BC Error repair on a EOS 1N film body mirror magnets also fixes EOS 1, 3 

Woa brilliant! I never thought of that!! Hopefully others will see your comment! Thanks!! :)

Great Think... worked for my 1v as well-thx for the magnet hint; luckily I had a disassembled HDD at home :)

Yes someone else just told me they tried this recently and it worked! Maybe it was you on another one of my vids. Thanks for sharing this info with us!! :)

Woo hoo glad it worked!

it works. sometimes. if your shutter is bad, it won't. if it's mirror return, it will

Hey glad it helped!!

Miquel Jover Woo Hoo that makes me so happy to hear! I love that these are being rescued!

Woo Hoo glad to hear! =D

Haha nice! Whatever works!!

Jon Woodbury Cool I'm glad it helped!

Hey glad it worked!! =D

Glad it helped!

Perfect so happy to hear all these cameras getting recovered!

Cool glad to hear!!

Woo hoo glad it worked!

Great glad it helped! :)

+Héctor Max Alvelais Lassmann NICE!! glad to hear!!

Andrew Gronow NICE! So great to hear these cameras are getting saved!

***** Oh great man I love hearing this! Thanks!

YES! Andrew thank you for this. I've scoured through so many message boards and this is the best and quickest solution I found. Took me about 30 seconds and fixed my camera instantly. I'm sure Todd's video is correct in his solution but this solution is so quick and easy. Thank you!!!

Ya Kyhui8 also just messaged below saying he used a powerful magnet on the area and it also worked!! :)

Glad it helped!

Hey glad it helped!

Hey glad it helped!!

Cool glad it helped!!! =D

Hum sounds like just a bad case of magnets. Some others have commented on here that they have held earth magnets to the are and it worked. I haven't tried it but that might really help move things around inside...

Woo hoo glad it worked!

Hum the 1V is and entirely different build then the 1N, 1, 3 cameras. I'm not sure but make sure all your contacts are clean. The 1V very rarely breaks..

+James Gornell Hum check your custom settings to make sure nothing is switched and also make sure your pins are clean on the mount that the lens couples too. I have had many bodies that just wiping the pins gets the AF working again.

Some have cut the little white box open and cleaned it out or you can do an entire tear down and replace the part. But since they sell for pretty cheap on ebay now I would much rather buy a new one.

Hum I'm not really sure. So the camera is now working but still get that BC error.... Have you cleaned the lens mount contacts as well? That is common to give a BC Error... If no then I would guess a low battery or something is wrong with the camera. Try clearing the custom settings.. Let me know how it goes.

I am going to reply to myself - the mirror lockup was a feature and I turned it off from the custom settings. and the spring was from the opening mechanism of the back door.

Oh perfect I was going to say its just a custom setting mirror lock up but glad you found it. I was stumped about the spring but glad you figured it out! :)

+Sean Hetherington If you just bought it and can return it then I would say do that. If you try this method it might work for a while but the problem might come back again. Unless you got a really good deal...

Hum yes the only proper way to do it is to solder the large mess of wiring. You could try cutting the ribbon and hard solder the new one on but its a large and finicky process and although I have done it in the past I don't suggest it. Its a ton of work. Personally for a 1N I would just use the viewfinder LCD instead. A shop will charge at least $150 which you can buy another camera for on ebay. I'd personally just shoot it with the viewfinder LCD until the camera dies.

Scott Drohan Woo Hoo thats what I like to hear!

Ya I fire off a few hundred clicks in burst and if the problem continues its most likely shot. You can cut the white box open and clean it with electronic contact cleaner but its a big job. As well replacing it is a big job. If I get cameras in this condition I just sell them on ebay as parts. It cost too much to repair them beyond this.

Ya I think there are a ton of people doing this now and sticking them back on ebay when they don't work. You use to be able to buy them on ebay and get them going but I think all the one's on ebay are just being recycled now. You can cut the magnet box open and clean it out but it is a very time taking process. Time spent its prob better to just buy a working one now.

+Thomas Webb Hum I'm not sure. Perhaps if you try changing the custom settings and see if one kicks it into gear. Also make sure the film canister contacts are clean so it registers the canister properly. If that doesn't work perhaps the motor is dead or a wire is unsoldered. Not sure sorry.

+Todd Armstrong thank you for the reply. I shall keep tinkering and see what happens, I fear it is beyond my capabilities to fix unfortunately. Your video really helped me fix the other issues the camera had though so thank you again for posting it. :)

+Thomas Webb Ya I would probably just check the contacts and custom setting on the side but if that didn't fix it I would probably send it on ebay personally. You can pick up working one's for pretty cheap now.

No but what you can do is cut it open carefully and with electronic cleaner or canned air you can blow it out clean which some people have had success with. Lubricant would be enough to stop it again. It has to be super clean. If they get to this point I just sell them for parts on ebay since they take a while to cut and clean.

Peter Floßbach You know what I'm really sorry to say but I have had many of these cameras disassembled for many different repairs and over the years I have never found the internal backup battery. I don't think I know anyone who has ever found it which is really odd. I currently have a 1N in my hands which is completely torn down to the shutter (replacement) and I can not see even digging that far. Most of the older cameras use to have them in the top finder like the T90 which is an easier repair and only required a bit of disassembling and soldering but the 1 and 1N's seem to have been moved. I have had many with the dead data battery (backup) and just used them as is. Sorry I can't help. -If anyone else reads this and has some info we would love to hear from you! Thanks

Peter Floßbach Thanks Todd. My EOS1 ist working fine. It´s pretty new - yes, it is. It is the last thing of a dealer, who closed his store at the beginning 80th. And nowa week ago this EOS1 got its first film in it. I asked you because in the manual Canon writes, the internal backup battery will have to be changed after 5 years... My is from 1989, if there is one, and works well.

Peter Floßbach Oh wow that is pretty cool. Every 5 years. They make it sound easy. Perhaps it is hidden in plain site? I may call Canon and see if they can tell me where it is.

+Tasos T Hum it sounds like a power issue to me. Most times when I have a problem like this it is usually just dead batteries or bad connection. I'm sure you have tried it but clean all the contacts including the battery contacts. I sometimes press down when I put batteries in making sure they scrape the contacts together well when the battery is inserted. Besides that there may be a corroded wire or and bad soldering perhaps. But this might require a teardown.

+Todd Armstrong thank you ill try it

+Tasos T Hey thanks for the video you sent! I didn't realize you had the 1VHS with the power winder. Yes you definitely have a power issue and I'm thinking it is actually with the winder. This is very common and just had 2 grips do this to me. I didn't realize you had the winder. Do you have the GR-E1 or E2 grip? I have had some cameras where they would not work with the PB-E2 power winders even though the winders worked 100% on other bodies. A very strange phenomenon. So I would take the PB-E2 and swap it with another camera and they would both work. If you have a GR-E2 grip try putting that on and it might work perfectly. Then we know you have a problem with the winder. 99% of the time the problem with the winders is that they will have corrosion or residue way inside of the grip contacts so I take a flat head screwdriver or something long and sharp and scrape off the contacts. If you have lots of corrosion then take a QTip and put a small dab of vinegar on it and you can swab the contacts. Then check all the other contacts. The BM-E2 tray contacts need to be cleaned also. Take the grip off of the camera and wipe clean the contacts on the grip and body where they meet each other. I'm almost certain this will be the problem. The 1V camera is a super hardy camera and rarely breaks but the PB-E2 winders have problems once in a while. 99% of the time it is just contact problems which is just enough to give lack of power issues.

Hi yes it will work for the 1NRS as well.

Hey there, the EOS 1N (1V) does not have a backup battery becasue the info is written to the EEPROM microcomputer with each shot unlike the EOS1 which had the battery under the pentaprism. What is bothering your 1N?

I know I have the EOS 1

Keeping in mind that this camera was made in the late 80's early 90's I am just thinking that the CR1220 might be dying by now.

Tomas Pradas Yes and no... I have had problems with the aperture dial but I will get to that in a sec. First things first and easiest thing to check is wipe your lens contacts and the body contacts where the lens meets. I can't tell you how many cameras give me BC error because of the lens contacts. Also check to see if the camera fires with the lens off. That is an indicator. If that doesn't work then we dive deeper. I have had problems with the rear dials but I have not had a BC error from that. You will want to take the film back off with the door pin. Careful not to push in the shutter curtain. I'd set the body aside. Take of the film tension plate by pulling up on the right to pull out the 2 holding tabs. Then turn it counter clockwise to pull off the bottom left one and the top left one is J hooked and comes out last. Then take out the few necessary screws on the inside of the back. Note that the contact pins are different lengths and need to go back in the right order. Now that your in you need to look for debris on the contacts that rotate on the aperture dial. There might even be a bent contact. Anything damaged will short out the system and may give you a BC error. Let me know how it goes but REALLY make sure you try cleaning your lens contacts first becasue that is my #1 guess. I have even used an pink eraser to clean the body contacts. Just don't file them too hard becasue they are thin.

Todd Armstrong hi Todd, dude, thanks so much for your time and the effort of going though such a detailed explanation but unfortunately this time did not work. the thing id stuck on the BC, does not give signs of life elsewhere. I think I have to accept that it is gone and start looking for a "new" one. once again, thanks for sharing all your wisdom with us. you are doing a good thing. cheers Tom.

Tomas Pradas Oh shoot thats too bad. Ya I get one every once in a while that just can't be saved. You could perhaps sell it on ebay for a little bit. Someone might need a part from it.

Todd Armstrong I got it !!!!! found what the issue was. the battery capsule or whatever is called was shorted. i found another person to lend me a camera and started swapping parts as per: lens, back lic, then battery capsule and the camera started working again, put mine in the other camera and the error came up on the other camera. mystery solved. now just need to get that part and hope that it is all it needs. the connectors look fine but it must be something inside that is corroded or something. thanks for all your help dude!!!

+Tomas Pradas Oh interesting sounds like a finicky electronic problem. Hope it all worked out!

+Alicia Valle Hum ya the 650 is an early model and a bit different. Most times it's a dead battery but if the battery is fine then it could be an internal problem. I get in hundreds of cameras and many of them have been left for a while so sometimes I give them a bump on my other hand on the bottom when I press the shutter and many of them free up (T90 prone to this). Sometimes oil can get sticky and just needs to be loosened up. The 650 wouldn't have much oil but it's worth a try. If you wipe the battery contacts and put new batteries in it and it still does not work then my guess it's another issue. I don't think I have ever got a 650 with the magnet problem but it could be. The 650 is a hearty camera and usually doesn't have problems but if they do I probably wouldn't spend any money on repairing it. I'd check the battery and give it a bum or two but after that I'm not really sure.

Thank you! I am guessing it might be the battery because it was working absolutely fine when I got it. I put it away after & i'm thinking it could have have been that i left it on through that storage time. I haven't had the time to buy a new battery but thats as far as i'll go as to trying to fix the problem haha. it's really just for fun so yeah like you said I'm not thinking of repairing it if it's anything bigger. Thank you again!

+Alicia Valle Oh shoot ya when I store my cameras I take the batteries out becasue they will slowly drain if they are left it to power the LCD's even though the cameras is left off still some power will drain.

Ohhhh that sounds very odd. So does it only fire up when the back is open? How does the shutter look? BC isn't always battery. It can mean a load of other things. Some are as simple as lens mount on the lens and body pin connectors can be dirty. Sounds odd.

@@CannonFastReviews Thanks! It now won't fire at all. Should I try the method of unscrewing the body cover and trying to play with that magnet?

The Rebel XS is a different setup and doesn't have the same magnet mech like these cameras. Seems like a different issue but I'm not sure what it would be..

Hum yes this technique will NOT work on the 1V because they stopped using this part for the 1V and use a different better system. Which is a good thing. However the 1V is a tough machine and rarely gets errors. The problem I'm covering only effects when the camera has not been used in a long time. Your problem sounds entirely different and all I can think of is a electrical failure or a dead battery. I'm pretty stumped. Its not like it for the 1V to die like that. Maybe even a stuck shutter. I'm not sure sorry.

Hum hopefully this works out for you!

+Strd95 Hum the EOS 500 usually doesn't suffer from a problem like this but I'm guessing it's probably a dirty contact problem. The main problem I would check for is cleaning all the contacts on the lens mount contacts for the body and lens. The tiniest speck of dust or oil will cause the error. I have cleaned lots of cameras like this and you couldn't even see a spec of dust but it was the problem. If that does not clear it then check your battery contacts. This is a very common problem as well. Finally also check the back of your shutter via film door. There was a piece of foam inside the shutter box that sometimes broke down and turned to black goo. You will know it when you see it. If you don't see any then skip this step. It will sometimes stick on the left hand side of the shutter making the shutter blades slow down and causing an error code. Carefully flip the mirror up via the mirror box and put your finger on the shutter blades (to prevent bending). Then with a cloth or q-tip you can CAREFULLY wipe the goo off so the blades can move freely again and the error code will disappear. I don't think the 500 suffered from this magnet error but if this doesn't work let me know. I might have a dead body I can part to check and see whats inside. ... but these cameras are pretty cheap so I wouldn't spend a whole lot of time repairing yours. I'd check ebay for a cheap replacement rather then going too far in repair. :)

