Grinding/.Scratching Sound When Zooming In/Out

Just noticed this yesterday, but my 24-105L is making a scratching sound when I zoom in/out near the wide end. I've read that it could be a sand particle, but I find this strange since I've never removed the lens since I purchased the camera or been in an area with sand. I primarily use the camera at home for product photography, so I find this a bit strange. I really don't want to send the lens in since it's the only one I own at the moment, but I also don't want to make things worse. Have any of you been successful using a rocket blower or should I just use it as is and hope the sand (or whatever is in there) gets ground down?

I removed the lens, but couldn't see anything that would cause this. I've also heard that it's better to get it cleaned by a professional because if the sand is ground down it could still leave silica, but there are photographers who use cameras in harsher climates and I'm sure that they don't send off their cameras every time to get cleaned.

Thank you!

More than 25 years ago I was shooting with an Old Olympus Point and Shoot on the beach. Later that night at home, my camera came to a grinding halt. Took it to my local shop and noticed there was a few grains of sand in it. Never dropped it in the sand or shot with sandy hands..........but it was windy. Sand particles in the bowing wind and the slim chance........you guessed it.
Airborne Sand attack.....
Just as well as I bought my first Canon SLR that week.
Send it to Canon or another repair facility to be safe.

If it really is sand, blowing it is not what you want to do. It will drive whatever is making the grinding deeper into the body of the camera. You can try to vacuum the seams of the lens and see of you can suck it out.
I'm guessing that the sound is not caused by a foreign material that has worked it's way into the workings but by something inside the lens itself. It could be benign like one of the flexible connectors scraping the side of the lens tube or it could be that something has broken off and is stuck somewhere in the workings. Without hearing the sound, it's hard to guess. Google "Canon 24-105 disassembled" and there are a lot of pics that show the inner workings. It's quite complex and there are many moving parts.

Thanks for the feedback! I have an upcoming trip and I'd hate to spend the money on the repair, but I guess I'll contact Canon and see what they say. It's upsetting to me because I have had this camera for less than a year.

If you have had the lens for less than a year, it may still be under warranty depending on where you bought it...if it were me, i'd just zoom it in and out a bunch, and hope it breaks down, and works its seld out

I bought it from B&H with the 6D kit. I created a service request with Canon, but I'll try to zoom in and out to see if it goes away before sending it in.

Thanks for the help!

Does it do it with the IS off?

I ask because mine does this only when IS is engaged. It stared a while back (several years) and while I've tried not to zoom while IS is on, obviously it is not always practical, so it has had it's fair share of 'grinding'.

Not sure this helps except to say failure may not be imminent, assuming it is the same issue.

DreDaze wrote in post #18609709
If you have had the lens for less than a year, it may still be under warranty depending on where you bought it...if it were me, i'd just zoom it in and out a bunch, and hope it breaks down, and works its seld out

I did this when I got home and after a few of zooming in/out it was almost gone, so I continued doing it and now you can't hear it. So I guess that the crisis has been averted? Thanks for the help!