Summary of ways people fixed their Nikon Coolpix camera battery door latch

[Jeanette Guire]

Here is a summary review of ways people fixed their Nikon Coolpix battery
door latches when they invariably broke. Nikon would recommend replacing
the entire camera body.

However, innovative homeowners have fixed Nikon's engineering flaw using
- duct tape to hold the Nikon Coolpix battery door shut
- pinned & screwed the Nikon Coolpix to hold the door shut
- paperclipped the Nikon Coolpix cameras to replace the plastic latch
- tripodded the Nikon Coolpix to hold the battery door shut

Here is a photo of the Nikon Coolpix camera body BEFORE it breaks
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/NikonCP3100/Images/battcompartment.jpg

Here is a photo of Nikon Coolpix camera body ultimately broken
http://files.myopera.com/mcduret/blog/IMGP0065b.JPG

Here a user fixed the Nikon Coolpix camera body with a paperclip
http://www.uthunter.com/images/Nikonfix.jpg

Here a user fix the Nikon Coolpix camera with a tripod
http://files.myopera.com/mcduret/blog/IMGP0070b.JPG

Here is how I fixed the Nikon Coolpix 3100 camera with epoxy
http://usera.imagecave.com/coolpixfixer/

Here is a photo of how Nikon fixed the flaw themselves
http://www.scaredpoet.com/images/E7600_batterydoor.jpg

I'll post a review of some of the other innovative solutions I've found
searching for a solution for my nikon coolpix camera with the notorious
Nikon engineering flaws.

 

[Jeanette Guire]

http://www.photoprojects.net/index6.html

Nikon CP-990 Door Latch Fix: The battery compartment door latches are metal
on plastic. I was very careful of mine because of that, but it finally gave
out. My camera is old and not used very much so I decided to build a
retaining bracket to hold the door closed. I made a few out of cardboard
until I found what I wanted and then transferred it to 1/8 " aluminum. The
feet on the bottom allow the camera to sit upright on the shelf. * * * * I
took Tom's advice and modified my camera. I drilled a .073" hole into the
front of the battery compartment where the plastic tab broke off. Then
forced a small screw through the hole to serve as a door latch retainer.
Then used a Dremel cut off wheel to cut off the excess length. Retouched it
with a sharpie just like Toms. Thanks again Tom.

 

[Jeanette Guire]

Here's a nice picture of a fix of Nikon's infamous battery door latch
problems on many Nikon camera models - it's a variation of the plate and
tripod screw approach.

http://www.photoprojects.net/doorlatch.jpg
http://www.photoprojects.net/batdoor.jpg
http://www.photoprojects.net/index6.html

 

[Jeanette Guire]

Looks like the Nikon Coolpix 990 has a aimilar battery latch door broken
problem.


Newsgroups: rec.photo.digital
Subject: Coolpix 990 battery flap broken
Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 23:01:49 -0000
NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 22:58:09 +0000

Any ideas to bodge this problem ?, a broken battery
flap. The plastic lugs have broken off in the battery
compartment, seems to be part of the case.

I don't want to pay Nikon repair costs so at the moment
I'm using a self tapper thro' the flap into the middle
of the battery case... don't know how long this will last
tho.

Have thought of an external battery like the Samsung
LiON.

Chris

From: [email protected] (WMAS 1960)
Newsgroups: rec.photo.digital
Date: 30 Nov 2002 09:18:43 GMT
References: <[email protected]>
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
Subject: Re: Coolpix 990 battery flap broken
Message-ID: <[email protected]>

I am one who divised a plate that fits on the bottom of the camera as you
discribe. It really isn't that much of a hastle. I will say it didn't
work out as nicely as I had envisioned. I thought that if I simply
loosened the bolt I could turn the plate enough to have the door open.
That didn't work out. The door, on my design, will not fully open enough
to change batteries. I do have to remove the plate. However, if you are
not constantly replacing batteries it works fairly nicely.

This is how I did it.

