Canon 814 XL-S - Only works at 18 fps

[Hung Nguyen]

I just bought a Canon 814 XL-S and noticed that even when I change the filming speed, from 9 to 16 to 24, it the motor sounds the same for all settings. I do not have film loaded. But when I press the SM button, the motor does crank much faster.

 

Has anyone experienced anything like this? Am I on an incorrect setting?

 

Would appreciate any advice anyone has for me. Thank you in advance.

Edited January 30, 2019 by Hung Nguyen

[Nick Collingwood]

I have noticed this myself when searching for 814XL-S cameras on eBay. It seems to be strangely frequent. Any of the cheaper ~$250 ones only run at 18fps but are otherwise in perfect condition. So perhaps some modification people did? I'm confused as well.

[Andries Molenaar]

Not that many people work on the inside of cameras. I think.

More likely corroded pads on circuit board or the finger of the selector.

[Jean-Louis Seguin]

Based on a recent experience, Andries is right. Bad contact in the selector switch. From what I can tell, it is fixed to the circuit board and cannot be disassembled. A little shot of contact cleaner may improve things a bit. This aspect of the camera is not well designed for servicing. The builders could not predict how some materials would perform after 40 years.

[Alessandro Lefebvre]

Have you tried (lightly) forcing the dial around, by pushing it up and down (sliding/shifting/moving it on the camera's side plane)? In my case, the dial was completely erratic but after doing this a bit, running the motor for some time, and letting the camera rest, it started working quite nicely. It still changes speed if I push the dial around, but if I select the speed and press it downwards, it works fine.