I have tonight added a new gallery to complete the Halina A1 Reflex renovation I completed in August of 2023. The gallery can be found by using the links in the margin or by clicking HERE.
Negatives on light tableNegatives on light table
As I don’t have the correct mask for my scanner I have had to go about getting the photos on the site in a peculiar way. Firstly I take pictures on my phone and then invert them to get a positive image, an action that I discussed in a previous article that was posted HERE.
Please don’t expect anything too fantastic, it was a test roll and mistakes were made, but a lot of enjoyment was had getting the results.
For many this is old news and pretty much everyone involved in electronics is aware of this problem that swept through the industry in the mid to late 2000s. Chances are you may have such a unit in your home that has either luckily survived the issue to still be working, or may well be not working and assigned to that part of the house (Normally the loft) where it left until the day you move premises and visit the local tip.
Those of us that number a great many who like to tinker and repair old machines and equipment from this era are still seeing the back end of this issue to this day, its fairly easy to deal with and those that especially work with old computer motherboards and graphics card notice issues the most, its an interesting back story and ill try to cover it as best as i can in this post.
What is a capacitor?
A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy by accumulating electrical charges on two closely spaced surfaces that are insulated from each other. It is like a little battery but thats where the similarities end, as a capacitor distributes energy in short bursts rather than a battery that is distributing power linearly. Originally known as the condenser, the capacitor is used within a circuit to add capacitance to that circuit.
Capacitance is the ability of a component to store an electrical charge – (Simple version)
What was the issue?
The issue was with Electrolytic capacitors produced between 1999 and 2007
The origins of the issue was with the use of water based electrolytes developed during the late 90s. These capacitors using this type of electrolyte were found to be exceptional components when used in power supply circuits. The problem was that the water based caps produced aluminium oxide when reacting with the capacitor “Can” and that reaction was Hydrogen. The Hydrogen built up until the stamped vent on the top broke. Resulting in a failure within the circuit.
It was only in the mid 2000s when the plague really set in, some of these capacitors would have had hundreds of thousands of hours of use and even though they would have passed initial testing protocols they were doomed to fail, and that just so happened to be in the mid 2000s.
The Blame game
It was around this time with exceptional failure rates on certain items and claims being raised against major players in the electronics industry that deeper investigation took place.
Findings
The cause of the failures was due to a mis-copied formula, in 2001 a scientist working for a major corporation that made these type of capacitors stole a mis-copied formula for the capacitors electrolytes. He then took this faulty formula to another company. That same year the scientists staff where he previously was employed left that company, again with the stolen formula and started their own company in Taiwan producing immense amounts of faulty capacitor electrolytes.
No one was ever really brought to justice for the failures, no one company ever really came clean over the issue, the tech companies tended to absorb the cost of repairs and the end result was probably that the consumer paid in the long run…nothing changes there then!
When this started to occur, many individuals in the industry jumped on the band wagon to repair these items, many selling capacitor kits for certain brands to allow those who were willing, to make their own repairs.
Today the issue still occurs but it is not so prevalent, older circuitry does still throw up some classic blown capacitors and these are fairly simple to replace, some smell quite fishy as well, so sometimes a good sniff of a circuit board can alert you to a blown capacitor…very strange!
The radio has been received see here: Not just Dead….Fully dead and if I can’t get it going, I have at least brought a very tidy storage box.
What surprised me when first opening up this radio was the immense amount of boards and circuitry inside, I must admit I took a gulp at this and questioned my reasoning for purchasing the item. However it’s all a learning curve and I have to start somewhere, gone are the days of simple circuits on traditional radios (with big components).
Roberts blutune circuitry Roberts blutune power boardRoberts blutune circuitry
I arrived home from work and sat myself down in the conservatory surrounded by test devices for about 4 hrs until I totally overloaded my self with information, creating more questions than answers, i decided to give up for the day and further research the potential faults for this unit via other sources.
To me the power board seems fine, power is going where it should, there appears to be no short circuits or component damage however in places there does seem to be some signs of leakage so I may have some components that need replacing or maybe it’s just remnants of flux and stuff left behind after initial construction.
Blutune board under microscope Blutune board under microscope
None of this can be seen by the naked eye but it becomes apparent after being placed under my new toy an Andonstar microscope viewer. It’s at the entry end of the range but it is already becoming a game changer for me, due to my failing eyesight.