I took a piece of metal that I got at home depot. It was a piece of
galvanized metal that would be used to join two pieces of wood together.
It was a plate about 5" x 5" or so. It might have been intended to join
2x6s(?) Anyways it is a metal plate that had a couple spikes in it and
holes where you might drive some nails or screws. I took a Sharpie and
traced the bottom of my camera(around the handle to the tripod bolt) onto
the piece of metal and using a hacksaw cut out the piece of metal. I then
used a file and cleaned up the edges and filed the plate until it fealt to
be a good fit to the shape of the camera. I used the file also to knock
off corners and edges so that it had a dull finished edge that would be
safe and not cause cuts. You could then paint the plate black so that it
matches the camera. Or, as I did, use some of the rubber dip that you can
dip tools in to put rubber grips on. I did that and it looked great and
worked very well. However the rubber did eventually wear off the edges of
the plate and I now have to dip it again. I have just left it bare for
now. Less hastle.

Once I had this nice little plate I found a bolt from an old camera case.
The kind of case that would screw on your camera and snap over it. This
bolt fits in the tripod socket and has a thread in the bottom so that you
can attach it to a tripod if needed. This allows you to install the plate
and still have use of a tripod socket. I had to use a washer with my bolt
as it still had some play when fully screwed into the socket. I guess it
takes up the space that the thickness of the leather camera case used to
occupy.

I would point out that you will want to bend the plate slightly upward,
toward the camera bottom. With the plate totally flat, it would not hold
the door completely shut. The pressure of the batteries would push down
enough, sometimes, to loose contact. By bending the plate, into a very
slight bow, you compensate for that force. While the batteries are pushing
pressure down, the bowing form of the plate is pushing back up.

I now have a D100 that I have started to use most of the time. Therefore
my CP990 sits around a lot. I still use it for travel when the more
cumbersome SLR would be a nuissance and when I am out observing with my
telescope. It is much lighter weight and fits onto a telescope eyepiece
very well. The CP990 also has it's value for quick snapshot things like
documentation of property for damages or for insurance use... With more
occasional use I use Lithium batteries in it and can put in a set of
batteries and not have to change them for months. Therefore the removal
and replacement of the plate is not that much of a problem. I looked into
having my Coolpix fixed but was told that it would take weeks if not months
to get it back and would cost a couple hundred dollars. The local Nikon
service center told me that they can't fix it and would have to send it to
New York(?). I figure it isn't worth it. My solution cost me about 15
bucks and took me all of about an hour to fabricate. Say 2 hours including
the time I spent in Home Depot.

My camera had given me over 3000 pictures in it's livetime, so far, and
asside from the battery door seems like it will easilly be able to give me
hundreds or even thousands more. It still works great dispite the door
latch problem.

 

[Jeanette Guire]

Subject: Re: Coolpix 990 battery flap broken
Date: Sat, 30 Nov 2002 11:12:11 +0000
From: Adrian Chapman <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: rec.photo.digital
NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 30 Nov 2002 11:12:12 +0000
Lines: 30

Any ideas to bodge this problem ?, a broken battery
flap. The plastic lugs have broken off in the battery
compartment, seems to be part of the case.

Exactly the same thing happened to me some weeks back. I enquired
about the cost of a repair and was quoted 60 GBP which I though was
rather expensive and won't cure what is a fundamental design flaw. In
the end I repaired it myself, but you will need some small tools and a
tube of good superglue together with something like some strands of
fine glass fibre.

This site
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1007&message=2267289
describes this repair, but also requires some dismantling of the
camera. I managed to do it without any dismantling and so far the repair
seems to be holding up and the repair is much easier to do than to
describe.

OK, it doesn't look very good, but it is inside the camera so not
generally visible, but it will be considerably stronger than the
original design.

 

[Jeanette Guire]

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1007&message=2267289

Forum Nikon Talk
Subject 990 battery door repair instruction
Posted by steve gardner [CLICK FOR PROFILE]
Date/Time 7:44:28 AM, Monday, February 25, 2002 (GMT)


I have used my 990 for overy 40 gig of aviation photographs in the past two
years or so and I was getting pretty used to its working every time. This
made it even more agrivating when I dropped the fresh charge into the
battery compartment and found that the door would not close. Upon
inspection I discovered that Nikon had made the battery door latch cleets
out of plastic. Plain old everyday plastic like styrene or ABS and not an
engineering plastic with nylon or carbon in it. What is more when you
inspect the area where the failure occurs you can see that the door could
have been cleeted by the outer shell, the Magneseum shell, which I expect
would have been much more rugged. In any case you will be wanting to know
how to get your 990 working again. You will need a good CA type glue, NOT
superglue or anything from the hardware store, but ZAP or HOT STUFF or JET
glue from the local hobby shop. These glues are sold for building RC model
airplanes, but you will not be finding any better glue for camera repair
anywhere. Next you will need some Kevlar thread, or some glass fiber
bundles from very heavy glass cloth. My Kevlar thread comes from fishing
line and is about 25 pound test and very thin. The glass cloth will render
glass cords thin enough for this repair and pleanty strong.
On to the repair:

