Fixing a Nikon D80 with err problem

[200Volts]

GREAT write up. It worked fine on a D80 I fixed.

Problem with a second D80 --- I shorted the capacitor to something during discharge. It blew the grey wire off at the circuit board above it. Good news is the shutter is fixed, LCD on top works, but:
Rear LCD not working (was not in camera when short occured).
No pictures are stored on SD card.

Any suggestions? The shutter count is only about 1k so the camera looks new and I'd like to salvage it.

 

[fatigue]

GREAT write up. It worked fine on a D80 I fixed.

Problem with a second D80 --- I shorted the capacitor to something during discharge. It blew the grey wire off at the circuit board above it. Good news is the shutter is fixed, LCD on top works, but:
Rear LCD not working (was not in camera when short occured).
No pictures are stored on SD card.

Any suggestions? The shutter count is only about 1k so the camera looks new and I'd like to salvage it.

Discharging the flash capacitor

This step is very important.

It looks like the DG board is damaged

 

[Sticks221]

A massive thank you to Fatigue for this amazing tear down and Paul Nyholm for the idiots guide - I had all but given up on my trusty D80 after getting this error but I'm very pleased to say that by following the great instructions it's all working again!!

I'd like to add however that my issue was slightly different in that the mirror did move ever so slightly and with repeated pressed it would eventually move the whole cycle but still show -Err-.

My issue turned out to be the tiny cog on the end of the motor shaft had split and was slipping. I simply removed the cog, cleaned and abraised the shaft with sandpaper, dropped some superglue down the centre and popped it back on. I put a 3volt power supply on the motor (orange-live, blue-neutral) to test and voila!!

 

[200Volts]

Discharging the flash capacitor

This step is very important.
It looks like the DG board is damaged

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Is the DG board the open that us next to the capacitor, in an up-down orientation?
I think the reason I shorted it is because I tried to discharge it with an analog multimeter, but the positive pin of the cap shorted to the cap top (metal)via the multimeter probe. The tool you show in the photo has plastic(?) on all but the very tips, so it won't short to anything.

 

[fatigue]

--------------------------------------------------------

Is the DG board the open that us next to the capacitor, in an up-down orientation?
I think the reason I shorted it is because I tried to discharge it with an analog multimeter, but the positive pin of the cap shorted to the cap top (metal)via the multimeter probe. The tool you show in the photo has plastic(?) on all but the very tips, so it won't short to anything.

The defective part will depend on where the power from the capacitor was discharged.
It could be the DG board ( the biggest board in the camera) or it could also be the power board.

An analog multimeter cannot be used to discharge a capacitor. At voltage setting, the impedance is too high. At Current setting, the impedance is too low.

As for my tool, it's a simple resistor insulated with a shrinking tube.
The DG PCB is the biggest board in the camera.
Although it could also be the power PCB

 

[cancunia]

A massive thank you to Fatigue for this amazing tear down and Paul Nyholm for the idiots guide - I had all but given up on my trusty D80 after getting this error but I'm very pleased to say that by following the great instructions it's all working again!!

I'd like to add however that my issue was slightly different in that the mirror did move ever so slightly and with repeated pressed it would eventually move the whole cycle but still show -Err-.

My issue turned out to be the tiny cog on the end of the motor shaft had split and was slipping. I simply removed the cog, cleaned and abraised the shaft with sandpaper, dropped some superglue down the centre and popped it back on. I put a 3volt power supply on the motor (orange-live, blue-neutral) to test and voila!!

Hi, my D80 has similar symptoms. Sometimes it'll take pictures and cycle through the sequence several times, other times I just get the 'Err' display. Did you by any chance take pictures of what you did?

 

[cancunia]

Does anyone have a link to a supplier that has the gear wheel for sale? I did have a link to DH camera, but they no longer stock the item. I'd like to get my D80 fixed so think I'll get this part first.

Thanks

 

[200Volts]

Thanks fatigue!
I opened it back up. I can measure 7.8V (battery voltage) going into the small board behind the small shield (Power PCB?).
BUT, the red and black out wires to the capacitor board (descrete wires under camera) show no voltage (with power switch on, or off).
So I'm guessing this small board is dead. Please see photo/attachment.


Thanks again !!!!

The defective part will depend on where the power from the capacitor was discharged.
It could be the DG board ( the biggest board in the camera) or it could also be the power board.

An analog multimeter cannot be used to discharge a capacitor. At voltage setting, the impedance is too high. At Current setting, the impedance is too low.