Andonstar AD106S
Copyright Andonstar
Further investigation appears to highlight an inherent issue with this range of radios when they just seem to stop working (probably why Roberts ceased production).
Generally the power board isn’t an issue, it all focuses around the display board where a controller to the screen has failed or the amplifier chip has failed, hooray I say! And then I find out both components are about the size of a grain of rice… Boo I say.
I have no experience at all in components this minuscule in size, but if I can’t get to the root cause and eliminate all other possibilities I will give it a go. In the meantime fault finding will go on between other jobs and this will continue to be a job in progress that will be revisited and updated as time goes by.
The plan short term is that I’m going to borrow a thermal camera and check if there are any hotspots under electrical load. You never know I might just find something.
I shall comeback to this project at a later date.
Thanks for passing by. Stay safe, be superb. You’re a star 🌟
I have just brought this inoperative Roberts Dab Blutune T2 digital radio off of EBay for £8 (GBP). I managed to barter the price down a bit from £12 and I was quite pleased with myself for doing that.
Roberts Blutune T2Roberts Blutune T2
So today I have received the package. A lovely little item cosmetically in good condition with the only external damage being that the speaker cover has a tiny tear in it , and the very tip of the aerial is broken along with the plastic stop that secures it when in the down position….no real issue, all easily dealt with.
The concern is the label on the top of the unit. Fully Dead!
Roberts Blutune T2
So what’s that then? Is there an in between? Some sort of purgatory for audio systems, or is it a way of saying that someone has ensured it will never work again?
Well, I’ll get the back off tomorrow and have a rummage to see what’s in store for me. Maybe my bartering of the price has meant the seller has removed all internal contents so that I now have a nice “Empty box”.
I just love some of these descriptions sellers use, makes me giggle and wonder what was going through their minds when they decided to sell an item that is fully dead.
Maybe there is just different grades of death that I was just not aware of.
The Bilora Radix 56 camera circa 1950 has arrived today and the condition is for once very close to the original description that I read on line prior to purchase. Makes a pleasant change to be honest. No big surprises this time.
I’ve broken the whole camera down to its smallest parts, I love to do this as it gives a good insight into how the camera was originally put together. It’s lovely to see some good old mechanics instead of a plethora of electronic components. Only one piece of wire on this camera and that’s to the flash synch on the side of the body.
I’m going to clean the winding mechanism, get rid of the old oil deposits and re lubricate. I’ll also do this with the workings on the base of the camera that allow only one of two available exposure settings. That’s a “B” exposure or an auto exposure of 1/50-1/60 of a second. Not much use with the faster films that are available today. Focal length of the lens is 38mm 5.6 – 16.
The shutter works fine, I’ll probably maintain that with some graphite when I’m in there, the lens seems free of fungus but I will dismantle this anyway to clean the optics within.
Radix 56 base workingsRadix 56 lens removal Radix 56 lens faceplateRadix 56 broken down in a sweet box
There is rust on the backplate, and this will need removing, I’m planning on sanding this down priming and repainting and a new skin will be put on the body. There are only 4 small pieces on this camera so this shouldn’t be an issue. Some lubrication, spotting and a good Polish will then hopefully complete this refurbishment.
I’m considering purchasing a second Karat cassette so I can sell this on as a complete camera. I may even try it out myself someday with a small length of black and white film.
Pop on back to see a post for each stage of the refurbishment.
Thanks for visiting, you know it is much appreciated. Thank you.
In my search for the unusual have come across this fine specimen that I have purchased for less than the price of a fish and chip dinner.
Remember the battle between manufacturers back in the days of Betamax and VHS? Well this is the film makers battle between Agfa and Kodak, with Kodaks 35mm winning out. The Agfa cassette (known as Karat) was 35mm without the spool and you needed two cassettes to use these cameras. I have one here and hope to be able to use it at sometime.
I like this example as the metal is not too pitted. There is rust but I can work on this, the covers are damaged but this can be replaced. I might go for a totally over the top refurbishment or may keep it as close to original as possible. I’ll make that decision once I can check the optics and shutter.
You can find out more about these cameras at the following link: Camera wiki .org
Phew, the donor camera arrived costing me the grand total of £3 sterling. It was badly damaged and I was doubtful that it would be any use due to its state.
Donor camera board
However the pcb area and the lcd screen looked ok and after much cursing and burning of the fingers whilst de soldering and re soldering I put the battery in and there it appeared as if by magic…all clicked and clunked as it should and the battery indicator appeared on the screen.