Remove the screws that hold the two metal shells to the grip side of the
camera. Strangly enough you will not need to remove the rubber grip, I did
and found no fasteners under it. There are two screws on each side of the
pivot, three on the underside, two under the video out flap and one near
the strap tunnel. The battery door needs to be open as well. Be careful
once the shells are loose, the front shell has the mode/trigger switch and
this is still attached to the camera by a flexcircuit. The speaker diaphram
is also attached to the front shell and wired to the camera, but you can
carefully peel it away from the shell and so help gain access to where you
will need to go. This easily reataches with the stickum still in place.
Once the shells are open you will see that there are two latches that fix
the broken part to the rest of the plastic battery compartment. Using a
very small pointed tool like a jewelers screwdriver you must unlatch these
and so then remove the broken part.
The repair itself:

It will be obvious where the broken plastic is. If you are lucky the bits
will still be there, just bend and cracked outward. Push them down and back
into position and apply glue to the cracks. Do this by putting a drop of CA
onto a smooth non absorbant surface and then using the eye of a sewing
needle to pick the glue up. The glue will bead across the eye and so you
can put just a very small amount right where youneed it If the bits that
broke off are not present then you have to cut a CD jewel case apart to
make new cleets. Check a friends 990 to see the needed shape. Glue into
place. These reglued cleets will not hold for even one battery change as
yet, we are about to bullet proof them. Take a length of thread, kevlar or
glass, and using a super small bit of glue attach it down under the cleet
inside of the battery hole. then wrap the thread over the top of the cleet
and down the other side back into the battery hole. make sure that the
thread is positioned very near the edge of the cleet so that is can take
the latch loads and so hold the door closed. once you have a thread in
place put a second across the first and then add CA glue in small amounts
until the thread is saturated and a fillet of glue is showing around the
thread. Now you have to cut / sand /file the end of the thread in the
battery hole to allow the battery to fit into the shell. Trim as you need
and do not worry, so long as there is a bit of Kevlar or glass running up
across and back down the cleet it will never fail again. Reverse the steps
needed to disassemble the camera being careful to reattach the speaker and
not pinch any wires. Wait until the camera's shells are back together and
test fit the door. You may have to trim the glue or plastic bits you built
the cleets from to get the door to shut. Now you have two cleets with a
pair of 25 pound reenforcment cords each holding the door shut against the
battery springs. You may consider adding this reenforcment to a 990 that
has not yet failed, it is much easier to get the cord into the proper place
with the cleets still intact. NOTE: it is very possible to perform this
repair without any disassembly at all if you are very very careful with the
glue. I think that it is too easy to get the part out and be free to work
to do it this way, but if you are shy about seeing the inside of your
camera you can try it this way. Good luck and let me know how you like the
fix.
Steve Gardner

 

[Jeanette Guire]

Kris
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More options Nov 30 2002, 8:06 am
Newsgroups: rec.photo.digital
From: "Kris" <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, 30 Nov 2002 15:09:47 -0000
Local: Sat, Nov 30 2002 8:09 am
Subject: Re: Coolpix 990 battery flap broken
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Thanks for the tips, much appreciated.

As well as the cheap / weak plastic lugs I am sure
the pressure of the bent metal battery contacts has
a lot to do with it, a friends Casio has spring contacts
which aren't so strong and the flap shuts easily.

