Bauer Royal C 8E Makro TECHNICAL PROBLEMS

[emilastrand]

THE PICTURES DOESNT FIT THE FORUM, LEFT CLICK AND PRESS "SHOW" FOR THE FULL ONE

Hello,

Since it all went well when buying a Minolta Autopak-8 D6, working like a charm, i felt optimistic and bought this Bauer Royal C 8E Makro off Swedish Ebay tradera.



I got it cheap but the description said it was in extremely good condition.
The seller said when I mailed her, that it wasnt worn, working great, and looked like new. Yeah, it looked like new, but i discovered following problems:

1. The viewfinder was loose. When I tried to see what the problem was, it fell out. I tried to push it back in but it lost grip to the handle so if I push it in too rough I'm afraid I might damage it even more.




2. The rubber thing that is supposed to be attached to the viewfinder wont go on. There is a smaller rubber thing attached to the viewfinder that I managed to get off, but even then it wouldnt go on.



3. The 2 battery house is a disaster. Old batteries has corroded to a complete mess. When I opened it this white stuff just flooded out of it. I do not know if that's even possible to save. Looked through the manual to see if it was for some certain function, but I don't know. Do anyone know?





4. The battery house disaster could be why the camera isnt working, not even with batteries inserted to the other house, which seem to be in good condition.

5. The handle where you choose A, L, E, C seem to work but doesnt click when you point it at C. C = Cine which is needed for the 54 fps slowmotion. I suppose it's needed for the other framerates as well? Is this why the shutter wont go when I press the button?

So, with all these defects I think I'm kind of fucked, but if there's anything I can do to possible save it I will do it. My dad said I should pour some electric cleaning liquid (not sure what it is) into the battery house to see if it helps.

What do you think I should do?

[beamascope]

You'd probably be better off just putting this old gal on display. If you must try then first thing to do is get that battery compartment clean. Use something to scrape the powder/corrosion off the battery contacts to the point you see shiny metal. Throw some new batteries in and see if it works. If you get it working just grab a screwdriver and open the thing up to fix the viewfinder issue. You've got nothing to lose and plenty to learn by doing this. I have a different Bauer model which had an issue with the viewfinder. I couldn't turn it to adjust it for my vision. It only turned halfway and then stopped. I opened it up and was able to figure out and fix the problem. Might as well just go for it!

[emilastrand]

Yea, seems like it.. At least I have the original bag with it.
I used sandpaper to scrub most of it away when I didn't get any replies on this topic, it seems clean but its hard to reach inside with the paper. I did my best though and I got off some at least. After I sprayed it with an electronic liquid spray that's supposed to help against such things.
However, even with this and fresh batteries, it still wont run.

Im going to open it up to fix the viewfinder issue though anyway. As you say, I will learn, and I wont be scared to mess up my camera. Thank you for the reply!

What do you think about the rubber thing thats supposed to go on top of the viewfinder? It's very hard to actually see into the viewfinder without this one on.

Will save it anyway, for display as you said. Although, even if it is a collection, I want everything to work

Thanks again,

[beamascope]

Is it the viewfinder rubber cup/eyepiece you're talking about? If so it should have a groove inside that fits around a raised area on the viewfinder itself. My Bauer had no cup when I got it so I just took one off an old VHS camcorder and glued it on since it was a different shape. I wouldn't put it on until I had opened it up and fixed the issue with the viewfinder falling out. It should rest inside on a "gizmo" that will turn it so it can be focused. On mine you turn a thumbwheel which makes a lever slide. This lever goes into a groove on the viewfinder itself which makes the viewfinder move forward or backward depending on the direction you turn the wheel.
Now mine does also have a rubber pad like a headrest that partly encircles the viewfinder. It was just held on with double sided tape I think. Maybe that's what you're talking about?
I don't know if this helps but when I opened mine it was nothing but an old school circuit board and I thought "oh jeez" but I noticed there were several screws in the board. After I removed the screws I found the board was on a simple hinge and I could just swing it out of the way to all the mechanical goodies inside.

[beamascope]

Oh and it could just be that the rubber is so old and dried that it doesn't want to go on easy. People mention using petroleum jelly and things like that to soften it. Force it too much while it's dried out and it might rip.

[super8man]

I have one if you are interested in it...email me if you are: super8filmaker AT YAHOO DOT COM

Cheers,
Mike

[emilastrand]

LEFT CLICK, SHOW PICTURE FOR FULL IMAGE

Hello,

I have now opened up my camera. And I'm confident that there's NOTHING i can do to save it.



This is how the viewfinder looks. The thing laying on top is what is used to stick the viewfinder onto its current position. As you can see the thing where the screw goes down on top is broken. I am able to screw it down though but it is instable if you want to change it. But if I screw it back together correctly, will it work then? I will try that.

However, this is the worst problem:



The lower right part is pretty much covered in green/blue-ish stuff, seems like fungus to me. Maybe this is why the batteries wont work, since it seems like the cables running from the battery houses is connected to this very spot. I will give you a closeup:



I have no idea if I can do anything at all about this. The part above this part, aka the shiny metal in the upper right corner I've discovered that around the sticks there's some gooey brownish stuff. Doesnt look too bad though. Seems like it's the stuff they used to stuck them with.

Anyhow, is it worth continuing with this thing?


Regards,
Emil

[mattias]

sounds like you're having great fun so maybe it was worth it, but why on earth didn't you send it back?!?

[emilastrand]

Well, I got it for 10 euros plus an additional 5 for the shipping, when I told the seller that it wasn't working as said she sent me the 10 euros back that I paid for it, and I got to keep the camera. So the choice was pretty simple, and now I'm just looking for ways to revive it! It's a nice learning process too, if it cant be saved i will just disassemble and reassemble it. Hah!

But still, is there anything I can do about the stuff in the latest picture? I'm thinking about this cleaning liquid for electric machines...

[beamascope]

Radio Shack makes a spray tuning/electronic cleaner but I'd be amazed if it even put a dent in that green stuff. My guess is the blown out batteries leaked into there over time. There are things that clean battery corrosion pretty well. Coke, baking soda and so on. I'd do a google search before I poured coke all over it though :lol:
Taking it even further apart would be the best plan and sanding that stuff off the metal parts. With the cost of Super 8 though I'd be hesitant to run a roll through it even if you do get it working as I would question it's reliability from now on. Everything you do from now on will get you that much closer to being a professional Bauer Royal C technician! 8)

[emilastrand]

Haha, yeah, true that... I probably wont : D But I guess I could take it apart even more and get it as clean as possible! I'd learn a bunch at least!

Haha, yeah, send your bauer cameras to me!

[super8man]

That corrosion is from the batteries...could even be from different types of batteries being mixed (alkaline and non-alkaline). Good luck.

[emilastrand]

Thank you everyone for your replies, but I've given up on saving this one. The screws wont even go back in place when I try to reassemble it. They just fall out, wont fit (and yes, i'm using the same and correct screws)!

But thanks anyway! Maybe i will take it apart even further just to look at it... hmm

[super8man]

I have two bauers I could sell you! Just let me know.