sticky – Foxes Den

Toshiba Camileo X400 Camcorder

Let’s have a look at a non functional Camcorder from 2011 that appears to have bathed in molasses as it’s so sticky. Can I get it working once more? Why not?

What the listing stated:

It has not been tested but outside case is sticky.
Would recommend for spares and repairs only

EBay

Not one of the finest quality camcorder cameras out there, but for £7.00GBP, I’m not really complaining. This camera appears to have a battery included, it has no charging equipment or anything else included, but I’m hopeful there’s not too much badly wrong with it. However as this is a platform for repairing old knackered equipment, hopeful there is something that we can get our teeth into that is sufficiently suited to this platform. All I can currently gather from the listing is that this a bit sticky, and those of you who follow this site will know that stickiness, especially on cameras is not an issue that has caused me any problems previously. Hopefully the issue is a little more than just stickiness, and as this listing has the classic EBay “Get out of jail free – seller not tested” claim, then there could be absolutely anything and everything wrong with it, we will just have to wait and see.

Here’s a little bit of background for this camcorder.

Toshiba’s CAMILEO X400 Full HD camcorder offers 1920 x 1080p video capabilities, 23X optical zoom, and other great features for taking great video and making great memories.

No matter what you’re looking at, the CAMILEO X400 Full HD camcorder takes jaw-dropping video in 1920 x 1080p resolution. You’ll be able to capture all the color and clamor of that Fourth of July parade, or your daughter’s first soccer goal. And with the 23X optical zoom, you’ll see the big smile on her face, too.

Want to follow your baby as she takes her first steps? Follow your friends as they head up that mountain trail? Record your Jeep ride across Africa’s Serengeti plain? Go for it. The image stabilization capabilities on the CAMILEO X400 Full HD camcorder ensure your ensuing creation will be hunky-dory, not herky-jerky.

Video trimming on the CAMILEO X400 Full HD camcorder makes editing easier by letting you cut out a section of the video from the front, back or both–plus start and end the video at any point you wish. What’s more, with a built-in pause button, you can stop wasting storage space and reduce file clutter by recording multiple scenes into a single file.

Your son just learned to surf and caught a nice point break for a good long ride. Want to freeze the frame for pictures you can share in an album, email or hand out to friends? Do it without interrupting the video. Simply press the Photo button* on your CAMILEO X400 Full HD camcorder and your surf dude will be immortalized forever.

Features:

1920x1080p Full HD resolution video

23x Optical zoom

3″ swiveling LCD monitor

5MP CMOS sensor

4.7 x 2.1 x 2.4 inches

Weight 300g

Toshiba

Well, to be honest that has to be one of the worst background write ups I’ve read, and in reality the tone of it doesn’t fill me with confidence, all that talk of “Dudes” and “Hunky dory and Herky Jerky” my god, who do they let write this stuff? This camera didn’t stand a chance to be honest right from its release date in late 2011.

So, let’s forget the awful promotional write up, and just like true “Dudes” try to find out what is actually wrong with the damned thing.

Assessment:

It’s arrived and to be totally honest, it’s in a right poor condition cosmetically. Very poorly packaged, I suspect the seller couldn’t wait to get it out of the door. Here are two of the better looking pictures.

As soon as you pick the unit up, the stickiness the seller wrote about becomes obvious. It’s as if this camera has been immersed in a vat of molasses, it’s super sticky and if you review the close up pictures below you will see this unit has obviously been involved in some sticky situation, in places it is still wet, with liquid clearly visible, however that liquid is in a super sticky state of suspension.

The battery is in place, I suspect it is dead but it will need to be tested, thankfully the battery contacts are clean and luckily it appears that no liquid has managed to reach these areas.

Before I even start to look at anything with this camcorder, a very thorough clean is the order of the day. It’s not going anywhere, and I’m not doing anything with it, until it is in a more presentable and workable condition.

