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

[SMS]

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?

The problem really goes back to the problem of having the battery door
be part of the battery circuit, and having the spring contacts of the
batteries putting constant pressure on the plastic door latch. Plastic
will fatigue, get brittle in cold weather, and isn't tolerant of even
momentary abuse.

I've fixed battery doors several ways, but I tend to stay away from
epoxy and cyanoacrylate glues, and of course duct tape. There is often a
way to insert a steel pin or section of a paper clip into the plastic
with some creative drilling.

Type "camera reliability li-ion versus nimh" into the Google search box,
and then click on "I'm Feeling Lucky." Click on "Advantages of Li-Ion
Batteries/Disadvantages of NiMH batteries (AA/AAA)" in the table of
contents, then scroll down to "Devices with Li-Ion Batteries are Usually
More Reliable." Good explanation--oh, did I mention that I wrote it?!

It's not just Nikon, other brands have similar problems, though Nikon is
especially bad because it's not the door that breaks, but the camera body.

Try to buy cameras that use Li-Ion packs, rather than AA batteries, as
they are more reliable.

 

[Kathy Bennett Schoendorf]

Try to buy cameras that use Li-Ion packs, rather than AA batteries, as
they are more reliable.

Problem is that the AA batteries are more reliable because if I forget to
bring them or if they run low, picking up another set of freshly recharged
batteries or brand-new alkalines is a snap.

The camera with a lithium ion battery pack is more often a brick than it is
a camera, in my humble experience - due to battery pack problems. I never
buy any lithium ion camera or any other device (telephone, miniature tv,
etc.,) if it exists with AA batteries.

AA batteries, in the long run, are vastly more "reliable" than any other
type of battery pack (when you include the down time when you don't have a
spare battery or a spare charger available).

 

[Al]

Problem is that the AA batteries are more reliable because if I forget to
bring them or if they run low, picking up another set of freshly recharged
batteries or brand-new alkalines is a snap.

The camera with a lithium ion battery pack is more often a brick than it is
a camera, in my humble experience - due to battery pack problems. I never
buy any lithium ion camera or any other device (telephone, miniature tv,
etc.,) if it exists with AA batteries.

AA batteries, in the long run, are vastly more "reliable" than any other
type of battery pack (when you include the down time when you don't have a
spare battery or a spare charger available).

I do the same. I only buy cameras that take AAA batteries.

And the same problem exists with laptops. Most are trashed because the
batteries fail and are no longer available either at a reasonable cost
or at all. I've saved a couple of discarded laptops by rebuilding the
battery packs myself. But I was able to do that only with the NiCd ones.
I don't even try with the Lithium ones.

Al

 

[Gary Tait]

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

I've done something similar to fix the battery door on a portable stereo.

I might do the same for my Nikon CP-5200 Iit apparently suffers from the
same plastic weakness but uses a different door style, so I cannot
effectively do the paperclip thing, whic is what I'd do if I had a 4200 or
other camera as depicted.

 

[Gary Tait]

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

Those with such a drill press will know what a roll pin is.
For the uneducated, a roll pin is simply a pin made up of a flat piece
of material rolled into a cylinder, rather that a solid piece of
material, usually steel.

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,

It is a two part device that each mounts to the tripod and the tripod
hole on the camera, allwing one to quicly remove or replace the camera
on the tripod. some happpen to conveniently get in the way of the
battery door.

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.

Autobody filler is a plastic resin (comes as a putty with a separate
tube of hardner agent; when you mix the two it starts a cemical reaction
which hardens the putty) that cures hard. After it hardens, you can
file/sand/grind/tool to the desired shape.

He says it's better than Bondo's method (who is Bondo?)

Bondo is a brand name of auto body filler. It could also have been
person also.

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.

Usenet is not one spot, and short term. A website of some sort is more
permanent.

 

[Gary Tait]

Problem is that the AA batteries are more reliable because if I forget
to bring them or if they run low, picking up another set of freshly
recharged batteries or brand-new alkalines is a snap.

They need charged more often, and/or you need more of them. On the plus
side though, you can use the batteries in other things, and if need be,
use standard alcaline AA cells, and for Li-IOon battery packs, you need
to get costly OEM packs (but do typically get one with the device), or
dodgy after market packs, and need the proprietary charger and/or
charging cable.

The camera with a lithium ion battery pack is more often a brick than
it is a camera, in my humble experience - due to battery pack
problems. I never buy any lithium ion camera or any other device
(telephone, miniature tv, etc.,) if it exists with AA batteries.

AA batteries, in the long run, are vastly more "reliable" than any
other type of battery pack (when you include the down time when you
don't have a spare battery or a spare charger available).

FWIW, my camera (nikin CP5200) has Li-Ion, and I have a "dodgy" spare
pack, and have had no problems with it at all. If I go away, I just make
sure I have both packs charged up.

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

They need charged more often, and/or you need more of them. On the plus
side though, you can use the batteries in other things, and if need be,
use standard alcaline AA cells, and for Li-IOon battery packs, you need
to get costly OEM packs (but do typically get one with the device), or
dodgy after market packs, and need the proprietary charger and/or
charging cable.


FWIW, my camera (nikin CP5200) has Li-Ion, and I have a "dodgy" spare
pack, and have had no problems with it at all. If I go away, I just make
sure I have both packs charged up.

I think the day of NiMH cells is past. The Li ion packs are so much
lighter, slimmer, and have so much more capacity (especially joules
per kg) that you`d have to be a masochist to want to go back for most
portable electronics. I think there are more-or-less standard sizes
(eg. for cellphones) and usually if there`s a market there`s a 3rd
party supplier (I have a couple spare packs for my DSLR and it will
take 3 li primary cells in an emergency).

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany