Faulty Olympus OM-1

[yashica1943]

Today I went to my usual car boot sale. I found a clean Olympus OM-1 body with a body cap and 2 manuals. All the speeds were working and seemed to be accurate, it was clean inside, the screen and mirror in good condition. I have some spare OM fit lenses of various flavours so I parted with £15 for it.  The needle didn't move so I thought that it was just needing a new battery.

The strange part. The battery was dead, so I fitted another fresh one. Now, the needle only moves when the speeds are set to B!
The needle moves to the centre of the + & - slot but doesn't then deviate when faced with varying levels if light.. I am not going to open the camera up, but I don't understand why the needle does this. I assume that there is some bad electrical contact. Any ideas?

[John Farrell]

I fixed an OM1 MD for a friend years ago. The insulation on the screw which secures the battery contact had failed. I replaced the metal screw with a nylon one.

[yashica1943]

I did take the bottom plate off. I cannot see anything that might be causing the problem. I assume that the EM sensor has failed. Will leave it as it is because the shutter and mirror operate well and sound very fit............