Canon PowerShot S500 Teardown

Teardown

Teardown

Teardowns provide a look inside a device and should not be used as disassembly instructions.

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My old Canon PowerShot S500 digital camera stopped working suddenly one day.

The camera would beep loudly and display an "E18" error code on the LCD when you tried to power it on. This code means the lens is stuck and won't extend/retract - this is a common problem with many Canon PowerShot cameras. I assumed some dirt or grit got inside and jammed up the lens.

Attempts to unjam the lens via external methods failed, so with nothing to lose I decided to take the camera apart and attempt to fix it.

The following photos show how to dismantle the S500.

(FYI the PowerShot S500 is a 5 megapixel camera introduced in Feb 2004)

Tools
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Add Note Edit Step 1 — Canon PowerShot S500 Teardown  ¶ 

  • Here are all the components of my disassembled Canon PowerShot S500, excluding the battery and screws.

  • The second photo show what the camera looks like before (and hopefully again after!) repair. (yes, I was able to put it all back together again!)

  • Follow along to see how to take apart and repair this camera, and to see what's inside...

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Add Note Edit Step 2  ¶ 

  • Using a small Phillips screwdriver, remove the screw on the top right of the back of the camera.

  • Remove the 4 screws on the bottom of the camera near the tripod socket

  • Remove 2 screws on the side with the USB connector cover (one of the screws is underneath the cover)

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Add Note Edit Step 3  ¶ 

  • On the other side of the camera, remove the 4 screws near the wrist strap mounting lug.

  • Remove the small metal plate. This will also free the Compact Flash door.

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Add Note Edit Step 4  ¶ 

  • You can now remove both the front and rear shells of the camera body

  • Thank goodness the camera body is held together by screws for easy disassembly! Many other Canon PowerShot cameras are constructed similarly.

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Add Note Edit Step 5  ¶ 

  • There's a small loose black plastic piece in the space beside the flash. At first it dropped out and I didn't notice where it came from!

  • Remove the plastic piece, noting where to re-install it later

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Add Note Edit Step 6  ¶ 

  • Here is the back of the camera without the shell. You can see the switch contacts on the flex circuit along the bottom. They're attached to the small metal plate that we'll remove in the next step...

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Add Note Edit Step 7  ¶ 

  • Remove the screw on the bottom plate. While we're at it, there are 2 screws on the side near here (2 circles at left). They hold the tripod socket to the side frame.

  • With the 3 screws removed, you can now gently lift off the bottom metal plate.

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Add Note Edit Step 8  ¶ 

  • Here's the bottom plate removed. There's still a flat ribbon cable connecting it to the camera...

  • You can see a small black microswitch on the right end of the metal plate. The switch detects whether the battery door is closed or open.

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