As for my tool, it's a simple resistor insulated with a shrinking tube.
The DG PCB is the biggest board in the camera.
Although it could also be the power PCB

 

[Battle Rattle]

Last post was almost a year ago and I am sooooo grateful I found this thread. I attempted to fix my wife's D80 following these steps and when I got to the gear it was indeed the plastic rivet that was broken. I took off the tiny screws of an old pair of sun glasses and fastened the metal brushes to the gear.

Sadly mistakes were made...

When putting the gear back on I inserted it and with my finger rotated the gear so that the arrow would be in the center of the window aligned with the other arrows... This created a problem I would not detect after a very long while... After assembling the camera, I noticed the top LCD was not showing anything and the power switch was not turning on the camera... I reopened it to check all my cable connections. After checking all the connections, I closed everything back up and when inserting the battery had a green LED light on the back turn on. Top LCD was working and I decided to take a test photo. I pressed the shutter and this caused the mirror to remain in the up position blocking the view from the viewfinder when taking pictures. However,the error was gone and the camera was cycling properly.

I reopened the camera after deciding that it was the gear. Got all the way back to the gear and... (I was tired, please excuse my fleeting intelligence) Rotated it again with my finger to align the arrows. Closed everything back up and took a picture, the mirror locked up again in the up position..... Got upset and called it a night.

On Day two I reopened the camera and got alllllll the way to the gear again and this time I pulled it out. Lowered the mirror manually THEN aligned the arrows and then inserted the gear. Closed everything back up and the top LCD had no signal and power switch had no control. Reopened checked all connections closed up. Bulb Err. Reopened checked connections again and found a green wire from the bunch the goes from the top of the camera to the left side (looking at the read display) floating freely, I looked at where the other connections are going and noticed there was a solder spot under the black wire with a + on it. I figured It broke off from there and resoldered it back on.

Now the problem I am currently facing and where assistance is required is that when I insert the battery no green LED turns on on the back side and when looking at the top LCD, as soon as I insert the battery it shows the battery being read and then I am greeted with [-E-] in the lower right corner. I have not powered up the camera because I don't trust myself in soldering that green wire to that spot.

Please help me.

Wire Picture

 

[msgd80]

Discharging the flash capacitor

This step is very important.

It looks like the DG board is damaged

Hey Fatigue, Im new to this and the discharging of that capacitor..would I be good to use a multimeter to discharge?
Or is the resistor you mentioned the easiest and safest for a newbie?
I saw some on radio shacks website but didnt know once I got it, how to make it work like you have in the pic you posted. From the pic it looks like you are about to touch the 2 wires at the top of that battery looking capacitor with the 2 wires in your hand there

The catalog item for the resistor on radioshacks website is Catalog #: 2711121, the Clubsnap site wouldnt allow me to post the link.

 

[speedy]

Were you ever able to figure this out? I just finished replacing the gear on mine and when I got it back together it have the exact same symptom you indicated. I'm wondering if I had the gear lined up incorrectly or if it's something else I missed.

Well, I also have the same problem.:
"This time however I hear what sounds like 3 shutter/mirror cycles. After cycling, the arrow no longer lines up (which I can see just by removing the bottom plate). Is that expected? I can also visually see the aperture stuck at random stops after cycling."
Have you managed to fix it eventually and how? It has been a while according to dates on forum posts but clarification here may be useful.

 

[speedy]

I found this thread quite helpful. I did this gear contact fix gluing it back to plastic gear. But now my D80 still blinks err message. When pressing shutter, it will make ~3 shots in a row. I have tried tens of times aligning the shutter-mirror gear arrows as shown here, im sure i've done it right but no use. Before (with broken gear) it did only one shot, sometimes left mirror in upper position, but usually not. Now the mirror will stop in random positio, rarely in bottom position. Also menu functions for sensor celaning are not active. Any ideas? Could it be worn motor brushes as shown on previous page?

same thing here - have you fixed it then and how?

 

[200Volts]

The -E- might be cleared once you cycle the shutter.
Soldering the green wire should be easy. If in doubt, take your multimeter, set it for resistance (Ohms) and check for shorting to the adjacent pads (I think it should read "1" or open/infinite resistance). If the multimeter reads 0, then inspect for solder shorting/bridging to an adjacent pad. Wick up excess solder with solder braid is best. Never leave a soldering iron on a pad for more than 6 seconds - and you will likely be OK.
Also, when re-assembling the camera, be careful in the battery compartment - as some of those wire can be pinched by the plastics going back together. This will make it hard to get the battery OUT, and you'll see some looped wire at the plastic seems.

 

[mjmpiano]

Great post! Really informative. I'm about to try fixing my D80 in the same way that is exhibiting exactly the same problem. The problem I have is that I'm on a work assignment for a few months away from home so I don't have my soldering iron with me. I notice that you unsoldered the aperture control unit. Do you think you could have repaired the camera without using a soldering iron? I don't want to try, only to discover 80% of the way through that I need my soldering iron.

