First Pec Pad cleaning :-)

I have a D70 and check it now and then by shooting the sky at f22. So far
I've been able to blow away any dust, but today I couldn't so out came the
Pec Pad and fluid for my first try at cleaning a sensor.

First, you have to lock up the mirror using the menu. Remember, this
setting is only for cleaning the sensor, not for shooting photos. I used an
AC adapter, but you could probably get by easily with a freshly charged
battery. Don't want the mirror slamming down on your tools, as you let the
mirror back down by turning off the camera.

Next, the photos on the Net make this look easy because they've taken the
sensor out of the camera. Believe me, it's in there pretty deep.

When looking at a test image, remember that everything you see is backwards
and upside down. So, if you see a spot in one corner on the photo it will
be in the opposite corner of the sensor.

If you get the light to reflect off the sensor just right you can actually
see the speck of dust. I tried a blower but it wouldn't budge, so...

Wrap the Pec Pad around the wand carefully. This is the hardest part, as
you want the end of the wand to have only one layer of Pec Pad on both
sides. You may receive your "kit" with a prewrapped wand, so pay attention
to how it's wrapped so you can do it again. You will also need a piece of
cellophane tape to hold your wrap on.

I put a few drops of solution on the end of the pad and started on the left
side, at the top, and carefully swept across the sensor. When you get to
the other side you will have to bring the wand upright. Again, there ain't
much room in there, and it's in there pretty deep. When you've made your
first right to left sweep, move the wand down, still keeping it in touch
with the side of the sensor, and start your sweep back to the other side.
As you clean the rest of the sensor you will wind up overlapping what you've
done, and you'll have no choice but to raise the wand straight up again as
the small area will prevent you from keep it at much of an angle. Lift the
wand straight out when done.

After my first cleaning I put the lens back on and took another shot. Still
had one spot on the sensor, so I raised the mirror and took a hard look and
sure enough there was another spot that the blower would not budge.

Since the spot was on the bottom of the sensor (top of the photo) I did a
second cleaning, using a new Pec Pad, and started at the bottom, this time
with the second pass back the other way at the top.

Took another test shot and the frame was squeaky clean. I was a little
surprised, since "my" wrap wasn't exactly perfect. I guess you don't have
to be perfect when you do this.

I did all this holding the camera in my lap with light coming in the window
over my shoulder, and each cleaning took less than a minute. I feel a lot
more comfortable now if I have to do this again, and it's not that hard. I
think the trick is not to press too hard, but not to be so timid that you
don't do anything. The other trick has to be wrapping the wand properly
with the pad. Again, if your kit comes with a prewrapped wand take a good
look before and as you unwrap it so you can do it again.

Hope this helps anyone who's never done this before and is scared to death,
as I was, to try it. Not a big deal at all. Just can't understand what
makes the dust stick like that to the sensor.

May the force be with you.

Sheldon

Sheldon wrote:
I have a D70 and check it now and then by shooting the sky at f22.
So far I've been able to blow away any dust, but today I couldn't so
out came the Pec Pad and fluid for my first try at cleaning a
sensor.

First, you have to lock up the mirror using the menu. Remember,
this
setting is only for cleaning the sensor, not for shooting photos. I
used an AC adapter, but you could probably get by easily with a
freshly charged battery. Don't want the mirror slamming down on
your
tools, as you let the mirror back down by turning off the camera.

Next, the photos on the Net make this look easy because they've
taken
the sensor out of the camera. Believe me, it's in there pretty
deep.

When looking at a test image, remember that everything you see is
backwards and upside down. So, if you see a spot in one corner on
the photo it will be in the opposite corner of the sensor.

If you get the light to reflect off the sensor just right you can
actually see the speck of dust. I tried a blower but it wouldn't
budge, so...
Wrap the Pec Pad around the wand carefully. This is the hardest
part, as you want the end of the wand to have only one layer of Pec
Pad on both sides. You may receive your "kit" with a prewrapped
wand, so pay attention to how it's wrapped so you can do it again.
You will also need a piece of cellophane tape to hold your wrap on.

I put a few drops of solution on the end of the pad and started on
the left side, at the top, and carefully swept across the sensor.
When you get to the other side you will have to bring the wand
upright. Again, there ain't much room in there, and it's in there
pretty deep. When you've made your first right to left sweep, move
the wand down, still keeping it in touch with the side of the
sensor,
and start your sweep back to the other side. As you clean the rest
of
the sensor you will wind up overlapping what you've done, and you'll
have no choice but to raise the wand straight up again as the small
area will prevent you from keep it at much of an angle. Lift the
wand straight out when done.
After my first cleaning I put the lens back on and took another
shot.
Still had one spot on the sensor, so I raised the mirror and took a
hard look and sure enough there was another spot that the blower
would not budge.
Since the spot was on the bottom of the sensor (top of the photo) I
did a second cleaning, using a new Pec Pad, and started at the
bottom, this time with the second pass back the other way at the
top.

Took another test shot and the frame was squeaky clean. I was a
little surprised, since "my" wrap wasn't exactly perfect. I guess
you don't have to be perfect when you do this.

I did all this holding the camera in my lap with light coming in the
window over my shoulder, and each cleaning took less than a minute.
I feel a lot more comfortable now if I have to do this again, and
it's not that hard. I think the trick is not to press too hard, but
not to be so timid that you don't do anything. The other trick has
to be wrapping the wand properly with the pad. Again, if your kit
comes with a prewrapped wand take a good look before and as you
unwrap it so you can do it again.
Hope this helps anyone who's never done this before and is scared to
death, as I was, to try it. Not a big deal at all. Just can't
understand what makes the dust stick like that to the sensor.