Chris

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WMAS 1960
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I am not sure what you are referring to about bent metal contacts. At
least in my situation that wasn't the case. Closely examining the
situation when my door broke I found that everything was normal except the
notch on the cameras frame where the latch catches. That very small
plastic catch had snapped and the door simply would no longer lock in
place. My understanding of the problem was that the 990 was designed where
the batteries (because of the contacts and springs inside the compartment)
were under so much pressure that the design of the catch was just not
sufficient enough to hold the door over time. That is one reason why I
figured that the metal plate was a better solution. I did try to glue the
catch and looked at the fiberglass solution but that seemed way to
intricate to me. You would need to take a knife and shred the glass fibers
and lay them in place with some cement... Then there was the possibility
that it would just happen again. The problem being that the pressure and
stress is still on that catch. In fact the metal plate solution might be
worth consideration for those who haven't even had their doors break yet.
Properly built it will actually take some of that pressure and stress off
of the catch and may also prevent what happened to me. At the least, it
will prevent the door popping open on you during a shoot and can help you
keep going. I was out observing with my telescope. It was a very cold
night when the camera started to go on and off and act funny. A couple
moments later I heard a rattling sound as the door FLEW open throwing all
the batteries into the darkness. I suppose the cold weather might have
played some roll in the latch breaking at that time. The plastic might
have gotten a little too cold and brittle. Incidentally I have also seen
similar problems mentioned with the 950 as well. I don't know if other
Nikon cameras are also defective in this way.
More options Nov 30 2002, 10:30 am
Newsgroups: rec.photo.digital
From: [email protected] (WMAS 1960)
Date: 30 Nov 2002 17:29:43 GMT
Local: Sat, Nov 30 2002 10:29 am
Subject: Re: Coolpix 990 battery flap broken
Reply to author | Forward | Print | Individual message | Show original |
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I am not sure what you are referring to about bent metal contacts. At
least in
my situation that wasn't the case. Closely examining the situation when my
door broke I found that everything was normal except the notch on the
cameras
frame where the latch catches. That very small plastic catch had snapped
and
the door simply would no longer lock in place. My understanding of the
problem
was that the 990 was designed where the batteries (because of the contacts
and
springs inside the compartment) were under so much pressure that the design
of
the catch was just not sufficient enough to hold the door over time. That
is
one reason why I figured that the metal plate was a better solution. I did
try
to glue the catch and looked at the fiberglass solution but that seemed way
to
intricate to me. You would need to take a knife and shred the glass fibers
and
lay them in place with some cement... Then there was the possibility that
it
would just happen again. The problem being that the pressure and stress is
still on that catch. In fact the metal plate solution might be worth
consideration for those who haven't even had their doors break yet.
Properly
built it will actually take some of that pressure and stress off of the
catch
and may also prevent what happened to me. At the least, it will prevent
the
door popping open on you during a shoot and can help you keep going.

I was out observing with my telescope. It was a very cold night when the
camera started to go on and off and act funny. A couple moments later I
heard
a rattling sound as the door FLEW open throwing all the batteries into the
darkness. I suppose the cold weather might have played some roll in the
latch
breaking at that time. The plastic might have gotten a little too cold and
brittle.

Incidentally I have also seen similar problems mentioned with the 950 as
well.
I don't know if other Nikon cameras are also defective in this way.

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ajacobs2
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More options Dec 1 2002, 5:48 am
Newsgroups: rec.photo.digital
From: "ajacobs2" <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, 01 Dec 2002 12:48:20 GMT
Local: Sun, Dec 1 2002 5:48 am
Subject: Re: Coolpix 990 battery flap broken
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US Fix.
OK, now that few ideas have rolled into the equation, lets look at a
different way to go about this.
If you fix the camera with the glue and the tabs and screws and what not
you
still risk the same problem again, so why bother. If you alter it and
decide
at a later date to repair it at Nikon (the only guys with parts for these
things, your "screwed" as the bill will be larger for the other parts now
being modified not working.
I had this problem with the 950 and the 990. The battery cover is a weak
spot because of the pressure of the springs.
So, I took some silicon cement and closed the doors with a dab or two.
Enough to close and easy enough to get off at a later date when they get
repaired.
I use my Jacobs battery packs for the two cameras and never went back to
the
batteries. I also use the same pack on my flashes, my bikes for night
halogens, my GPS's and my field radios, two power remote radios for SARs.
The plans are free and the parts are very easily available. Just go to
my
website and look under powerpacks. They are about four to six times more
powerful than the cheap stuff in the yellow packages. Read my website for
other battery answers....

International Fix. (FAQ)
Plan A:
They do sell the Yuasa 4 amp- six volt batteries in at MDS in the UK . And
I'm looking for a 6 V charger that operates on your voltage.

