Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Long story short, I melted the rear D-Pad main control dial on my 2 week old A6000 juuuuuust enough to make it not turn or be able to click/use as a d-pad, camera seems fully functional otherwise.  Sony help is of coarse worse than totally useless in providing assistance to me for fixing this myself.

 

I've found this video online which is exactly what I need to do;

 

 

The part number in the video doesn't match up to the part numbering at http://www.mtcservice.com/ which is where I can source the part from if only I had a part number.

 

I guess my question is 1) does anyone know the Sony part number for this piece and/or 2) anywhere else I can find this part in Canada?  A bit of googling around has gotten me nowhere.

 

Another thought I had was to take the button out and file down the melted bit that's rubbing against the case but figure if I'm in there anyway, may as well just replace it.

Thanks!

Link to post
Share on other sites

An update on my issue;

 

Gave up on trying to find the right part number so sent the camera in to the Ontario, Canada repair depot that Sony uses.  Sent it in and they received it Friday and called me this morning to authorize the $50.- 'look at it fee' and will get back to me in 48 hours as to cost of repair.  If I chose to repair it, the $50.- goes towards the repair, if I chose not to then I also pay shipping to have it returned.  Have to say I really don't like this as I'm kinda at the mercy of the repair center and what they charge for the repair, it's an unknown cost.  Once I approve the repair they say it could take up to two weeks to repair and send back to me as long as Sony has the part(s) in stock, and it's on my dime to pay for return shipping once complete.  If Sony doesn't have the part then it's an unknown as to the time of return.  My cam is an A6000 so I'm confident the parts are readily available.

 

I compare this to Canon repair, something I've used twice in the past, one for a top dial that stopped 'clicking' and the second time was for a used lens that I bought online that turned out to be decentered.  Canon charges a flat rate - the top dial was a $125.- repair at the time (2010-ish if memory serves) and that INCLUDED return shipping and took all of 3 days (consumer level camera, not CPS) from when I sent it in and it was back in my waiting hands, and the decentered lens was $150.- and took 4 days total and included return shipping in the cost.  Much prefer the flat rate charge, no surprises, no stress, very quick and fast turnaround.  Can only imagine if I was CPS how quick it would be - overnight?

 

Will update what my cost is for the button replacement when they call me.

Link to post
Share on other sites

What is a D-Pad Button and how did you manage to melt it?

 

The D-Pad button is the main dial on the rear of the camera.  Melted it by being careless.  I took the SD card out of it to copy files to my computer and instead of putting the camera body on my desk, I set it on my space heater and the button melted.  Why I put it on a space heater and not a desk is a smack my forehead blonde moment, makes no sense.  And totally my fault.  As a test and for comparison, my 'good' Canon camera is an 80D and I have my 50D still that I haven't touched since getting the 80D so for an experiment, and since a used 50d isn't worth much, thought I'd sacrifice the 50D in the name of science and put it LCD screen side down on the space heater mimicking what I did with the A6000 for half an hour to see if it would melt and guess what?  It did not melt.  Other than being very warm it was totally fine.  Not happy with the A6000 build quality so far.  Will be taking the A6000 with me on my winter vacation in Jan so it will see a fair bit of use from the beach to hiking in the mountains and everything in between so that will be a better test of how it fairs.  If it fails on me it's getting thrown into the Pacific ;)  One repair is enough.

 

I did hear back from the repair centre.  Before sending the camera in I did call their parts department asking for a replacement d-pad/switch control block and they said there isn't such a part listed.  So I send the camera in to them and guess what they said needs to be replaced?  You guessed it, the d-pad/switch control block.  Hope you all see the humour in that.  Part is about $40.- adding in labour, tax and return shipping totals about $185.-  Add in the $12.- it cost to ship the camera to them and that was a $200.- error on my part.

 

It's a bit more than I think a Canon repair would have been but not totally out of line.  I mean, you'd think that parts and labour to replace such a thing would be $125-150.- so it's not unreasonable albeit maybe a bit much.  Lets call it costing on the high side.  Will comment again when I get the camera back as to how long it took.  I *KNOW* if I sent my Canon in last Thursday I'd have it back yesterday or no later than today.  If I get the A6000 back by end of week or beginning of next week I'll consider that acceptable considering all the horror stories there are out there of Sony service.

 

Cheers!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Anyone who intentionally attempts to destroy a part of a perfectly good, functional camera (in the name of science) is indeed functioning at a different level than most of us.  May I ask, just what would you have done with the information had you melted the Canon?  See if Canon would repair it more rapidly and less expensively than Sony?  My recommendation is to move your space heater out of reach.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Anyone who intentionally attempts to destroy a part of a perfectly good, functional camera (in the name of science) is indeed functioning at a different level than most of us.  May I ask, just what would you have done with the information had you melted the Canon?  See if Canon would repair it more rapidly and less expensively than Sony?  My recommendation is to move your space heater out of reach.

 

Haha, good point!  As per the 50D, I bought it new back in 2009 and it's been sitting for a year and a half just collecting dust now so it's value to me is minimal.  If it did melt it would have gone up for sale as-is with a melted button.  Believe me, my 80D would not have been used for this experiment, I love that camera!!!  I can be a bit carefree but not stupid (melted button notwithstanding ;) )

 

After looking at the rear dial part of the D-Pad button thing (that's the plastic that melted) it seemed like it was a similar grade of plastic as cheap dollar store toy packaging, like it was extruded really thin.  On the Canon the dial part seems like it's a much denser type of plastic, MUCH heavier and solid.  If the Sony dial was made out of similar plastic I'm confident it would have been fine too.  The 4 little buttons surrounding the dial seem like they are made of a denser plastic and were perfectly fine, just that ridged dial melted and it's definitely cheapo plastic.  Just one of those deals, woulda coulda shoulda, even overlooking being a dumbarse and sitting it down on a working space heater and not the desk, if by chance I set it on it's base and not lying it flat on it's back this would have been a non-issue for sure.

 

Cheers!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, you've read about the quality of service (or lack of I should say) about Sony servicing and hope you never have to rely on it and now I know why.

 

Got my A6000 back after 2 weeks and as I'm setting it back up the way I like it, I notice the PLAY and C2 buttons are totally mushy and not operable and the dial on the back (the part that I melted) isn't sitting flush.  Back to the repair centre my camera goes.  Idiots didn't even test it after putting it back together.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...
  • 5 years later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...