[APML] Gas Purge for Pentax 6x7

[leakeysg@netscape.net]

Know that there has been interest by several people in adding a dry gas purge to Pentax 6x7 cameras.  My Pentax was in the camera shop for some other repairs, and the repairman pulled the bottom of the camera off this morning so we could take a look.  

There is a cavity between the bottom cover and the bottom of the light box.  A narrow ridge, maybe 4-mm wide and 7 mm high, runs along the centerline of the bottom of the light cavity in the direction of the main axis of the camera.  This ridge lies in line with the tripod threaded hole, and the accessory alignment hole closer to the back of the camera.  There are some small circuit boards and other electronics in the bottom of the camera attached to the bottom of the light box.  A drilled hole through the alignment hole and into the ridge and into the light box would not intersect any circuit boards or anything else, but would leave some debris floating around in the bottom of the camera.  (Some people have added something tacky to their drill to catch the chips.)  

The tripod hole is different in that there are about 6 small, individual, insulated wires that go across the ridge right above the tripod hole.  These wires are not tightly bound, so that one could probably drill through the thin aluminum tripod hole, then turn the drill off and sort of push the wires out of the way, and then turn the drill on again and drill through the ridge and into the light box.  It might even be hard to drill through the wires if one were trying, but...  Not sure how hard it is to get the bottom of the camera off, but will ask the fellow at the shop when I return in a couple of weeks.  That would make the drilling easy, which was the route we took.

I took a digital camera along to take pictures of the Pentax taken apart that would be a lot clearer than my description, but had the wrong type of disk in the camera and did not get any pictures.  (Similar to many of astrophoto experiences.)  May have an opportunity to take some pictures in a couple of weeks when I go back.  If you would like pictures, send a private e-mail and I'll see if I can get some.  

Thanks,
Lee Dodge
San Antonio, Texas
leakeysg@netscape.net


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