Plan B:
I suppose you still have the AA batteries. In the UK you must have a Radio
Shack or similar type store.
They make a 6 cell AA holder for the NiMH.
Get two you want to put them in parallel so you get twice the longevity,
otherwise any powerpack is a waste of money.
Why six cells, simple 4 Nimh 0nly equal 4.8 volts. They don't make a five
holder. So you go six.
Five cells plus a dummy = 6 Volts ( Dummy cells are fake batteries,
pictures on my site)
The AC port on the Nikons take six volts.

Plan C:
Now for the 995 Nikon user. Six cells and you have 7.2 enough for a Nikon
995. Only the charger is 8.4
995 user can also use packs made for the RC cars we call them here.....

Why two packs together? Simple....twice the longevity. If your batteries
are 1800 NiMH x 2= 3600mah pack.
Now you know how the big guys make claims about their super packs.....no
brainer..

 

[Jeanette Guire]

Path:
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From: "Kris" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: rec.photo.digital
References: <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Nikon Coolpix 990 battery cover fault
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 22:03:18 -0000
Lines: 32
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NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 21:55:25 +0000

Has anyone any experience of a faulty catch on the battery cover? The 'lip'
inside the body to which the sliding catch connects has completely broken
off on mine - is this a design fault? Battery door now hangs open -
completely unusable.

Hi Roy, don't despair this is happening to all of us 990 owners and , yes,
it's a design fault.

There are lots of threads on the NG' s about this and numerous articles
like

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1007&message=2267289

In my case I bought an external battery

http://www.digitalfirst.co.uk/ProdSDetail.asp?cat=Accessories&ProdID=508

also I made up a metal plate which is held in place with a screw into the
tripod fixing
works fine but never used it, I drilled right through the battery
compartment into the centre
of the holder with a fine drill and have been using a self tapper now for
12
battery
changes and still OK, don't tighten too much and use a little silicone
grease.
When it gives up I'll get a bigger self tapper ! until the day I have to
use
the plate.

Chris

 

[Skybuck Flying]

I have a nikon coolpix camera too, the L4.

It has a little bit different and probably little bit stronger gray
thingy/hole.

However the plastic clippie might break off too, it doesn't look to strong.

For now it's looking ok.

Thanks for the warning though... I'll be extra carefull with it I swear LOL


(I don't use the camera much though... but it's nice to have for the
occasional event or spotting of ufo's ! LOL )

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[SMS]

Here is a summary review of ways people fixed their Nikon Coolpix battery
door latches when they invariably broke. Nikon would recommend replacing
the entire camera body.

However, innovative homeowners have fixed Nikon's engineering flaw using
- duct tape to hold the Nikon Coolpix battery door shut
- pinned & screwed the Nikon Coolpix to hold the door shut
- paperclipped the Nikon Coolpix cameras to replace the plastic latch
- tripodded the Nikon Coolpix to hold the battery door shut

Here is a photo of the Nikon Coolpix camera body BEFORE it breaks
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/NikonCP3100/Images/battcompartment.jpg

Here is a photo of Nikon Coolpix camera body ultimately broken
http://files.myopera.com/mcduret/blog/IMGP0065b.JPG

Here a user fixed the Nikon Coolpix camera body with a paperclip
http://www.uthunter.com/images/Nikonfix.jpg

Here a user fix the Nikon Coolpix camera with a tripod
http://files.myopera.com/mcduret/blog/IMGP0070b.JPG

Here is how I fixed the Nikon Coolpix 3100 camera with epoxy
http://usera.imagecave.com/coolpixfixer/

Here is a photo of how Nikon fixed the flaw themselves
http://www.scaredpoet.com/images/E7600_batterydoor.jpg

I'll post a review of some of the other innovative solutions I've found
searching for a solution for my nikon coolpix camera with the notorious
Nikon engineering flaws.

Maybe you could get Nikon to put some of these up on their web site.

 

[Jeanette Guire]

Thanks for sharing.

Here's a new one - they fixed theirs with a brass staple to replace the
plastic loop!



Newsgroups: rec.photo.digital
From: [email protected]
Date: 15 Jun 2005 19:52:50 -0700
Local: Wed, Jun 15 2005 7:52 pm
Subject: Re: How to repair 1mm of latch plastic on Nikon CoolPix AA battery
door

You could try using a brass dressmaker's pin or a similar piece of very
fine wire, and bending it into a small flat-bottomed 'U' like a staple.
Heat the staple gently with a soldering iron, and holding it with
needle-nosed pliers, press the legs of the 'staple' into the plastic
body so the flat-bottomed bit becomes the latch.

It's risky (but what the heck, the camera is toast otherwise), but a
stape is a good idea. The gap-toothed distance is about two millimeters
so I'd need to locate a 2mm staple which I could then crazy glue in
place after melting the access holes.

It might work! If it does, you're a genius!

 

[Jeanette Guire]

Maybe you could get Nikon to put some of these up on their web site.

That isn't a bad idea.

Here's yet another solution. This person fixed their Nikon Coolpix camera
with the broken battery latch using KEVLAR and CYANACRYLATE.

I'm not sure how the "BOTTLE ROCKET" fixed the cyanacrylate outgassing -
maybe someone who understands bottle rockets can explain.

For those who have this problem with their Nikon Coolpix, read on.



From: "ZeeExSixAre" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: rec.photo.digital
Subject: Nikon CP990 update: it works!
NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2004 08:23:46 PDT
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2004 11:23:26 -0400

Today I was taking pics of my Coolpix 990 to sell it. I got a few pics and
wondered if I should show the battery compartment.

The battery compartment has some crap in it... it has a broken latch that I
fixed with kevlar thread and cyanoacrylate glue. I dremeled the excess
when
I made it and it works like a charm.

The funny thing is, CA glue outgasses vapors like no tomorrow. The vapor
deposit themselves all over the place. The same thing happens with your
windshield when you buy a new car - the dashboard release agents that
deposit themselves on your windshield as a hazy film.

So the vapor outgassed all over my battery compartment, coating everything,
including the battery contacts. I cleaned off the ones on the external
door
regularly, but I hadn't ever done anything for the ones deep in the camera.
So I thought about it as I looked inside, and I said to myself, I should
try
cleaning the inside ones just to see if it will work.

I grabbed a bottle rocket and swabbed the contacts on the inside, wiped the
outside contacts again, threw in some batteries, and voilá! It works like
new!

I spent so much time without a camera just because of microns of outgassing
deposits... Funny thing is, batteries were in the camera on the night that
it died, so I can't imagine the deposits getting in between the battery and
the contacts. Plus, I had switched in and out different sets of batteries,
which should have scraped away at least enough to keep the camera
working...

So now I have two working digicams... I apologize for bad-mouthing Nikon.
At least I can now sell the old one as working instead of dead, whoohoo!

 

[Jeanette Guire]

Here's yet another solution to the Nikon Coolpix battery latch problem.

This person fixed their Nikon Coolpix battery door latch with something
called a "roll pin".

From: "Vance Green" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: rec.photo.digital
Subject: Re: Battery door latch on Coolpix 990 broken AGAIN!
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2003 21:35:33 -0700

From March of this year, another unhappy 990 user wrote:

The small plastic tabs that hold in the lid of the battery compartment
on my Nikon CoolPix 990 have broken. Has this happened to others?
Are there any suggested fixes? Thanks for any responses here or to
[email protected].

Yes. Mine broke.

I put the camera on my drill press in a padded cross feed vice and drilled
through from the front, coming out into the battery compartment right where
the tab was... the idea is to have something there for the sliding tab on
the battery compartment door to slide under and latch as it did with the
crappy plastic tab.

Small bit .75 or .8mm if I remember correctly. I had an assortment of tiny
roll pins and sized the bit to a press fit for the pin. You could use any
small diameter wire to do the same thing.

I pushed the pin in from the front protruding into the battery compartment.
I cut the pin off flush to the outside with a Dremel tool cutoff wheel and
dabbed a bit of "Sharpie" black ink on the shiny metal. You have to look
close to know it is there. All has been well since.

Took longer to tell about than to do. If you do not have a drill press, I
believe it could be done by hand if careful.

Whoever the engineer at Nikon was that designed that stupid latch tab was a
moron.

Tom


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
I kept this as I own a 990 myself, and intend to do this very thing
if it breaks on me...

Hope you're the handy type ;-)

 

[Jeanette Guire]

This solution to the infamous Nikon Coolpix battery door latch broken
problem was to use something called a "quick release shoe".