Thank you, Sheldon. Very kind of you to take the time to spread your
experience.

--
Frank ess

Well, you guys have helped me a lot, so I try and return the favor when I
can. Especially with something like this. Of course, YMMV, and I don't
want somebody flaming me when they destroy their sensor. :-)

On a difficulty scale of 1-10 I give this a 5. On a fear factor of 1-10 I
give it a 10 LOL

Sheldon

When I did it, I got the pre-wrapped ones, they use a rubber band. After
one pass, I flipped it over & re-used the clean inner surface. Not easy
to get that rubber band back on! I'm sure re-using is not advised but it
seemed reasonable to me. The problem I had is that the thing was too
wide. I don't know if the sold me the 1DmkII wands or what but it was a
tight fit jamming at the sides. When I re-wrapped for the second pass I
didn't give any overhang and that was OK but it was too narrow this time
though two overlapping swipes (using the other side) covered the whole
thing. Anyways it worked fine.

--
Paul Furman
http://www.edgehill.net/1
san francisco native plants

"Sheldon" writes:

Well, you guys have helped me a lot, so I try and return the favor when I
can. Especially with something like this. Of course, YMMV, and I don't
want somebody flaming me when they destroy their sensor. :-)

On a difficulty scale of 1-10 I give this a 5. On a fear factor of 1-10 I
give it a 10 LOL

Yep, that's about right for a first try. You *really are* touching
the most expensive and most delicate bit of your camera. But one-use
pads are really quite clean and safe, ditto the fluid.

However, I probably wouldn't try doing this using vodka, say, as I
*have* done to clean tape recorder heads in the past.
--
David Dyer-Bennet, , http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/
RKBA: http://noguns-nomoney.com/ http://www.dd-b.net/carry/
Pics: http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/ http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/
Dragaera/Steven Brust: http://dragaera.info/

"Paul Furman" wrote in message
...
When I did it, I got the pre-wrapped ones, they use a rubber band. After
one pass, I flipped it over & re-used the clean inner surface. Not easy to
get that rubber band back on! I'm sure re-using is not advised but it
seemed reasonable to me. The problem I had is that the thing was too wide.
I don't know if the sold me the 1DmkII wands or what but it was a tight
fit jamming at the sides. When I re-wrapped for the second pass I didn't
give any overhang and that was OK but it was too narrow this time though
two overlapping swipes (using the other side) covered the whole thing.
Anyways it worked fine.

On the kit that I got it came with a wand that you have to wrap a Pec Pad
around. The wand with a pad on it is just smaller than the sensor. I just
bought one for a D70. I thought having the wand separate from the pad would
be a real money saver, but in hindsight the premade sealed swabs are
probably a better idea. OTOH, I've heard the separate wand allows you to
apply a bit more pressure and works better.

I've never seen it, but I heard Nikon makes a video tape on how to clean the
sensor for their techs. My understanding is they use Pec Pads and chop stix
and do it in a circular fashion, much like cleaning a lens.

"Sheldon" wrote in message
...
I have a D70 and check it now and then by shooting the sky at f22. So far
I've been able to blow away any dust, but today I couldn't so out came the
Pec Pad and fluid for my first try at cleaning a sensor.

snip

May the force be with you.

Sheldon


My experience wasnt as smooth. I think one issue was getting the
"sensor-swipe" to wipe flush against the sensor. I really felt that there
was very little wiggle room and that the sensor-swipe should have been
thinner. And by the way, for some of the passes, I pressed quite hard
without any ill effect. I think that the sensor (and filter) are much less
delicate than people may think. I am not saying to apply a lot of force, but
you can certainly press relatively hard (using finger strength only
ofcourse, not tri-cep strength!). Next time, I think I will slow down and
take my time (I really "rushed" on my first attempt). All in all, I found my
bulb blower to be as effective (just my experience).

Musty.

Sheldon wrote:
I have a D70 and check it now and then by shooting the sky at f22. So far
I've been able to blow away any dust, but today I couldn't so out came the
Pec Pad and fluid for my first try at cleaning a sensor.

Thanks very much for the feedback, makes me feel much better about
the impending need to the same.

Where did you buy the kit from?

--
Ken Tough

In article ,
Musty wrote:

you can certainly press relatively hard (using finger strength only
ofcourse, not tri-cep strength!).

So far, nobody has expressed "relatively hard" in newton-meters.

"Musty" wrote in message
...

"Sheldon" wrote in message
...
I have a D70 and check it now and then by shooting the sky at f22. So
far
I've been able to blow away any dust, but today I couldn't so out came
the
Pec Pad and fluid for my first try at cleaning a sensor.

snip

May the force be with you.

Sheldon


My experience wasnt as smooth. I think one issue was getting the
"sensor-swipe" to wipe flush against the sensor. I really felt that there
was very little wiggle room and that the sensor-swipe should have been
thinner. And by the way, for some of the passes, I pressed quite hard
without any ill effect. I think that the sensor (and filter) are much less
delicate than people may think. I am not saying to apply a lot of force,
but
you can certainly press relatively hard (using finger strength only
ofcourse, not tri-cep strength!). Next time, I think I will slow down and
take my time (I really "rushed" on my first attempt). All in all, I found
my
bulb blower to be as effective (just my experience).

Musty.

Don't take too much time. That fluid dries pretty fast, and you don't have
much area to cover.