# Penxtax P3 Film Advance Stuck



## sewnkin (Apr 29, 2016)

Hi, new here so, I hope I'm posting this in the correct section.
I impulse bought a Pentax P3 from a pawn shop for 10 bucks, not expecting it to work but, thought I could repair it. Perhaps, you all can help. 
The film advance lever is stuck at the beginning (it clicks back to the first part but cannot advance to wind film) and the shutter release button does not click at all. Further, the mirror is in the correct position, if that's any help. Batteries have been replaces and put in correctly too. Any advice would help me! 
Here is a photo of the bottom plate removed in case this is helpful:
View image: image


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## dxqcanada (Apr 29, 2016)

One trick I used to do when customers came in with an SLR that could not trip the shutter was ... manually trick tripping the shutter mechanism.

I would hold the shutter, with a finger on both hands, on both sides ... then pull it up or back (depending on if it was vertical or horizontal) a bit and then let go. Most of the time it would complete the shutter tripping mechanism ... then it would be back in a normal state.


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## compur (Apr 29, 2016)

Is the  meter showing any signs of life? If not then the problem is likely electrical/electronic in nature and not mechanical. The P3 is battery-dependant due to its electronic shutter.

If it's completely dead you can try cleaning out the battery compartment with rubbing alcohol and clean the batteries with it too. Then re-insert and try again. If that doesn't work I would do what the last owner did ... donate it to a thrift store.


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## sewnkin (Apr 29, 2016)

Hi, did what you said and it seems to have worked! The shutter did release however, the mirror is now stuck in the "up" position. Any adivce on this? On my k1000 this was fixed just by smacking it. But, not sure if I want to risk doing that on this one.


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## compur (Apr 29, 2016)

Repeat firing the shutter a few times if you can. See if that resets the mirror. 

Or, it might just be stuck to the foam strip above (which has gotten sticky with age). You can try gently pulling it back down but don't force anything. 

If these things don't work I would write it off. The P3 was never a very reliable camera.


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