+Todd Armstrong thank you for your response! Well, I checked the shutter and there was no goo. I cleaned the camera and all of it's contacts (I didn't strip it). The bc error is still there.I think that the problem might has something to do with the film mechanism/motor, because when I loaded the last film (fuji, iso 200) I noticed a slightly weird sound, like the film was loading slowly, right after the shutter noise. I took 5 shots, all with the same sound, and then the error appered. Now, when I tried to remove the film using the camera controls, nothing happened. I set the toggle to film rewind and then I pressed the timer button, as suggested by the users manual. Finally, I removed it manually. I know those camera bodies are cheap, I checked some on ebay.Plus, I have another camera for now (pentax asahi spotmatic). I whould like you to take a closer look, but unfortunately I live in Europe and even the shipping whould be expensive. The next thing I'm considering is to fully strip it and see. Whould you suggest me anything else? Thank you for helping me with this. Cheers! :)

+Strd95 Hum to be honest it almost sounds like a power issue which is usually dead batteries or contact issue. You said you changed the batteries so I'm a little stumped. Usually the rewind motors usually work or don't work but not really slow down. Could happen but usually when the motor goes it just dies (electronic open). More then not the batteries are just short of full life or 1 battery is deal in the bunch. Spotmatic is definitely a win camera! I personally prefer shooting old manual winding film cameras then the new one's. Something about drawing each frame with the thumb winder and setting the old school settings connects me and my photos more and I usually take better shots. I always take these oldies out for a roll often. :)

Thank you very much for your help. I couldn't agree more about pentax and any other old camera. Finally, I stripped my camera completely and I found lots of dust just sitting in there :) I just cleaned all the dust I found and then the camera worked. It was quite a challenge, but it was worth it. Now it was a contact issue as you suggested, but I don't know where exactly because I found dust almost everywhere. Thanks again for helping me out!!! Wish you the best !

+Strd95 Oh wow your brave! Good work!! hopefully it won't act up again. It does sound like an electronic issue then and glad you got it fixed. :)

Yes I have had a few T90 bodies for repair over the years but I found them harder to work on.

I actually have a EOS 1 camera and E1 booster with the same problem. The booster works on other cameras but not on one of my EOS 1's and the EOS 1 works with other boostes. For some reason them together doesn't work. I just use it with a diff booster. Some sort of electrical error somewhere. But it could also be that your booster is the problem. Try cleaning EVERY contact on the booster and camera including inside the battery compartment in the booster. Its far inside but just use something long like a flat screw driver. This is a common problem. Dirty contacts.

Cannon Fast Reviews ... thanks. The problem only started after a camera dealer tried out the camera for possible trade in for a DLSR. The tried the body without drive ... worked fine .... They put the dtive on, and it worked .. no eror .. they reboxed everything, and it didn't work the next day at home.

dang maybe you want to return it if you can or have them check it out.

Cannon Fast Reviews .... the dealer won't touch it.

They won't take it back... That sucks!

Hum this sounds like a power issue to me but it's hard to say. I was going to say ya clean all the contacts but it sounds like you did already. Have you tried it with a different grip? I have had some bad power booster winders that won't work on some cameras and will work on others for some reason. I could never figure out why but I just swapped them to other cameras and they worked perfectly. Beyond that I'm a bit confused. Hows does it respond with no lens attached?

Unfortunately I don't have a second grip to try (but with this grip camera worked for nearly a year with no problem). I was tried with few lenses and without and is the same. Also, do not respond when new film is loaded, absolutely nothing. Only "bc" flashing regularly regardless of pressing any buttons or anything... The camera worked perfectly all the time to the last picture and rewound film to the beginning (with leaving the film leader outside the cartridge - which is exactly as should be). Maybe the motor is blown... or something... It is so pity because the camera is in absolutely stunning condition. What a shame...

So bizarre... I sounds like a power issue to me becasue even with some errors the film should still wind. Are you using the small hand grip with the 2CR5 battery or a power winder with AA or batter pack? I'm just thinking becasue those 2CR5 batteries are junk and die so quick. You said you tried different batteries but have you tried a new 2CR5 if that is the grip?

So, I don't have small grip with the 2CR5, I use only big grip E1 with AA battery.

Ya it's the winder grips that sometimes have the problems. You don't know anyone that has one you could try their grip or winder eh?

Oh wow thanks for the heads up! That would kinda be scary. Thanks for the tip and hopefully others will see this.

Thats great!

Hum sounds like a power error of some sort to me. Hard to say. Check all the contacts and these need a really good battery.

Classic car collectors don't buy 2020 Minivans. Sometimes old is more fun. :)