[Schraubstock]

Hi
Because I never let dirt linger on my sensor and therefore don't give it a chance to "weld" itself onto the filter surface, I never had the need for a wet clean.

A couple of my friends though and my brother in law never cleaned their cameras sensors in 2 years. You should have seen the mack on it, incredible. They too were scared of this little job. My brother in law knows that I clean my sensor regularly so they came to me.

I applied the orange lolly which removed some of the crap but because it was allowed to stay on for so long some of it could not be removed. A wet clean was needed. Off to a Melbourne camera store to purchase some wet cleaning stuff. On offer there: A little blister pack containing a small glass ampule with 2 mil/l of either Ethanol or Methanol or Isopropanol, (Which I could not ascertain but these three are the most commonly used cleaning agents traded for this purpose) and 4 swabs. Price ? $45.00, Holy Moses.

I ordered from the internet a packet with lint free fabric (enough for about 500 cleanings and possibly more) and went to my local chemist and bought 60mil/l 98% pure Ethanol.
The chemist was in a bit of a quandary because he did not know what to charge me because as he said, this amount of Ethanol costs next to nothing so he charged me for the little bottle he supplied; $3.00 !

Back home I cut some sturdy but not too thick cardboard strips approx. 15mm wide and cut some of the lint free cloth in strips a smidgen wider, draped a piece of that over the flat end of a cardboard strip and secured it a bit further up with some sticky tape. Next I applied a couple of drops Ethanol to the swab and gently wiped the sensor from side to side. Had to do this several time on one cam because the crap was too stubborn. In the end all were clean.

I still have enough stuff left to do at least another 500 cleans, now let me see, if I clean 10 times a year I will be...

Note: Ethanol supplied by chemists is 98% pure the rest 2% is water because it cannot be removed from it.

Greetings

[wildman]

I use a woman's blush brush for make up.

Super fine and soft. Perfect for picking up dust. Ideal for delicate cleaning of any type - lens' or sensor.

Have only needed to do a wet clean a few times. Then I used Isopropyl alcohol on a piece of lens cloth wrapped around the end of a Q tip. The cloth was only very slightly dampened with Isopropyl alcohol, Worked fine.

I've been using Isopropyl alcohol on lens' for 50 years with no problems.

The brush can be expensive though.

[Jean Poitiers]

Bonjour,

Thanks to everyone for their input to this thread and please I need some sensor cleaning advice for my K-7 ...

About 2 weeks ago I noticed a dust speck "smack-dab" in the middle of my sensor. So the next week (when I had time) I went to my local camera shop and bought a "Kaiser brand Typhoon Blower". I tried it several times, but my single speck remains ... so, I decided to invest in a Pentax O-ICK1 kit.

I have tried cleaning my K-7 several times with the Pentax "Imagesensor Cleaning Kit", basically concentrating on the center area of the sensor where my speck is, but no luck yet in getting the speck off. MERDE!

I spoke yesterday to the camera shop people and they indicated that I may have a "wet" dust particle, thus the Pentax kit is not effective here. I was also told that I may even have a bit of shutter and/or mirror lubricant which has migrated to the sensor.

I was suggested some wet cleaning kits, but the camera guy was honestly not too encouraging for certain products that they had in stock ... one product was mentioned as leaving "droplette" like pearls on the K-7 sensor since it dried in an "uneven" manner.

Basically I am now a bit frustrated ... What do you think (collectively) and any "next step" suggestions? Could someone send a photo of their home-made swabs, etc.?

Merci d'avance, (thanks in advance - for your help) Jean the Frog


PS: I can get my K-7 cleaned there for 39 Euros (plus two-day turn around time), but I am not too hot on the idea ...

[Schraubstock]

Bonjour,

Thanks to everyone for their input to this thread and please I need some sensor cleaning advice for my K-7 ...

About 2 weeks ago I noticed a dust speck "smack-dab" in the middle of my sensor. So the next week (when I had time) I went to my local camera shop and bought a "Kaiser brand Typhoon Blower". I tried it several times, but my single speck remains ... so, I decided to invest in a Pentax O-ICK1 kit.