Has anyone else tried repairing their D80 and managed to do it without using a soldering iron?

Look forward to your reply.

Exceptional disassembly post, than you!
The first time I did this without unsoldering, managed to get the gear out, wires stretched to the limit...but, when done, there was a tiny black donut/spacer left over, no idea where it went ,reassembled just for drill and it failed differently. Next time through I only unsoldered the single black ground wire on the bottom, made it so much easier. The little donut thing was a cam follower for the grey gear, there are two of them.

 

[DMC12]

Well the last post is from 2019, I hope somebody and particularly "Fatigue" will read my entry.
I have four D80 repaired by myself (black motor pinion changed and mechanic encoder pinion brush fixed)
On the last one I have repaired , I really paid attention to place the grey mechanic encoder in the right position after having fixing it as I exactly replace it in the position where I have found it (camera never been fixed before)
Unfortunately for me all of them doesn't work as they still show the "ERR" message.
I am a skill DIY guy and the repairs hasn't been difficult for me , that's why It's really frustrating to get to this bad result particularly after having seen all those videos where success is the norm.
I have tried every thing , lens no lens , reset , cleaning lens contact, etc..
I hope somebody has encountered the same situation and will be able to help me.
I register on your forum, because here in France it's very hard to find similar forums.
Sorry about my English , I look forward to reading answers very soon.

 

[DMC12]

I forgot to ask you the following as advised in the D80 REPAIR MANUAL:
How to perform a "RESET AF-DEFOCUS COMPENSATION" as advised when separation of front and rear body is performed.
This could be the reason of my problem .

 

[nightwolf75]

Well the last post is from 2019, I hope somebody and particularly "Fatigue" will read my entry.
I have four D80 repaired by myself (black motor pinion changed and mechanic encoder pinion brush fixed)
On the last one I have repaired , I really paid attention to place the grey mechanic encoder in the right position after having fixing it as I exactly replace it in the position where I have found it (camera never been fixed before)
Unfortunately for me all of them doesn't work as they still show the "ERR" message.
I am a skill DIY guy and the repairs hasn't been difficult for me , that's why It's really frustrating to get to this bad result particularly after having seen all those videos where success is the norm.
I have tried every thing , lens no lens , reset , cleaning lens contact, etc..
I hope somebody has encountered the same situation and will be able to help me.
I register on your forum, because here in France it's very hard to find similar forums.
Sorry about my English , I look forward to reading answers very soon.

you can find Fatigue on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/david.hilos he may not come in here often nowadays. you can try reaching out to him on Facebook? good luck!

 

[DMC12]

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I am not a "Social media "fan . I will try to contact him with some friend's help.
Anyway I hope somebody else from your community has been confronted to the same problem and will be able to help me .
It's strange to end up with the same problem on 4 cameras .

 

[fatigue]

Well the last post is from 2019, I hope somebody and particularly "Fatigue" will read my entry.
I have four D80 repaired by myself (black motor pinion changed and mechanic encoder pinion brush fixed)
On the last one I have repaired , I really paid attention to place the grey mechanic encoder in the right position after having fixing it as I exactly replace it in the position where I have found it (camera never been fixed before)
Unfortunately for me all of them doesn't work as they still show the "ERR" message.
I am a skill DIY guy and the repairs hasn't been difficult for me , that's why It's really frustrating to get to this bad result particularly after having seen all those videos where success is the norm.
I have tried every thing , lens no lens , reset , cleaning lens contact, etc..
I hope somebody has encountered the same situation and will be able to help me.
I register on your forum, because here in France it's very hard to find similar forums.
Sorry about my English , I look forward to reading answers very soon.

I haven't logged in for a long time
For Nikon cameras, "err" with be displayed for any fault, either mechanical or electronic. Unlike Canon, where the camera will display "err" followed by 2 numbers (3 numbers if using service software) which is more specific to flag a particular fault. This means it's more difficult to diagnose Nikon cameras.
Unless you have the Nikon service software ( similar to OBD in cars), then you will be able to pinpoint the problem root cause.
The reset af compensation is feature 1in the service software. Its more for AF accuracy so I don't think that's the problem.
Don't ask me where to get the software

 

[DMC12]

Many thanks for your answer and sorry to have bothered you .
I am happy as I have succeeded in fixing my 4 D80.
A bad connection of one of the FPC to the Main PCB unit was the culprit.
I haven't been a good DIY guy as I have repeated the same error in wrongly connecting this FPC on all my D80 hence the same result on all of them.
Anyway , problem sorted out .
Thanks again for your help.