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What am I doing wrong with my sensor cleaning?

yatlee

Member
The trick that I found is to do wait for it to dry up a bit before cleaning or shake to get rid fo the excess fluid.
 

Roderick Chen

New member
I agree with Bill, the visible dust butterfly works for me most of the time. For difficult spots I use a sensor swab with laboratory grade ethanol. The ethanol dries almost immediately compared to alcohol and 1 liter costs a little more than $30, which is relatively cheap compared to the eclipse solution.


Gotta say I use the Visible Dust Butterfly nine times out of ten. Works perfectly for dust - the liquid cleaning is only needed if the sensor has been exposed to "other than dust". (Like I breathed on it once - baaaad!)
Bill
 

Ben730

Active member
Hi,
after some years of cleaning problems with the P1-Kit I found an answer:
I clean it exactly as described in the manual. Except for solution B, I use 2 wipes
on top of each other. I don't know exactly why, but it works perfect. Try it out.
Regards,
Ben
 
I have found that for solution B you use 2 wipes, and go VERY VERY SLOW and smooth, and you will see that as you are going slowly, solution B will dry as you move without leaving streaks. I have got it to the point where I only need 1 try now and its perfect.
 

Douglas Fairbank

New member
When I was employed to do this my preferred method was a medical wipe folded around a fabric cushioned plastic spatula and a spray of alcohol on the wipe, not the filter. Then the wipe was stroked across the filter one way.
Sometimes a sugar deposit was on the filter (soda drink spray etc) and this would not be removed by alcohol, the best thing I used was a citrus oil based solvent reduced 1:5 in pure water and using the same technique as above, then repeat the alcohol stage.
I had 100% success and it passed every Hasselblad inspection.
 

studio347

New member
a lot of good advices here, The key point is you need to know what's going on while cleaning. Use a loupe with LED light(I attached some sensor protection sponge on loupe_this is a good tool for the lens cleaning too) to see the sensor. I use the newer Visible Dust flat! LED loupe which was modified with small sponge to protect sensor. You don't want to damage sensor while using the loupe. I like, a blower with hepa(!!) filter(the other blowers are useless for sensor cleaning since it adds dust while removing the dust), butterfly brush( clean the brush itself often_this brush is good for medium digital back only. For the small camera, I don't recommend this because of oils near the sensor.), (sometimes) solution B or Eclipse, or E-wipe. And following Jack's advice long ago, I use fresh very small piece of optical cleaning cloth(leica brand for now) to remove any residue on the edge of sensor for only one-time use. You can make about 10 small pieces from one cleaning cloth.You don't need to be a Master of sensor cleaning to clean a sensor : ) Leaf_mamiya wipe pad sounds better than phaseone or B&H's. I'll try it next time. The key is the fact that you need to see what you are doing without guessing. Good luck! It sounds like complicated, but it is a kind of fun and a good lesson :) To solve a problem, you need a thorough understanding... And of course, peace of mind finally. With a thorough understanding, it's easier to compromise some. It's ok to use 95% clean sensor as long as you know that it's 95% and you can make it 100% if needed. I know...it's not cheap..
 
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I got DigiClean kit from a friend. The kit never been used, but the problem is we have no idea when it was purchased. It's time to clean my P30+ for the first time. Is there expiration date for the cleaning liquid or am I good to use it? I probably sound paranoiac.
 

Stefan Steib

Active member
Sorry to say, but this permanent cleaning does more harm than usefulness.
And - avoid wet cleaning solutions.
I have used digital backs now for 19 years. And all I do is taking a microfibre cloth (that has to be CLEAN! not something you used for your glasses) and do a bit of breathe on, then wipe carefully-1-2 times in opposite direction. That´s it.

I never had any problems with that. It just works.

:)
Stefan
 

stephengilbert

Active member
Although I suspect that the age of the normally used cleaning solutions shouldn't be a problem, I didn't want to say so, not wanting to mislead someone unless I was sure.

Should you brush your teeth or use mouthwash before breathing on the back?
 

kdphotography

Well-known member
....
Should you brush your teeth or use mouthwash before breathing on the back?
I guess it depends on the relationship that you share with your equipment.

I love my IQ180.... so I also floss.

I've heard others take showers with their Cubes....:D
 
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Stefan Steib

Active member
I would even go further and say putting liquid on the chip is even dangerous. If there is any liquid going into the electronics that could do greater harm than any dirt or dust that´s only on the surface.

Regards
Stefan
 

Stefan Steib

Active member
I have an old Junair graphics compressor that I use for all my digital cameras. it has a double active coal filter to prevent any oil or water to come from the pressureized air, it has some bar to remove even ugly stuff from inside of my bodies. Am using this for over 20 years now. Perfect. Costs nearly nothing and works in seconds.

Regards
Stefan
 
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