Canon PowerShot S500 E18 Repair

My Canon PowerShot S500 started showing the dreaded "E18" error i.e. lens stuck in retracted position.

It wouldn't have been worth it to pay for repair (cheaper to buy a new camera!), and since I love taking things apart, I decided to dismantle it and try to fix it.

Here are photos I took during disassembly to help me keep track of what came from where. When I started I honestly didn't know if I could fix it or if I'd end up with just a bunch of parts in a box...

The results:
- I successfully disassembled the camera
- I found some sand/grit jamming a gear
- I successfully reassembled the camera (this was of course the most important step) and everything checked out OK, but...
- I then found dust on the sensor
- I had to do it all over again and this time disassemble the lens module and clean it
- my S500 works again :-)

some other "E18" error code resources and info can be found here: www.e18error.com/