The battery door is damaged. The tabs are so tiny
and I know from my own experience that while they
can be fixed it's going to require someone with
the skill of a craftsman to do it.

I might try.

Has anyone ever had any experience with either this
problem or a similar?

A 0.5mm x 0.6mm plastic tab is missing and the hole it moves into has degraded. The plastic is simply poor.
It's cheap and needs to be rebuilt. I like the camera
but sadly for $120 I can probably buy a better one.

What I like is that I've bought accessories for it
that fit it and work well with it. I can shoot it
properly fast and get my shots. That's why I don't
want to switch. Buying another makes no sense. The
problem will reccur.

It might as well be fixed. That way everyone can benefit
from it.

Here's some people who I think could fix it.

Fine instrument repair technician for violin or guitar
Jeweler who works with fine wires and pieces.
A surgeon.
A dental laboratory technician with experience under a microscope.

There's probably 100 more occupations that could repair it. I didn't mention camera repair only because I
just doubt that a camera person would repair it. I
don'think they get this kind of problem since the quality
is not up to the level of repair. People who have money
to repair camera's usually will pay enough to replace
entire assemblys. In this case I do not think the
entire assembly would benefit from replacement. The
reason? Because it would expose too much of the delicate
wiring and pieces to damage or loss. The camera must
be disassembled too far to replace the section that
only has a small tab missing.

I do not care what it looks like. I only care that
it works.

Frankly. This is the case:

If I use an external battery pack it's immaterial whether the
battery door is ever replaced. However I would like
to have it working / fixed so that

1. It's done and I can show it can be done.
2. It will point out publically that Olympus made a
poor selection of material and caused hardship to
owners of their product.
3. It's hope for people who want it repaired.

I believe the repair can be made simply when the correct
analysis of the problem is made and the proper fix
is designed. I belive the cost will be nil. The time
might be less than 1 hour and I think really less than
35 minutes total.

4. I believe that the people who are involved will gain
a measure of significant mental and physical pleasure
from the success of overcoming the problem. It might
begin a pattern of repairing more products which are
commonly thrown out for no reason other than cosmetic.

Here are reference links:

Closeup of battery door.

http://www.digitalcamerapartsdepot.com/productimages/VC218800.jpg

The tabs are tiny and not visible. On the right you
can see a rectangle slot where a plastic tab fits into.
This degrades due to poor quality.

http://www.digitalcamerapartsdepot.com/Olympus_Parts/VC218800.asp

$40 - same place as photo

$19 here for a part missing metal but might have the
plastic needed. I'm loathe to buy more plastic but
it might be a better grade. I can't judge it.
http://www.uscamera.com/vc2227.htm

Lastly some 'real' photos by users and repair persons.

You can see parts including the door
http://www.pbase.com/ociepka/750

http://www.pbase.com/ociepka/image/28782087

If you've made it this far. I'll mention where the
exact problem lies. There are slots at the left and right edges, not the end, of the door. Tabs in the body fit into these slots. The last image shows it best.
The slot in door is both a slot and a ledge. The ledge
is cracking away. And at this point I must say:

I really have not looked at it closely enough to actually decipher exactly what is wrong or needs to be
done. I do know for sure that the plastic is deteriorating such that tiny bits about 200um are falling off. It's dried out. The strain on the small
bits is too much. I don't know that it can be rebuilt.

Perhaps it needs a serious type of fix such as a 6-40
screw through the body into the door. (It's a rhetorical comment.)

Feel like giving it a try? You'll have to locate
a C750 with a bad door. If it's got a bad capacitor
too you're in luck. You'll probably get a $150 camera
for $20. Seriously. Some people get lost when the little
light goes off. One guy sold his Phase Linear Amp and
the buyer found out the power cord was bad. The guy
who sold it? ME. Many many years ago.

I'm willing to get involved a bit and take photos and
analyze this problem if anyone is willing to get involved too. If not. C'est La Vie

Andre

JB weld works miracles. More simply for you, duct tape - seriously - you've said you don't care how it looks. As long as it's tight enough to maintain electrical contact, it should be ok. Just fold a little flap under so you can lift the tape to change the batteries.

You can fix almost anything with duct tape, cable ties and JB weld: