K7 shutter speed dial problem?

A few months ago my Dad bought a K7, which has been great until yesterday when the front thumbwheel started behaving very oddly. The rear thumbwheel is fine and stops through apertures as expected but the front one jumps all over the place (skips up as well as down when turned the same way!) and won't allow you to select slower speeds. This seems to go for all camera modes.

Any ideas? Or is this a case of needing to use the warranty?

Had this once on a cheap vertical grip, I would return under warranty.

I think that's probably what he'll have to do - I've just tried reprogramming it to switch the function of the two wheels and sure enough it is the front wheel at fault. The shutter speed dialled up and down as expected using the rear wheel (but aperture jumped everywhere using the front).

Try leaving the battery out for about an hour. Just a chance it may fix it, if not it will have to go back.

The wheels work by using what's called a quadrature encoder. When the contacts go intermittent you get the behaviour you described.

Since the K7 is weatherproofed it shouldn't be dust or dirt in the wheel contacts... so I'd return it under warranty

Matt

Just bought a K7 off a member of this forum and it's doing the same thing !!

Just the front dial, rear one is fine !

Had the same thing on my K-5 .. thankfully it went back because of the staining problem and new one is much much better.

It's caused by the control wheel board. You'll have to send it back for repair. My K7 had the same problem a few month ago. Leaving the battery out for an hour or so won't fix it.

I'm having this problem with my K-7 now.
I read on another forum that squirting some electrical cleaner fluid into it works.
Has anyone ever tried this?
I bought my camera on Amazon from the USA so doubt it's still under warranty.

I've read that companies have to repair or replace products after the warranty expires, that the product has to be of "satisfactory quality & fit for purpose".
I've contacted Pentax and am awaiting their reply.

I had the same problem with a K7 I bought from SRS, they fixed it in no time so a warrenty claim is in order.

I read about the squirt of cleaner method, I'd of given it a go had I been out of warrenty so may be worth a good googl'in

My K-7 did this when I fist got it. I tried a simple mechanical fix by operating the wheel quickly by rubbing my finger tip back and forth a few times over it. It worked for me, must have cleared the speck of dust or whatever it was.
The camera has taken well over 10,000 frames since with no more problems.

If it does not help, I would not use electrical cleaner, if it gets past the seals you don't know what it can come into contact with. Some materials can be damaged by solvents.