I like to use a disinfectant spray when taking on a job like this, in fact I use it on most of my old cameras especially those that have an old musty aroma. The disinfectant has cleaned this unit up very well removing all of the old stickiness and residue. I finish off with some polish and a cloth and the beast has now been cleaned and is now in a much better condition to start looking at where the problem may lie.

A good clean and it looks like a different unit

Well, to be totally honest the unit is kind of dead. There is a minimal voltage in the battery and when I find a suitable charging cable and install it, there is not a great deal else occurring. There are some lights, but they are not doing what they should be doing, I’m expecting lights to flash whilst charging, and a solid light when charged. However this isn’t happening, so let’s move on to what we are going to do to try and resolve this issue.

Repair:

For the moment I’m going to focus on the battery. We need power, so we do really have to start here, we can’t diagnose or do anything without some power. It’s a 3.7v Li-ion cell, and the camera can charge via a 5v USB supply. I’ve managed to locate a suitable charging cable from that drawer of collected cables that “may come in useful one day”, that we all seem to have stashed in our homes. When the cable is plugged in you should get some intro music from the camera, and I do. This should then be followed by a flashing light that should remain lit until the battery has sufficiently charged. However I manage to get about two flashes from an amber light and then that’s it… nothing else. So far it’s positive that we have seen some life, however we need to see if we can encourage this battery to take a little more charge.

These batteries though rated at 3.7v usually charge up to 4.2v at full capacity. I’ve just measured this one with a multimeter and it currently sits at 2.64v. In the world of batteries this is severely depleted and to be totally honest looks as if this battery is dead.

A fully charged 3.7V nominal battery typically reads 4.2V, with 3.7V-3.8V being the average voltage during discharge. A 3.7V Li-ion battery is considered “dead” or fully discharged when its voltage drops to 3.0V to 3.2V.

While many protection circuits cut off at 2.5V to 2.75V to prevent damage, discharging below 3.OV frequently will significantly reduce the battery’s lifespan.

2.64v This battery is more than likely dead

And it looks as if this may have occurred here. It’s looking as if the battery is a dead one.

However, I’m going to see if I can rejuvenate this battery by putting a trickle charge through it, just charging it in the camera from a USB 5v power supply. I will monitor regularly for changes in temperature or other issues. I don’t have a spare around at the moment so if I want to do some basic checks on the unit I’ll just have to give it a try.

So after 3 hrs we’ve only been able to get about another 1v of energy into this battery, and as you can see we are only just into the battery depletion range. We have sufficient power to start the unit up and see a welcome screen, the zoom works. It’s clearly visible that there is a low battery indication on the screen and then it all shuts down again.

There is just not enough life in this battery to sustain a 30 second video, the battery is just so worn down that I believe it is beyond resurrection. I may have to purchase a new battery to finish off this section of the post. It’s good though that we have tried, rather than just give up, and this has also allowed us to review what we have found out about the process, and the good news is that at this point it, is looking as if it is purely an issue with this battery.

The camera has cleaned up lovely and really looks like a nice piece of kit. For the moment I will put this post on pause whilst I await a replacement battery.

But…. Me being me, and not wanting to spend too much money at this point, I have persisted with leaving this battery on trickle charge. It has been consistently monitored to keep an eye on it, and I must admit neither the battery itself or the charger has been hot or even warm throughout this entire process, that is good.

Seeing that about 4 hrs ago the battery indicator on the screen was only showing two green bars, it is now showing four bars and that indicates it is now fully charged. Let’s get the multimeter back on, and check to see what the current battery charge is and see if that gives us an indicator to show if the nominal charge has now been achieved, I’m quite excited at this – I’m easily pleased and excitable in equal proportions – I have a feeling that with patience and persistence we may have well just cracked the issue. So what is the current voltage of this battery? Well, here it is….

4.14v

Well, I’m very pleased with that, not only has it charged fully it appears to have reached pretty much full charge beyond the nominal charge. I’ve probably saved this battery from the trash heap, but I guess it will be more of a backup battery for me as I will probably purchase a new one, for my main battery, now though, there is no rush as it looks as if this one has been rejuvenated.