I have tried cleaning my K-7 several times with the Pentax "Imagesensor Cleaning Kit", basically concentrating on the center area of the sensor where my speck is, but no luck yet in getting the speck off. MERDE!

I spoke yesterday to the camera shop people and they indicated that I may have a "wet" dust particle, thus the Pentax kit is not effective here. I was also told that I may even have a bit of shutter and/or mirror lubricant which has migrated to the sensor.

I was suggested some wet cleaning kits, but the camera guy was honestly not too encouraging for certain products that they had in stock ... one product was mentioned as leaving "droplette" like pearls on the K-7 sensor since it dried in an "uneven" manner.

Basically I am now a bit frustrated ... What do you think (collectively) and any "next step" suggestions? Could someone send a photo of their home-made swabs, etc.?

Merci d'avance, (thanks in advance - for your help) Jean the Frog


PS: I can get my K-7 cleaned there for 39 Euros (plus two-day turn around time), but I am not too hot on the idea ...

Hi
Merde is what most likely is stuck on your sensor.
But really, I have cleaned dozens of sensors and if you use any of these: "Ethanol, Methanol or Isopropanol" I dont thing you can go wrong. None of these will leave anything behind on the sensor. They are 98% pure and the 2% is just water as it is impossible to remove it. So when you wipe the sensor with it you will see for a brief moment some rainbow colours appearing similar to newton rings between two flat pieces of glass. That is the "2% water" becoming visible. It evaporates enormously quickly.

Read my post a bit further up the top. I can't explain it any better than this. If you don't want to buy lint free fabric you can try spectacle cleaning cloth, your local optometrist may be able to give you some. Just be careful nothing is printed on it or use the unprinted part of the cloth, as the print may dissolve with the liquid. I prefer dedicated specially manufactured lint free fabric.

Try on a piece of glass first, a piece of mirror is always good for a test. Clean the spot of the mirror first, anything the cleaning trial will leave behind will then be visible. Use a magnifying glass for closer inspection.

I use Ethanol and have done so for a long time, no problems. Any of the sensors I have cleaned with it has not suffered in any way, and some of them have been cleaned with it a dozen times or more. Ethanol is the easiest to obtain from chemists as they use this often for ointments and things.

Yours is a typical case for my argument not to let crap linger on the sensor, because if it really is a piece merde I hate to think what it will do if it is left for a few months and has time to "ferment" with humidity. Then it will be stuck and you will really be in the merde.

And don't be too scared of this job, just be sensible about it, the sensor and the assembly of it are more robust than you think or "sensor cleaning kit" manufacturer want you to believe. And one more thing, shine a bright desk light into the the mirror chamber so you can clearly see what you are doing.

Greetings

[Schraubstock]

I use a woman's blush brush for make up. Super fine and soft. Perfect for picking up dust. Ideal for delicate cleaning of any type - lens' or sensor.

This sort of brush is eminently usable, they are usually very, very soft. The only thing wrong with them is, they are too wide and when you brush over the sensor they go way over the boundary of the sensor dimensions, thus there exists the chance of getting oil or grease on the bristles. If you can cut down (reduce the width) of the brush than it would be a good tool.

Greetings

[wildman]

This sort of brush is eminently usable, they are usually very, very soft. The only thing wrong with them is, they are too wide and when you brush over the sensor they go way over the boundary of the sensor dimensions, thus there exists the chance of getting oil or grease on the bristles. If you can cut down (reduce the width) of the brush than it would be a good tool.

Greetings

I have two -see pic.

The narrow one is about 1/4 inch wide with a brush on each end - one normal and one tapered to a point. Perfect for tight spots.

[Schraubstock]

I have two -see pic.

The narrow one is about 1/4 inch wide with a brush on each end - one normal and one tapered to a point. Perfect for tight spots.

All is well then, as long as the small one is of the same fine quality as the large blusher.

Greetings