Problem and Fix for Kodak EasyShare DX7630

Hey, all, I have a Kodak DX7630 EasyShare camera that I bought, IIRC,
just under 2 years ago and it recently started giving me a problem.
The problem was that it would turn on by itself sometimes when the
wheel on the back that is used to turn it on was pressed or moved in a
certain way (not rotated like it's supposed to). Also, while on, if I
nudged the power/selector wheel it would sometimes turn off then back
on. Pretty much any combination you can imagine would cause problems
including having the thing powered on while the rotating selector
wheel was in the OFF position. Very frustrating since it would try to
extend the lens and sometimes the lens cap would hold fast and that
can't be good for the mechanism. Also, not good since I carry this in
my motorcycle saddle bag or in a fanny pack while riding so there's no
way for me to know it's on and burning through the battery. Since I
only use the thing maybe twice a month I was frustrated with this
happening in what I would consider a small number of uses.

Tonight at a motel I decided to kill some time and try to find out the
problem and first hit the 'groups with no results. So, I busted out
my tiny screwdriver and took the camera apart. What I found after I
removed about 8 case screws and two on the little panel that has the
electronics for the rotator, is that the round contacts on the PCB
appeared to have a film or something on them (only the contactors that
I use which are the OFF, Auto, and SCN positions (I don't use the rest
of the positions of the selector). I had no pencil eraser or alcohol
(okay, I have beer, but that's no so good) so I used a packet of Sweet
n Low provided in the room to wipe and polish the contactors (any port
in a storm). No, not the powdered product, just the paper package.
After doing so the thing seems to work flawlessly. I ran it through
several positions and movements that used to elicit the problem and
had none. Thank God, answer to prayer. My next step was a highspeed,
high-G rapid decelleration test on this camera and to requisition a
replacement camera.

FWIW, HTH someone.

--HC