and also Telecommunication hobbyist for many years, I no longer practice these skills on a regular basis, I have taken up photography instead, I work part time as an event photographer, I am interested of attempting to repair my Maxxum 7D, can someone help me to find all the necessary information, I am only seeing one photo on this forum, i tried fallowing the suggested link without any lock, of anyone is willing to assist me can you please email the info to charroo@gmail.com please?

Charroo, emailed.

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