New pcb and screen Repaired Minolta Dynax 5000i
I put the case back together and secured all the buttons to the frame and then connected the lens. Turned it all back on and hey presto all working fine. Focus’s well, flash works as it should, all counters and indicators doing what they should.
I’m happy with this camera now, just going to give it a wipe over and I now have a super little SLR for my collection. Will run a film through it when I get the time.
I can now say this camera is complete and in perfect working order.
Job done👍
(As an aside to this repair, the original owner was so surprised I got it working that he has asked if he can buy it back? That would be rather cheeky of me so I’ve just asked him to refund the cost of the battery and the damaged donor camera. He wants to get back into analogue photography, everyone’s a winner here, and a camera destined for the bin gets a new lease of life.) I’m happy 😃 👍
Well that’s annoying. I’ve stripped down the Dynax 5000i and found a terminal diagnosis for the power PCB and display screen.
There is a short circuit, severe corrosion from an old battery as well as the display screen being damaged where some of the fine contacts are destroyed rendering the unit useless at this stage.
Strip downStrip downFaulty board
Ok. I can strip down to individual parts, gain another 150 or so new screws and some parts that I may be able to use or sell on – or I can be a total numpty. I’ve decided to head down the numpty route and purchase a donor camera to repair this one. I’ll still get a load of spare screws following this route.
Faulty board and screen
I’ve purchased a unit, it has cost me next to nothing and fingers crossed I can get one of them working and gain some spare parts for future use. I didn’t really want to pay out more but I take issues like this as a challenge and I’m committed to get this up and running.
My wife calls me gullible, what would she know bless her 😂
I’ll let you know exactly what arrives when the postman pays a visit.
I have been waiting for some leatherette to complete this camera. I had some left over from my last project so why not use it here?
BeforeAfter
This is a lovely looking camera that I fell instantly in love with, great design made of tin pot metal basically and uses old 127 film.
It has been completely stripped down and rebuilt and is a lovely specimen in my eyes.
Bilora Bella templates for leatherette
I have today made templates for the new skin and these have gone on lovely.
Bilora Bella complete Bilora Bella complete front and rear view
So for now I’ve done all I can do on this little beauty, it will now be vacuum packed with silica gel and put into my collection for use at a later date maybe when I get a roll of 127 film. Been a pleasure working on this camera, she’s taught me plenty and I am already putting that to use. Knowledge is king 👑
Now I’ve reached a point that I can now say, time to wrap this job up and put it to bed.
Today I watched a program on TV and a guy actually restored an old camera, he fitted some new leather to an old Kodak camera and it seemed relatively easy. Now I always try to do things the difficult way and look for perfection in every thing I do, that’s my down fall at times as I can sometimes set my personal barriers too high. Perfect is good but not always achievable, sometimes you just have to do your best, what more can someone ask of you?
What I’m getting at here is that this is a task I have been putting off, putting more time into planning what I’m going to do rather than just getting on with it. As I’ve stated a number of times on this blog, you only learn by your mistakes and as this is my first time doing this task, I’m just going to do my best and learn – knowledge is king 👑
After removing each old worn piece of leather, I made a template. Using a glue stick I was able to position the templates on the leatherette trace around it and then cut out using a craft knife and scissors.
Leatherette templateHalina A1 Reflex top viewHalina A1 Reflex left side minus fittings
I shouldn’t have worried as the whole process went really well, the leatherette was easy to manipulate and cut well. The one learning point is that in the future I will source a punch to do the circular pieces that went on the external wheels as it’s a bit cumbersome trying to cut perfect circles with scissors, though not impossible.
Halina A1 Reflex side on viewHalina A1 Reflex right sideHalina A1 Reflex left sideHalina A1 Reflex rearHalina A1 Reflex front view Halina A1 Reflex right sideHalina A1 Reflex top viewHalina A1 Reflex bottom view
I am really pleased with the new leatherette, it’s totally changed the look of the camera. The fact it is clean and lenses are functional and shutter works as it should is testament to the hard work I’ve put into this camera. I plan to run a film through it shortly as I do have a couple in the fridge at home for this purpose.
BeforeAfter
Today I’m looking at cleaning the case and polishing it up. I doubt I will do much more than that and then I can put this project to bed. Once the case is done I will put final pictures up here on the site.
A quick run through….
Once again thanks for dropping by. You know it’s greatly appreciated 🙏
Foxes Den 
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