camera flash circuit

i'm sure plenty of you have used these circuits for various applications....
i have also, however, if i remove the circuit board from the plastic casing...it seems to stop being able to charge??!

i have done this with about 4 of them, and i can't notice any part of the circuit that is being disconnected by removing the case, has anyone else experienced this and been able to solve the problem?

That's strange. I've disected a camara or two without any problems. I think it was a FujiFilm Qucksnap Outdoor, number AP-800 or similar. If I remember correctly, it had at least one crude rocker switch made out of a flexible metal (nickel or tin maybe?) which it using to disable/enable charging. Also, it might've used a similar flash switch. Sorry if this is too vague.

the ones i'm talking about you have to push this crazy little switch that looks almost like a small circle of aluminum foil or something that charges the capacitor.

anyone know what i'm talking about?

The little tinfoil thingie is either a charge trigger or a hold n charge button (depending on the camera most are hold n charge in the US) . The neon bulb tells you when the circuit is fully charged. If you look at the camera there will be a little "finger" of plastic on the case that corresponds to the foil switch. You can bypass the switch on the PC board and solder a switch to the board ( it's only SPST) . If it's a charge trigger use a momentary PB, if hold and charge use a spst sw.

edit: There is also a switch in the body of the camra ( two pecis of tin ) that act as the fire sw. look closely at the PC where it connects to the camera You'll see to attachment points.