Canon AE-1 CLA By Eugene Pate
Canon AE-1 AE-1 cameras are probably the single most popular camera body sold in the USA back in the good old days - the AE-1 was an official camera at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games (the lens caps are collectible). There are common problems and there are complete idiots touting quick fixes on YouTube that range from spraying WD40 into the camera to blindly dropping oil until the famous "shutter squeak" goes away - the reality is that the famous "squeak" isn't the shutter at all but the mirror governor, governor, a flywheel type device coupled to a few gears meant to soften the clap of the mirror lifting and reduce vibration, there are some lesser known problems I'll point out and how to fix these issues - I'll point out some ways people trying to force these cameras actually cause very hard to find damage. Bear with me because this may be a long series of posts... Upon initial inspection I found the mirror squeak is there - not bad but audible, the speeds and meter readout are good, after pulling the bottom cover off I found a small black piece of plastic (pointed out with tweezers in the photos) - this is a plastic post holding the decorator ring that is below the shutter speed selector , there are a series of plastic Post that are part of the decorator plate and when changing the shutter speeds some folks with big fingers push on the plastic and eventually one or more of these posts break off and fall right into the winding mechanism causing it to jam, sometimes the hapless camera owner will force the wind lever to wind smashing the post into the gear teeth and in some causes this forcing "twists" the winding shaft causing the timing between the wind shaft and the gears to be lost and unadjustable - when this happens the wind shaft has to be replaced (add an hour or more to the job plus parts)... when you're lucky this broken plastic post falls to the bottom of the camera like in this case (I'm feeling lucky but that may change when the top cover is removed for more inspection). Another common problem is of course the broken battery cover - a combination of a design flaw and hapless owners... (often referred to at a camera repair shop as " a nut loose behind the viewfinder") - there is a tab on the battery cover holding it closed, press on the tab and the springloaded battery cover springs open, in these t hese cases the owner pried open the cover without sufficiently pressing the locking tab in causing the corners to break off - after Canon finally discontinued supplying the replacement battery cover enterprising folks that originally made these parts and some knockoffs began to sell replacements on the net (Fortunately I still have four of these replacement covers in stock). Lesser known is the case where the shutter hangs open after release until the power is turned off, in the majority of these cases an impact has caused a tungsten wire to jump off its insulated pulleys and short to ground - a wire that runs from the speed selector over the eyepiece via insulated plastic pulleys to the rewind side where as the speed selector is turned it turns a coupled dial under the rewind side of the top cover that is part of the selector that sets the ASA/ISO film speed. Overall the camera is in decent condition, the finder screen is dirty and harder to clean because the AE-1 doesn't doesn't have user interchangea interchangeable ble fresnel screens screens - of course the light seals are bad and the mirror cushion is gone and I forgot to mention the eyepiece lens is damaged on the right side (not unusable but I'll check to see if I have a new replacement (I think I saw one while looking for the battery covers in the parts bins).
Hopefully at the end of these posts it'll be worthy of the trip to your favorite location for a day of photo fun!
Hopefully at the end of these posts it'll be worthy of the trip to your favorite location for a day of photo fun!
#2 Before any Disassembly on an electronically electronically operated camera REMOVE THE BATTERY! BATTERY! Locate the four screws holding the front apron (the part that surrounds the lens mount) - remove the screws, lift o" the apron and note the black backlight/preview button housing may be loose. Note the switches, wiring and generally inspect things, loose mount screws are common.
#3 Open the film door, locate the hinge release pin and remove the film door - watch your fingers, do not inadvertently push on the exposed shutter curtains, if you feel this area may be a problem, leave the film door in place - just open it to facilitate removing the rewind assembly.