I'm not sure what that is, but the next person with this problem (and there
will be a next, and a next, and a next) - now can find all the solutions in
a single posting.



From: "F. D. Lewis" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: rec.photo.digital
Subject: Re: Battery door latch on Coolpix 990 broken AGAIN!
Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2003 13:34:03 +0700

I gave my old CP990 to my daughter and in about a month she has managed
to break the latch on the battery door.

It went out on me while it was under warranty and of course now it's out
of warranty.

Any ideas on how much it will cost to fix this? Has anyone had this
repair done out of warranty?

Are they any other ways to "fix" it?

same thing happened on my 880. I found that if I attach the quick-release
shoe from my tripod to the camera, it keeps the battery door shut. not
quite a 'fix', but ...

 

[Jeanette Guire]

Here's a new Nikon Camera Review Coolpix Solutions method.
This guy used "auto body filler", whatever that is, to fix his Nikon
Cooolpix Camera.

He says it's better than Bondo's method (who is Bondo?) so maybe someone
who knows more about repairing nikon cameras can explain what Bondo's
solution was. We'd like to fill in all the gaps here in our knowledge so
the next person with a broken Nikon Coolpix Camera door latch has the
solution all in one spot.



From: "Ozymandius" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: rec.photo.digital
Subject: Re: Battery door latch on Coolpix 990 broken AGAIN!
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 08:49:56 GMT
NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.26.2.233
NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 01:49:56 PDT
Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net

I had this sme thing happen on my cp990. I was able to repair the latch
with
some auto body filler (really) and patience. Sand the area above the broken
latch to coarsen the plastic (better bite for the Bondo), add a tiny amount
of filler, and hold the broken latch in place while the filler sets (about
15 minutes). A second dose of Bondo may be necessary. Once the filler has
fully cured, carefully file away the excess, so that the door will close
and
latch.
Good luck

 

[Jeanette Guire]

Here is an EXCELLENT review of nikon coolpix camera reliability repairs.
In this posting, the camera repair was to use FISHING LINE!


From: [email protected] (WMAS 1960)
Newsgroups: rec.photo.digital
Date: 15 Jan 2004 22:26:44 GMT
References: <[email protected]>
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
Subject: Re: Nikon cp990 need help
Message-ID: <[email protected]>

If you are referring to your battery door simply will not latch because of
broken catches in the mechanism. This is a common problem due to the
tension
of the springs in the battery compartment and the stress that they put on
the
battery door by pressing the batteries under strong pressure. Especially
in
colder weather when the plastics can get brittle the door can snap open.
The
problem, as I noticed, is not so much the door or the latch but the little
edges on the edge of the battery opening that will break. Thus the door
has
nothing to catch on to.

I have posted a couple of posts about this before with a solution that I
found
using materials that I found at my local Home Depot. I wrote a few queries
a
few years ago when this happened to me one cold winter night while out
shooting
with my telescope. The cold single digit temps, I believe, made the
plastic in
the camera a little brittle and the door popped open. The camera started
acting a little erradically then I herd a whisssssh as the batteries
launced
like little missiles into the cold black darkness. The solutions included
sending to Nikon which could cost a couple hundred dollars and take as much
as
a month to get fixed. Or one solution mentioned using fishing line or
something like that, fiberglass I think was mentioned also, and shredding
it
into fine strands. Then using some epoxy, or super glue to bind them and
using
surgical skills with a tweezers etc, rebuilding the catch.

My solution was to make a plate that would fit to the bottom of the camera
and
bolt on using a tripod bolt that also had a socket for another tripod
screw.
This is the bolt that is commonly used on flash mounts or camera cases that
bolt to the bottom of the camera then allow a tripod to be bolted to them.
For
more on this check this address....

http://members.aol.com/wmas1960/homepages/CoolpixRepair2.htm

Based on the frequency of this problem I decided to put this web page
together
this afternoon with some pictures of what I did. Hope it is helpful.

You can also run a check on GOOGLE for Coolpix 990 Battery Door and
probably
find more info.

