How to repair 1mm of latch plastic on Nikon CoolPix AA bat..

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Is anyone else missing 1mm of battery door latch on your Nikon CoolPix
camera?
How did you repair this fragile latch?

I just love my Nikon CoolPix 2100 because it uses two AA batteries and
a compact flash! I'll never do without those two conveniences ever
again!

Alas, the battery door on the CoolPix 2100 latches across a tiny 1mm
plastic "bridge" which snapped off after about a year of use. All I
have is two tiny 1mm plastic nubs sticking out (like a gap-toothed
kid).

Currently, I scotch tape the battery door closed. But it seems like a
terrible waste of a perfectly good camera for lack of a 1mm piece of
plastic to hold the battery door closed.

Has anyone overcome this broken battery-door latch problem?
How did you recover it (there's precious little for crazy glue to grab
onto).

I'd hate to have to give up the supreme convenience of the AA batteries
and compact flash by buying another camera when this Nikon CoolPix is
otherwise fine for my needs.

HELP!

 

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Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

rustydustin@yahoo.com wrote:
> Is anyone else missing 1mm of battery door latch on your Nikon CoolPix
> camera?
> How did you repair this fragile latch?
>
> I just love my Nikon CoolPix 2100 because it uses two AA batteries and
> a compact flash! I'll never do without those two conveniences ever
> again!
>
> Alas, the battery door on the CoolPix 2100 latches across a tiny 1mm
> plastic "bridge" which snapped off after about a year of use. All I
> have is two tiny 1mm plastic nubs sticking out (like a gap-toothed
> kid).
>
> Currently, I scotch tape the battery door closed. But it seems like a
> terrible waste of a perfectly good camera for lack of a 1mm piece of
> plastic to hold the battery door closed.
>
> Has anyone overcome this broken battery-door latch problem?
> How did you recover it (there's precious little for crazy glue to grab
> onto).

I have used some Velcro. Works wonders.

>
> I'd hate to have to give up the supreme convenience of the AA
> batteries and compact flash by buying another camera when this Nikon
> CoolPix is otherwise fine for my needs.
>
> HELP!

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

 

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Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

rustydustin@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> Is anyone else missing 1mm of battery door latch on your Nikon CoolPix
> camera?
> How did you repair this fragile latch?
>
> I just love my Nikon CoolPix 2100 because it uses two AA batteries and
> a compact flash! I'll never do without those two conveniences ever
> again!
>
> Alas, the battery door on the CoolPix 2100 latches across a tiny 1mm
> plastic "bridge" which snapped off after about a year of use. All I
> have is two tiny 1mm plastic nubs sticking out (like a gap-toothed
> kid).
>
> Currently, I scotch tape the battery door closed. But it seems like a
> terrible waste of a perfectly good camera for lack of a 1mm piece of
> plastic to hold the battery door closed.
>
> Has anyone overcome this broken battery-door latch problem?
> How did you recover it (there's precious little for crazy glue to grab
> onto).
>
> I'd hate to have to give up the supreme convenience of the AA batteries
> and compact flash by buying another camera when this Nikon CoolPix is
> otherwise fine for my needs.
>
> HELP!

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.

A bit fiddly, but if needs must, you can do it.

Colin

 

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Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Colin D wrote:
> rustydustin@yahoo.com wrote:
> > Alas, the battery door on the CoolPix 2100 latches across a tiny 1mm
> > plastic "bridge" which snapped off after about a year of use. All I
> > have is two tiny 1mm plastic nubs sticking out (like a gap-toothed
> > kid).

> 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!

 

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Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 17:50:40 -0700, rustydustin wrote:

> Is anyone else missing 1mm of battery door latch on your Nikon CoolPix
> camera?
> How did you repair this fragile latch?

A similar problem manifested itself on my Kodak DC215 some time after the
expiration of the warranty. I got in touch with Kodak with a view to
buying the appropriate spare part to fit myself, and was
pleasantly surprised by their offer to repair it free of charge, including
using DHL courier both ways! ISTR Kodak acknowledged this problem as a
design fault.

Give Nikon a ring, particularly if you're in Europe and therefore
protected by European consumer law.

Best Regards,
Alex.
--
Alex Butcher Brainbench MVP for Internet Security: www.brainbench.com
Bristol, UK Need reliable and secure network systems?
PGP/GnuPG ID:0x271fd950 <http/www.assursys.com/>