#4 Hold the rewind fork with needle nose pliers (hold both from the flat sides, if you hold just one it may break o" ). Unscrew the rewind knob assembly (normal right-hand thread). Locate the snap ring holding the circular black plastic decorator cover and remove it with ... snap ring pliers - be careful not to open it too far b cause it may bend and you'll have to bend it back upon reinstalling the snap ring. Note underneath is the tungsten cord coupled ASA/ISO dial, its spring loaded so there is tension on it, do not turn it because it may cause the coupling cord to slacken and get caught on the mechanisms or it could break the cord (not likely but don't take the chance - it wasn't meant to be turned from the ASA/ISO dial). The brass screw the tungsten cords wraps around is an eccentric screw designed to allow an adjustment of the ASA/ISO dial contact position on the bottom of the dial - don't turn the screw, leave the assembly where it's at, any adjustment to be made will be made upon final adjustment.
#5 Very important! Set the shutter speed dial to "Bulb" and lift the ASA/ISO dial and set 3200 to
relieve nearly all the spring tension on the cord coupled system - there will still be a small amount of spring tension but not enough to be an issue - you'll be able to see the ASA/ISO dial assembly on the left (rewind side) move as you set B and 3200). Remove the cap screw with the proper spanner tips, lift o " the wave spring, plastic washer, lever and lever cam. Using the same spanner tips remove the screw holding the shutter speed dial (there should be a thin metal washer underneath but it's missing here). When you lift o " the shutter speed dial you'll feel the last amount of spring tension decouple the tab on the speed selector dial from the notched plastic pulley/dial underneath (that pulley/dial is still holding some spring tension on the ASA/ISO dial - that is the initial spring tension).
#6 Locate the six screws holding the top cover and remove them, carefully lift o " the cover for an inspection - the cable release pin inside the release button may be loose, don't lose it and don't let it fall into the camera, its brass and can cause an electrical short.
#7 Inspect the top cover, here I found the location of that loose broken plastic post I found in the bottom of the camera that holds down the plastic decorator around the shutter speed selector (thankfully there's only the one post broken o " ). The hot shoe is slightly bent downward on the left (rewind side), no other damage is apparent.
` #8 The first thing I'm going to do so I don't forget is apply a small amount of Pliobond cement to the remaining top cover shutter speed selector decorator posts to prevent this issue from ever happening in the future - if a post breaks it'll stay right there and not fall into the camera mechanisms.
#9 Inspect the top flex circuit for any apparent damage, you can see the cord coupling system and pulleys I mentioned earlier - the pulleys are plastic acting as insulators, when the cord jumps o " it grounds to the metal support posts and causes the shutter to lock open upon release. Overall the circuit looks great with no signs of any sort of damage.
#10 At this point you can replace the broken battery cover if that's the only problem you have - note the pin that goes through the battery door, there is a spring at the top that's responsible for holding the door open while the battery is changed. There is a spot of glue at the through hole in the front plate that holds the door pin in place, soften it with alcohol.
#11 Apply alcohol to the leatherette to soften the glue and remove it carefully to avoid damaging it.
#12 Remove the tungsten cord coupling system, lift o " the black plastic dial from the wind side, let o " the remaining spring tension and remove the cord from the plastic pulleys routing it to the ASA/ ISO dial, remove the snap ring and washer and lift o " the assembly being careful not to damage anything - note the tarnish on the contacts. Remove the shutter speed contact dial.
#13 Remove the two screws on the rewind side circuit board, the eyepiece screws, the rewind side front plate - Note two spacers that serve as guide for the film door release are loose.
#14 Desolder the flex circuit connections for the metering LED's - use a solder wick...
#15 Desolder the white and purple wires for the back light/preview switch. Desolder the red galvanometer wire.
#16 Desolder the small wires for the aperture value resistor - green, white, red, orange and blue
#17 Desolder the red, black and green wires at the rewind side front. Lift the flex circuit o" the metering LED connections - not pictured here but also make sure to lift o" the flex from the rear LED connections also so the you don't tear the flex when the mirror assembly is removed.
