RZ67: Failing Electrolytic Capacitors
Originally posted on Instagram. Notes from the repair bench, kept here as a searchable archive. View the original on Instagram
If you are purchasing an RZ67, keep in mind that unless it has been serviced in the last decade (most have not) it will need repairs of some sort maybe sooner rather than later.
The examples of the RZ that you find are often 40+ years old by now and one thing that will fail, even if the camera has never been used, are the electrolytic capacitors. Various symptoms show up: battery drain, non-release of the shutter, beeping.
Today I am scrapping out an RZ67 that was impact damaged and the first photo shows the circuit board with the electrolytic capacitors in blue at the top of the board. These are the ones that will fail and cause problems. They are located on the back of the circuit board and are not visible when first taking off the side cover as shown in photo two.
In this case, the camera was working OK (other than a major impact) electrically and photos three and four show what one of the capacitors on this board looks like when I removed itl Visible is the beginnings of leaking material from inside. This would have been just a matter of time before things ground to a halt. I imagine time, temperature and humidity play a part in the degradation of the capacitors.
If you already own an RZ, this will be something you will have to deal with at some point. Hopefully not for a while.
