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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Hair Dry a Dead SDM Does Work (Again)!

Further to the last big discover for how to revive a dead SDM even the last method didn't work, I've seen this report lately which verifies that the new (escalated) method does work to bring back live again for a dead (stuck?) SDM! :-o

http://www.pentaxiani.it/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=49524&start=15#p678566

(Google English Translation Here)

Nice! Should Pentax should include these two methods into their service manuals of all the SDM lenses such that they need not to provide expensive quotations to the SDM users anymore for total SDM replacements and at least Pentax should try these low-cost repair methods at the first place instead! ;-D

Comments (5)

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it definatley has something to do with the heat expansion and cooling contraction of the contacts or the internal wiring as I have the same issue with my computer and I was on a forum where it seems this is typical for computers where the heat causes the metal to expand and then when it cools down the metal doesn't sit where used to.
I guess when you heat up the contacts the metal expands enough to make it work.
1 reply · active 695 weeks ago
I think it is about the change of status in the material(s) inside the SDM motor, instead of the electrical contacts, which should be stable enough.

But anyway, I still think that all the affected SDM users are pathetic, and ditto for all we Pentax users, for the case to continue to develop in this way but yet Pentax has not ever responded and come up with a true solution on this disgusting SDM problem, neither with a debugged design nor providing better servicing and support.
This is called reflow. It'll melt the solder to fill tiny cracks.
1 reply · active 695 weeks ago
I don't think it is a solder aging problem, unless the SDM really generates big heat but yet the solder used could not withstand that higher temperature.
A hair dryer wouldn't melt lead free solder, which melts at 300°C.
Stator and rotor are grinding against each other, leaving traces on the surface, the cheap sonic wave motor has a short life span, probably a quality problem. Had a Nikon kit lens with just the same issue.

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