#18 Remove the two screws next to the eyepiece, the five front plate screws and watch the flex circuit on the winding side pointed out in the photo, it's easy to tear the flex circuit here when removing the mirror assembly - lift the flex circuit out of the way gently as you remove the mirror assembly, start at the top tilt the mirror assembly slightly forward and remove it. - make sure nothing catches on the flex circuit because it will stay with the camera body.
#19 Pointed out is the location of the mirror governor, it is precisely here that needs to be oiled (one fine drop). Now that mirror assembly is out of the body I can inspect it... Remember I mentioned hapless idiots squirting WD-40 into the camera to stop the mirror squeak? Look at the shutter and back of the mirror assembly where the aperture magnet is located... there's WD-40 all over the bottom of the shutter and mirror magnet - the shutter tested ok but the auto aperture function failed... this is why. Hooray for the YouTube camera repairmen ... This is going to take me several additional hours to clean and repair... and it's going to add additional hours to the estimate.
#20 For those following these Canon AE-1 parts and are just wanting to fix the mirror squeak - at this point you could lubricate the mirror governor and reassemble the camera, make sure to clean and replace the seals, reassembly is the obvious reverse of disassembly. For those of you with a mind for following things through - I'm going to remove the upper flex circuit leaving the lower release magnet attached, remove the winding mechanism and remove the shutter for cleaning and lubrication - this is more involved than most repairs might be except for the replacement of the shutter assembly or a wind shaft replacement due to the mechanism being forced in cases where it's jammed (such as the top cover decorator posts falling into the mechanism). More posts to follow...
#21 Desolder using a solder wick the connections shown in the photos and the green wire at the wind side front of the flex.
#22 Remove the switch assembly at the front wind side and the screw holding the plate down behind the frame counter. Three screws and lift o " the wind baseplate.
#23 Time saving tip! Look at the top of the exposed wind shaft and you can see through the clear plastic cover the one-way clutch that keeps the wind shaft from moving backwards after winding the film - its loose, almost always the small tabs of black glue the factory applies is loose, if these three rollers and springs fall out it's a little headache to put back in, not really hard but it's a hassle - so I apply three drops of Pliobond to hold it together. Push in the film door lever to free the top wind side of the flex and gently to avoid damaging the circuit lay it down on the bench in front of the camera body.
#24 Locate the white plastic counter gear on top of the shutter below where the frame counter was, it's loose, push back the shutter curtain brake to make room to lift it out, set it aside.
#25 Turn the camera over, desolder the red and black wires from the MD flex, remove the screws holding the release magnet, the two chrome screws holding the MD flex (one is hidden under the flex) and move the flex free of the body.
#26 Remove the tripod socket (three screws), unhook the charge lever assembly spring, the clips at both ends (there is a lose washer under the "E" clip on the left wind side. Set the assembly aside and note there is a loose roller acting as a bearing for the main wind gear at the bottom where it rides against the three sided cam.
#27 Notice the massive amount of oil/WD-40 the original owner sprayed into the bottom gear set - all it accomplished was to wash away the grease, normally only a minimal amount of lubricant can be seen, I'm cleaning o " the main gear at the bottom winding shaft to mark its timing for reassembly (saves a little time). Remove the screw, notched motor drive (MD) cam, lift o " the gear - the winding shaft will be loose! Turn the camera right side up and note the wind shaft has three notches where the lever falls into to lock it, move the lever aside slightly and lift out the wind shaft (mark it for orientation for reassembly first).
#28 Desolder the wires at the shutter second curtain magnet at the bottom (all three wires - leave the wires glued to the body). Desolder the red wire at the switch assembly on the upper rewind side, remove the switches and contact assemblies. Three screws hold the shutter in place - note glue is holding the shutter frame in the top center area, be careful not to bend the frame or damage the wire. - lift out the shutter assembly.
#29 Inspect the shutter for damage The white plastic gear that fits into the top of the fi lm sprocket and turns the counter gear is loose, lift it out and the film take up spool is loose, disassemble the lower winding gear baseplate, pull the shaft out and lift that out. Inspect everything.
