Nikonos Synch Cord - Pins Stuck

[Manuel Sam]

Hi.

Has anybody been successful at pulling out the three spring-loaded pins that are stuck inside at the small connector (the one that connects to the camera)? I inadvertently pushed them in while checking continuity and now they won't spring back out.

I've tried tweezers, needles and dental picks with no success.

I would imagine that it costs more to send it in for repair than to buy a new one - that's why I haven't looked into getting it repaired.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Mariozi]

WD-40 delivered on a drop at the end of a toothpick, a continuous light tapping on top of it with the tip of the toothpick, and pray. Might take a while, even some days...

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

AFAIK, they aren't repairable. I tore a dead one apart, and I didn't see
anything that indicated that they were.

Single cord or double cord? Single cords should be REAL CHEAP on e-bay
or whatever. A lot of folks bought two strobes, and a double cord, and
the singles never got wet. Doubles are getting more difficult.

There used to be a Boston-area Underwater Photographic Society. I think
they went by NEUPS. Do some googling. If that doesn't work ask
on uw-photo or wetpixel

 

[Manuel Sam]

Thanks.

Just a single. B&H has the synch cord for $90 and change. The best I've seen in ebay is $44 used. Not a huge diso**** as far as I'm concerned: might as well buy new.

What I do see a lot of in ebay is people selling the whole NikV camera set up or maybe the whole strobe set up - they probably wouldn't want to sell just teh cord, which is understandable.

No, never heard of a NEUPS - I know there is a NYUPS. I don't dive locally (brrrrrr) so I don't meet too many in the local diving community.

 

[John Gulliver]

There's a guy called Joe Swaney who has an e-bay shop and sells good used Nikonos stuff. I've bought several sync cords from him, all excellent, some apparently never used. I can give you his e-mail address if you wish.

 

[JackConnick]

I would try soaking it in alcohol, sometimes you can rinse off corrosion. Maybe pop them out with a toothpick or something soft. I would NOT use WD-40 on anything going in or near salt water. It attracts salt and turns very gummy. Light silicone spray or silicone grease only.

Jack

 

[Manuel Sam]

John G. Sure, send me the email address, please. Thanks.

Jack: thanks. I'll try the alcohol with a dental pick. If that doesn't work, then I'll try the silicone spray and then maybe the WD-40 as a last resort

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

If it's corrosion, he's eventually screwed electrically. I think he pushed them
too far inside and they are either stuck (I'd whack the connector on the palm
of my hand real hard) or popped out of their tube (he's screwed).

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Wait a minute. The pins (spring-loaded and not) are in the CAMERA, not
the CORD. And there's only TWO spring-loaded pins in the camera, not
THREE.

 

[Manuel Sam]

Hi Chuck,

Thanks. Here are my observations.

On the Nik V side, there are two spring-loaded short pins and three rigid pins (1/8" long, thereabouts).

On the synch cord small connector side, there are two pads that contact those two spring-loaded pins, and three spring-loaded pins (the ones that I pushed in too far) that contact the three rigid pins.

If the keyway is at 12:00, then the three rigid pins on the NikV side and their corresponding spring-loaded pins on the synch cord side are at approx. 2:00, 6:00, and 10:00. The two spring-loaded small pins on the Nik V side and the corresponding pads on the synch cord side are at approx. 4:00 and 7:00.

Because the Nik V side has those three rigid pins sticking out about 1/8" or so, it is conceivable that they will still make contact with the three spring-loaded pins that I pushed in too far and the strobe will still work with the Nik V. (I haven't tried this)

Except that I'm no longer shooting the Nik V but shooting a DSLR in a housing instead. The bulkhead connector on this housing doesn't have the same three corresponding rigid pins as the on Nik V but three pads instead. Those three spring-loaded pins on the synch cord that I pushed in too far make contact with these three pads. So with the three spring-loaded pins on the synch cord stuck inside, there is no contact made. Hence my dilemma.

BTW, when I did the synch cord continuity check, I had no continuity on one of the pins - that might explain why I couldn't get the strobe to fire. So for all intents and purposes, the synch cord may be dead, and as you indicated, the thing cannot be repaired and I may be screwed anyway.

But you can probably relate to the fact that most of us like to tweak and tinker if there is even the slightest glimmer of hope that we can rescue something back to health.

Again, thanks for your help.