I’ve put a 32Gb SD card in and the screen is indicating 5 hours and 54 minutes of recording time, however on a full battery and using the minimum of activity (Not using Zoom and other effects) you can normally squeeze two hours of recording from the battery. But I’m never going to be filming war and peace, and I’m probably never going to get that kind of usage from this battery. My best bet with this battery is to not let it deplete totally, and try to keep it in a charge cycle were it doesn’t dip below about 25% of its capacity if I can help it.

I’ve tested all settings and everything is just fine. The touch screen is responsive and all setting and special effects can be easily accessed. There is nothing else wrong with this camcorder.

At this point I am now happy that this camcorder is a fully working and very capable little unit, that should serve me well as I use it to make videos for my YouTube channel and WordPress site. Repair is complete and successful.

Result:

This little camera cost me £7.00GBP and it’s been a fantastic restoration as such as it has not cost me a penny more than what I have paid for it. All I have done is invest time, done a lot of reading up about the intricacies of Li-ion power supplies, and done an awful lot of cleaning as this unit was probably one of the filthiest pieces of kit I think I’ve ever worked on.

A video, of me, videoing a video of me videoing

The camcorder is now a totally different looking camera from that which I received in such a sorry state just a few days back.

I’m going to use this camera myself for little items that I will be publishing here as well as on YouTube. It is so wonderful to see old unused and unloved items, repurposed and given a new lease of life.

Another one saved from landfill.

Thanks for passing by, as always it is very much appreciated.

Sticky, Rubber camera grips

Anyone who has had an 80s/90s/00s camera through their hands would have experienced this at some point. During this time period many if not all camera manufacturers went through the phase of putting rubber hand grips on their cameras. Aesthetically pleasing, and ensuring a good grip of your new “Expensive” toy. I guess, they thought they had got it right. But as with all these good ideas they often come back and bite you right on the bum at a later date.

Ok there were probably no recalls regarding this issue, it’s just affected the price of these goods on the second hand after market, and more than likely a perfectly good unit has most probably gone to landfill for no other reason than “Feeling sticky”

Let’s look into the reasons why this occurs.

It’s pretty much down to a process called Vulcanisation. Vulcanisation is a chemical process that hardens rubber by cross-linking polymer chains, making it more durable and elastic. This process, often using sulfur, heat, and other additives, transforms natural or synthetic rubber into a material with improved properties like resistance to heat, cold, and deformation.

However after many years, the process begins to break down, this causes the rubber to become sticky and in some cases the rubber just breaks down causing traces of rubber dust all over the place. Add to that the normal oils from fingers and palms and the stickiness then becomes highly noticeable, and makes for a very unpleasant experience.

We can’t stop the progress of the degradation, we can however do something about the sticky state, maintain good quality and make the use of the item as pleasurable an experience, just as it was when first purchased. Many believe the stickiness is down to the way the item is stored, and it not being used on a regular basis, as there is plenty of evidence out there of similar aged cameras not suffering from the issue at all, as they are used daily, namely by professional types where these cameras are tools of their trade.

It involves some work, and patience. I am writing this post as I have 8 cameras that i am currently working on, all Nikon D70/D70S and they all have this problem, and they date from 2004.

I use a process that you will easily find on line, the most simple process and it involves using a substance called Isopropyl Alcohol, my one is 99% pure, (also known as rubbing alcohol) I don’t think the purity of 99% is essential but i use it as i have plenty of it around, what with all the circuit board work i do, and the cleaning they also require.

Some people have had results just using a dry cloth and no chemicals, patiently rubbing and rubbing, some for a few hours at a time, until all the mess is removed. If that’s the way you wish to go then fine, i haven’t got the time for all that, i’ll be talking you through the way i do it below, with a chemical.

My technique is simple, lint free cloth and some cotton buds are all that i use, along with a tissue wipe (Such as armoral, or a car cockpit cleaner solution with a dry cloth) and a cocktail stick to finish. The reason for the wipe will become clear at the end.

