Canon AE-1 shutter problem. Not Battery, not electromagnet

[Andrew K]

HI

AE1's are also prone to cracked tracks on the ciurcuit board that goes over the prism. They dry out and crack for no reason, and this can cause the shutter not to fire. Get a multimeter and check the tracks that run over the prism for continuity - follow the tracks that run over the prism until you find a point you can put a multi meter on - from memory you may need to use the IC pins as a test point on the left side.., and there are points on the right side you can use. When you find a track that is not working run a jumper wire between the 2 points and try the shutter..

It has been 20 years sine I repaired these at Canon, but the worst one I ever saw had to have jumper wires installed before it would work....

Also if you have a second A series that works swap the release magnets over and see if that fixes the faul - cleaning the magnets does not always get them working again..

Cheers

PS - be careful when taking the top cover off a AE1 - if you break the tungsten wire you may as well throw the camera out, as you can't get replacement wire anymore (and from memory they are a pain to adjust..)

[Markster]

Well I'm confident... but not THAT confident.. I'll leave the top cover on for now.

Good point about the cracked wiring, though.

Also, with the testing of the magnet coils, do I have to unsolder it? Can I just touch a lead to one of the fine hair-width copper wires leading to the coils? Or perhaps touch a lead to one of the soldered connectors on the board just to the left of the magnet in the pictures I posted above?

I have some circuit testing stuff (not the best, but it's something), I'll play around with it. Thanks for the tips!

[John Koehrer]

I'd unsolder one lead from the coil just to take it out of any circuitry.
I have a tungsten wire assy or two but I think they're increasing substantially in value

[Pierssy]

Hi I wonder if someone would comment on a recent situation that I have had with my lovely A-1. I had the same problem as stated here, the shutter was opening but not shutting agian until the power was switched off. The camera had been unused for over a year. I spoke to the guy I brought it off and he said yes he thought it was the magnets and if I posted it to him he would have a look at it for me, which I thought was great. He has now returned my camera saying that it has a plown cable that runs to the magnets that look like a short. I have tried the camera and the shutter no longer works at all. Is it possible that he has attempted to repair it with the battery still in and shorted it?