How to fix a Canon SD750 with intermittent flash problem
Symptom: the camera is working fine without flash, but when you need the flash to take pictures, it won’t work; only the flash icon keeps blinking.
There is a cold solder on the flash unit. You may need a small tip for soldering.
CAUSTION: The flash unit has high voltage circuit. Be careful with electric shock when operating.
Remove all the screws around the camera and open it.
Remove this screw and take off the top portion.
(click on pictures to enlarge)
Peel off the tape.
Discharge the capacitor by using a 1K OHM / 5W resistor. Use a volt-meter to make sure you have discharged the capacitor totally.
Disconnect the LCD backlight cable and remove the screw on the side of the flash unit.
Take out the flash unit.
Click on Figure 4 and enlarge this picture, you’ll see the cold solder. Re-solder the inductor, solve the intermittent flash problem.
What do you do next. This explanation seems incomplete. I have a Canon sd800 that is soldered to the mother board. Is there anything special about re-soldering it to that board? I am pretty much a novice who wants to learn hoe to do these things. Thank you.
@Gerald Hancock
In my case, the intermittent flash problem caused by the cold-solder inductor, so solder the inductor will solve the problem.
Your SD800 may not have the same cold solder. I would like suggest you to check the power to the flash unit first. If you don’t get power to the flash unit, check the fuse on main board (sorry, I don’t have a picture to show you where the fuse is). If you get power to flash unit but the flash not working, you need to replace the flash unit.
@xscrewdriver
Thank you very much. That was most helpful. I am in a pretty high learning curve, but having fun trying to figure out things. Thanks again for your quick response.
THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!! For the longest time, I thought the problem lies with a bad battery and subsequently, I stopped using the camera. And I was almost ready to throw the camera away and buy a new until recently I decided to check online for a solution. Your solution helped!! I am very very grateful! I like taking things apart but always felt these new devices with tiny circuit boards are impossible to repair. Thanks to you, I was able to fix this under a dollar (for the resistor to discharge capacitor vs having to buy a new camera at around $150).
Your instructions were very simple and easy to follow. I was able to discharge the capacitor easily. The tricky part was removing the flash unit. The re-soldering took a bit of patience (I used a regular size solder gun) and help of magnifying glass. After that, the reassembling was easy. A quick test and everything works like brand new!!
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!