I would first try to see if I could fire the flash off the camera to
determine whether it's a flash problem or body/flash contact/control
problem.
If the flash is proven to be the culprint you might try the repair
procedure outlined in this 1995 email that follows. Watch out for the
flash capacitors.
Chuck Norcutt
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Newsgroups: rec.photo.misc
From: j...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Jim Cathey)
Subject: XA Quest
Date: Sat, 7 Jan 1995 16:11:32 GMT
Organization: Olivetti North America, Spokane, WA
Message-ID: <D21MB9.C1s@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Lines: 56
Another member of my Olympus XA collection! I found in a camera store
an A16 flash (stronger than the more common A11) marked at $30. But,
when we tried it out it didn't seem to work, so I was able to get it
for $7. (Had it worked I would gladly have paid the $30.) I
disassembled it and found one of the wires to the neon flash-ready
light had broken off the PCB, and soldered it back. It then seemed
fully functional. (It had seemed broken because we didn't actually
try it on an XA, we had just tried listening for the squeal. The shop
was noisy and the flash was able to get initially charged up
unnoticed. It stayed charged because we never tried firing it, so
when we later played 'phone' with it [hello, hello!] we couldn't hear
anything. And, no light. Conclusion: broken!)
The quest is (I hope) over. This is the third flash, to match the
third XA body. That pair cost me $57 total, bought over-the-counter
in downtown Spokane. (I was only looking for a second XA/A11 to serve
as a spare in case the one I normally carry was lost/stolen/broken. I
had already found a lone XA for $50 when I came across a broken XA
paired with a functional A11 for $35. I now had my spare, but since I
was able to fix the XA [detailed in an earlier posting] I was again
one flash short!)
Anyway, to justify this rambling here's how to disassemble an Olympus
A16 flash: You'll need a very small phillips screwdriver, and some
rubber cement for re-assembly. (I have a good set of jeweler's
screwdrivers that works well for this.) Remove the batteries and then
peel off the rubber bumper that goes between the flash and the camera,
exposing four small phillips screws (and an adjustment pot). Remove
the two screws that are towards the back end of the flash. (They are
arranged in two pairs, you'll take out one of each pair.) The back of
the flash should lift away, pivoting around some plastic latch hooks
on the other side (the flashtube end). Be careful that the popup
switch/light assembly doesn't get away from you. There's a plate with
two pins sticking out of it that has springs on each pin that push up
the switch. This can slip out from under a flash capacitor (there are
two) and shoot away if you're not careful. It's more-or-less stable
as it sits, but fumbly fingers (like mine) can knock it loose. Once
the back is off the battery connector can be slipped out (you'll need
to push the contacts down to get it out) and the back is then
completely free.
Inside is a small PCB with a bunch of parts on it, and two flash
capacitors. You'll see the neon bulb wires, which are a weak point
since they have to move. You may now perform any needed repairs! :-)
Assemble in reverse order. Use some dabs of rubber cement to reattach
the rubber bumper. Don't gum up the adjustment pot!
--
+----------------+
! II CCCCCC ! Jim Cathey
! II SSSSCC ! ISC-Bunker Ramo
! II CC ! TAF-C8; Spokane, WA 99220
! IISSSS CC ! UUCP: uunet!isc-br!jimc (j...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
! II CCCCCC ! (509) 927-5757
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
On 6/5/2012 10:20 AM, NSURIT@xxxxxxx wrote:
> I just loaded new batteries in my XA and A 16 flash and the flash doesn't
> want to work. Never had any problems with battery leakage, etc. Any ideas
> as to what might be wrong and/or possible fixes. Bill Barber
--
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