Sensor Cleaning - UK

[KBMphotography.com]

AT LAST!!

I have finally found a company in the UK that will clean my 10D/D30 sensors.

If anyone is interested, it is £25+VAT for a while you wait service in the Vauxhall area of London.

Mail me for details!!

Alan

[Jesper]

When I wanted to clean the sensor of my 10D, I had a look at this well-known page: http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaning

I bought the SensorSwipe from that website and found a local shop that sells Eclipse fluid and PecPads. Cleaning the sensor isn't difficult at all, and it's all done in a few minutes, you just have to be careful, as the above site explains.

All in all the SensorSwipe, Eclipse and PecPads cost me around € 30 (whats that in UK pounds? less than 25) and it's enough to clean the sensor hundreds of times.

If you can't find Eclipse and PecPads in a local shop in the UK, the "Purchasing Information" on the website above has a link to a shop in the UK that sells it.

[RichardtheSane]

I'd rather spend £30 quid on sensor cleaning gear an do it myself. They are unlikely to be especially qualified to do it and there are no guarantees that they will get it totally clean. At least if I do it myself it is in my own interests to be very careful and get it right first time.

If you are still under warranty Canon do it for free.

[KBMphotography.com]

I must admit that having it done in the UK seemed hard to do - no-one would touch it and yes, Canon wanted to take my camera for 6-8 weeks (current delays) even though free.

It was truly specialist company - with a host of Kodak DCS/Nikon D1/EOS1Ds etc around the workshop so it seemed a good idea.

Have those links - thanks - but couldn't find the pecpads etc without ordering which I had no time to do - as this job for Mercedes-Benz came up! (don't forget I am in the UK)

(New SLK - out in 5 weeks in the UK)

http://www.pbase.com/image/28377261.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/28377299.jpg

[Roger_Cavanagh]

I'd rather spend £30 quid on sensor cleaning gear an do it myself. They are unlikely to be especially qualified to do it and there are no guarantees that they will get it totally clean. At least if I do it myself it is in my own interests to be very careful and get it right first time.

If you are still under warranty Canon do it for free.

Vauxhall? I imagine Alan is talking about Fixation who are an authorised Canon Service Centre and are, no doubt, covered by adequate insurance should they screw up a cleaning job. But I agree, it's not too hard to do it yourself with little risk.

Regards,

[paul162brown]

This is a really helpful post. I am not brave enough to clean the sensor myself, and may well take the risk with them. PM sent. Cheers.

:D

[DamienB]

Pec pads and Eclipse fluid can be had from www.warehouseexpress.com in Norwich; the spatulas you can buy in any hardware store.

[KBMphotography.com]

Roger is the #1 super sleuth - it is indeed Fixation!!!

They do indeed sell the correct celaning equipment - pec pads/compressed air blowers etc. And get this - the techician will even take time to show you how to do it safely!!

On a serious note - why do all the UK high street dealers tell you how dangerous a task it is? I had researched the great website links previously posted on here and I was raring to do it myself. (and probably would have done if I hadn't got a rush job)

So - does anyone know of anyone who has ever had any problems or caused damaged during the cleaning??

Is it really the black art Canon say it is?????????

Oh - and I checked and Fixation are insured against any damage - which comforted me!

[Jesper]

I've never read a post on any forum of someone who damaged their sensor by cleaning it. I've spent a few hours reading all the details on the Copper Hill (http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaning) website, and after reading it, I thought it was going to be hard and risky, but it was in fact quite easy and it was done in 20 seconds, by just swiping the sensor once from left to right and back again right to left.

Ofcourse you should be careful that everything is clean, don't touch the PecPads with your fingers or anything else etc. Probably Canon is very cautious about it because they don't want hundreds or thousands of people coming back to them who tried to clean the sensor with improper tools and inadequate precautions. It's not a good idea to use regular lens cleaning liquid and tissues, for example. The sensor is the most important and the most expensive part of your camera - if you scratch it, repairs will most likely cost the same or more as buying a new camera.

If you just be careful, it's not that hard and dangerous.

[iwatkins]

I can vouch for Fixation, I've used them off and on for many years. Mainly for servicing, but occasioanlly for repairs. Never had a problem with them and their turn around is usually days. Recommended.

As an aside, I clean my own sensors, PecPads and Eclipse if a good blast of air from a Rocket blower doesn't shift them.

Cheers

Ian

[KBMphotography.com]

Thanks for that everyone - I will do myself next time.... I promise!!!

Yep - I was impressed with Fixation - 15 minutes while you wait for two cameras!

[Jyoti]

Thank you very much for posting this up, Alan! Very useful info! :)