Sensor Cleaning

Ok, decided to clean my sensor so took it out and now what?

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I think I am doing this sensor cleaning wrong...

That's a good one!!! Thanks for the laugh.

Now that you've got it out why not just replace it with a new one?

rrblint wrote in post #15982227
Now that you've got it out why not just replace it with a new one?

lol, trust me - the less I take apart on this camera the greater the chance of it ever working again...putting it back together is going to be a complete bugger of a job. If I ever appear in the 'Sell' forum offering a well looked after 10D then don't be tempted

I'd just dip the whole sensor in a bowl of warm water and Fairy

Does the 'Copperhill' method involve the use of Eclipse? I'd be a little doubtful about using methanol directly on the surface of the sensor and it's a fairly strong solvent. Sticky residue should come off with isopropanol, which is a weaker solvent than methanol. But I'd spend more time trying to find out for sure just what is safe.

Thanks Frank - I was just sitting down to play with this and thought I'd have a final check here to see any comments!

I've got some isopropanol so will give that a go - to be honest if it does any harm then I won't be overly upset. This 10D was just meant as a learning experience before getting into the guts of a more expensive body - very glad I did, lots of lessons learnt!


Steve

hollis_f wrote in post #15985181
Does the 'Copperhill' method involve the use of Eclipse? I'd be a little doubtful about using methanol directly on the surface of the sensor and it's a fairly strong solvent. Sticky residue should come off with isopropanol, which is a weaker solvent than methanol. But I'd spend more time trying to find out for sure just what is safe.

Frank,

Eclipse has been used to clean sensors for over a decade, so if there were any real danger involved, we would have heard about it by now. It is methanol which is the best fluid to break down oil/lubricant and is guaranteed to evaporate totally. That's the only problem with water based formulas, the chance that some residue will remain and may need to be cleaned up with some sort of smear removal fluid, making it a 2-step process.

Photographic Solutions is the only company giving a guarantee that their products will not harm any sensor/AA-filter surface coating. Eclipse has been tested extensively in their labs and battle-tested here in the real-world. The only issue that ever reared its ugly head was the defective coatings on one of the first 5D batches in which even VD's fluid had a detrimental effect.

Nicholas
www.copperhillimages.c​om

Thanks for the humor Steve! Still laughing.

perfect_pixel wrote in post #15982102
Copperhill would be my normal 'go to' method but that's on the low pass filter and not directly on the sensor surface.

Nicholas R. wrote in post #15985250
Frank,

Eclipse has been used to clean sensors for over a decade

No it hasn't. It's been used to clean the AA filter in front of sensors for more than a decade. And I'd be quite happen to recommend using methanol to clean the AA filter in front of a sensor.

However, Steve's original post (quoted above) makes it very clear that he's not talking about cleaning the AA filter in front of a sensor, he's cleaning the sensor itself, sans filtre.

Now, I have no idea if the sensor itself will survive wiping with methanol. It's quite likely that it would. But it's also possible that methanol will dissolve important bits and ruin it. I was advocating a less risky option. Of course, if you know for sure that the sensor would be OK with methanol then please let Steve know.

Nicholas R. wrote in post #15985250
That's the only problem with water based formulas

Which is one reason why I recommended a non-water based formula (propan-2-ol).

Frank,

Over that same decade, people have always referred to "sensor cleaning" as the generic term for actually cleaning the filter, I'm sure you're aware of that. I know of no one who has ever attempted to wipe the sensor array with anything so if Steve wants to give it a go, it would be interesting to see his results.

Nicholas

Thanks Nicholas and Frank.

I've given it a once over with the isopropanol judiciously applied with cotton buds - to the naked eye it looks like it's taken the sticky bits off and I can't see any obvious damage to the sensor surface...putting it all back together again now in any case.

I'll be going home for the weekend this evening and (assuming it even turns on) will try a few shots tomorrow and see what they come out like - I've a feeling things may not be quite that simple but an eternal optimist...


Steve

Couldn't wait to see if this worked...

Sensor is still working so the isopropyl directly on it appears to have been ok.

Lots of 'bits' stuck in it:

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With a converted camera is it easier to get sharper images? I had a very hard time, couldn't use anything smaller than F4.


This is the only decently sharp one I ever got, on a non converted 10D.


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