My Guinea pig for today is a Nikon D70 I have requiring repair. It is a particularly “Sticky” individual and will be a good candidate on how to deal with this sticky situation. This is the process I use on all my equipment that has rubber such as this as part of its structure. It’s worked for me for many years, some people say that it will need doing again after a short while, that’s never been the case for me, and there are a number of documented cases on line where six years after this treatment has been done, there is no repeat of the initial problem. The rubber remains good.

Using a small amount of IPA on a lint free cloth gently wipe the area of concern and you will see the stickiness start to lift, it looks like a glue.

Make your way around the whole camera paying particular attention to those really sticky areas. The IPA evaporates really quickly so you get to see results really quickly. If after one try the stickiness remains then try another application. A good indicator is that when you use a fresh part of the cloth, you see less dirt come off with each application. When you put an application on and come away with a clean cloth, your job is done.

The cotton buds are used for getting into those inaccessible crevices you can’t get into with the cloth. As before as they stay cleaner and pick up less dirt your work is done. All this cleaning and moving about of dirt sometimes transfers the dirt into creases and joins between the rubber and the camera body, this is what the cocktail stick is for, to get into those small gaps and scoop the dirt and debris out. Complete with a final application of IPA in this area and the dirty work is now done.

Now earlier I mentioned about using Amorall wipes or a car cockpit cleaner. Sometimes this process can dull rubber, as you have just removed the layer that was providing the gleaming glory back in the day. You can’t have it all your own way but a good quality interior dashboard cockpit cleaner really does add some shine and life to that old camera and really does do a good job of restoring it. I use Auto Glym interior shampoo on a lint free cloth and apply this by gently applying all over the exterior of the camera. It is now exceptionally clean. A quick rub over with a dry cloth once this is dried and what more can I say? This is a different camera, looks stunning and has lost all trace of stickiness and dirt. Now it has that extra layer of protection as well, it’s now a pleasure to behold.

This little task probably took just over 20 minutes to achieve and gives so much satisfaction to me as you can see a cameras appearance change in front of your very eyes, and anyone can do it. No camera deserves to go to landfill just because it has this sticky exterior, it’s simple to do and can revitalise an old and much loved camera.

The finished item – stickiness now a thing of the past

I hope this has helped with dealing with the stickiness issue, if you ever experience it. I have even heard reports that a good quality window cleaner can also give similar results, but I’ve never tried it, so there really is no excuse if you have a camera in your ownership needing similar attention.

Many thanks for passing by. You legend👍

Something to be getting on with..

The batch of cameras I purchased the other day, all old SLRs / DSLRs have now arrived… with a bonus.

I was expecting 10 cameras but I’ve trumped that with 12 and a lot of spares as well. The guy I purchased the Nikons from has thrown in two more D70 as spares, with loads more spare parts. He was having a clear out so I guess he’s funneled that stock my way…thanks old chap.

So I have received today

One Canon 5 SLR – stuck mirror, missing some small Connection covers and like a lot of these old cameras has a sticky rubber covering that was well known back In the day.
One Canon EOS 50E – damaged curtain, faulty lock and again sticky.
One Canon EOS 1000F – cosmetically sound no other visible issues.
One Canon EOS Elan 2 – cosmetically sound, just sticky.
Two Nikon D70S DSLR – missing battery covers and some other small accessory covers, both sticky.
Six Nikon D70 DSLR – all missing battery covers, or other accessory covers, one missing a CF card reader and all sticky.
And two sizeable bags of D70/D70s spares

I’ll be starting with a good clean to get rid of that stickiness and then I’ll power each up individually to see what other issues lie in wait. I’m hopeful I can get most of them up and running, I’m confident that the majority of the DSLRs will be repairable.

I’ll feature the repairs once I’m in a position to donate the time to them. I’m a busy boy at the moment what with work and the wife’s growing list of things that need doing around the house.

Features:

Assessment:

Repair:

Result:

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