My solution that I describe took me about an hour to fabricate and only
cost
about $15 not including tools and such that I didn't already have. I had
to
buy a hacksaw and a set of files. Actually only one file but the set was a
better value. You might also want to get some fine sand paper to finish
the
edges a little more cleanly. I also tried getting some of the stuff that
you
would use to rubberize your tool handles. It worked fairly well and using
the
black color blended very well with the design of the camera. However, the
rubber eventually wore off. You might consider simply painting the piece
with
black paint. I believe, since the metal I used was galvanized you might
need
to clean the metal piece with some vinegar or other good cleaner to remove
any
oils before paint will properly adhere.

 

[[email protected]]

Here is a summary review of ways people fixed their Nikon Coolpix battery
door latches when they invariably broke. Nikon would recommend replacing
the entire camera body.

However, innovative homeowners have fixed Nikon's engineering flaw using
- duct tape to hold the Nikon Coolpix battery door shut
- pinned & screwed the Nikon Coolpix to hold the door shut
- paperclipped the Nikon Coolpix cameras to replace the plastic latch
- tripodded the Nikon Coolpix to hold the battery door shut

Here is a photo of the Nikon Coolpix camera body BEFORE it breakshttp://www.dpreview.com/reviews/NikonCP3100/Images/battcompartment.jpg

Here is a photo of Nikon Coolpix camera body ultimately brokenhttp://files.myopera.com/mcduret/blog/IMGP0065b.JPG

Here a user fixed the Nikon Coolpix camera body with a papercliphttp://www.uthunter.com/images/Nikonfix.jpg

Here a user fix the Nikon Coolpix camera with a tripodhttp://files.myopera.com/mcduret/blog/IMGP0070b.JPG

Here is how I fixed the Nikon Coolpix 3100 camera with epoxyhttp://usera.imagecave.com/coolpixfixer/

Here is a photo of how Nikon fixed the flaw themselveshttp://www.scaredpoet.com/images/E7600_batterydoor.jpg

I'll post a review of some of the other innovative solutions I've found
searching for a solution for my nikon coolpix camera with the notorious
Nikon engineering flaws.

Different camera, same problem, just used the handyman's secret
weapon.


Dave

 

[Jeanette Guire]

Here is an excellent set of photos of a Nikon camera repair for the
notorious nikon battery catch broken problem

http://members.aol.com/wmas1960/homepages/CoolpixRepair2.htm
Last Updated: January 15, 2004 by [email protected]

These photographs show a solution to a common problem where the battery
door on the Nikon Coolpix 990 pops open when the catch for the door latch
breaks. Other solutions involve some extensive rebuilding of the battery
compartment latch and may be more involved than an average person might
feel comfortable. Other solutions include sending the camera back to Nikon
for repairs which can take a bit of time and expense. This solution came to
me as a more simple way of securing the door with the least amount of work
possible.

 

[Jeanette Guire]

Different camera, same problem, just used the handyman's secret
weapon.
Dave

It looks like a LOT of Nikon cameras have this problem.
Here is someone defending Nikon saying it's just a single camera.
But, it seems to affect multiple cameras.
Why do they make cameras with such flimsy battery door catches which break?


From: Isaiah Beard <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: rec.photo.digital
Subject: Re: Nikon CoolPix 3100 failed expectations for battery latch lock
Date: Sat, 09 Jul 2005 09:33:07 -0400
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References: <LP4ze.1814$6%[email protected]>
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If the Nikon engineers don't even know how to engineer something as
trivial as a working battery door, can you imagine how badly Nikon
designs the hard stuff?

I think you're jumping to conclusions a little too much. Basing your
assessment of Nikon's quality based on a single product is a little
presumptuous. Even the best designers and engineers make mistakes
sometimes. And as I've illustrated, they seem to have learned from
their mistake in similar designs going forward.

Have you even tried contacting Nikon to see if they'll repair it?

 

[Joseph Gwinn]

Here's a new one - they fixed theirs with a brass staple to replace the
plastic loop!

Many years ago I had the battery door latch strike on an Olympus A16
flash fail. My fix was to fashion a new strike out of 0.060" thick
brass sheet, and to epoxy this piece of brass flat to the outside of the
polystyrene flash body. The piece was about 1/2 by 3/8 inches, with a
little ear off one corner acting as the strike. The 1/2 by 3/8 flat
area was to give adequate gluing area. I used ordinary hardware store
8-hour epoxy, had no problems with outgassing or melting plastic, and
the brass piece never came loose.

Joe Gwinn