Mamiya 6: No Power from Corroded Battery Contact
Originally posted on Instagram. Notes from the repair bench, kept here as a searchable archive. View the original on Instagram
This Mamiya 6 came into the shop with no display or release. Obvious power supply prolem and when I removed the battery cover and batteries, I could see the contact flopping around loose in the case and lots of blue corrosion. Photo three shows the corrosion on the inside of the contact after removing the battery box from the body.
If you have a Mamiya 6, it’s a good idea to check your batteries regularly for corrosion before things get to this level. Unlike the Mamiya 7 which uses a 6 volt PX28 style battery, the Mamiya 6 uses two 1.5 volt silver or alkaline batteries ( I would recommend the silver) and these do like to leak over time and will do damage to the camera.
As a matter of interest, the fourth photo shows the silver plated frame line reflector in the center. While Mamiya started out with a silver reflector in the Mamiya 7, within a few months they switched to a gold colored reflector for increased light reflection. The Mamiya 6 never received this treatment and was always a silver reflector.
The final photo shows a new contact assembly installed and the camera is back to life again.
