cleaning resistant sensor dust with electrical tape

In those situations when dry and wet conventionnal cleaning is not enough, I use the electrical tape method.



It requires electrical tape that doesn't stick well. Most of the time, the cheapest one does the job: I just make sure there is almost no adhesive on the sticky side. I don't want a strong adhesive that will rip out the sensor, or a bad adhesive that will leave some nasty residue.

I think it works in two ways: those tapes are very static: they tend to attract dust naturally, and the adhesive finishes the job.
After conventionnal cleaning, I use a piece of cardboard and the electrician tape the catch all the remaining dust. I do it with one little piece of tape: take a test photo, check the remaining dust, and repeat.



I don't try to get rid of 100% of it, if I reach a dozen spots, I'm good.

Do I recommend you to do it? nope. I don't recommend anything. But feel free to try it on an old sensor.







https://www.joseph-balson.com/Blog/Cleaning-resistant-sensor-dust/

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It's just some glass, some silicon and magnesium. It isn't a religion.

Joseph Balson said:

... Do I recommend you to do it? nope.

Click to expand...

Electrical tape can pull away clean or can leave a sticky mess that will never be removed.

In general, using a sticky tape to lift dirt off glass isn't a bad thing, but any particular sticky tape needs to be tested first to make sure it leaves no residue on glass. It's also useful to note that some cameras with IBIS might not do well to have their sensor pulled forward by the action of removing the tape. There is also a slim chance the glue would react with a coating on the sensor cover glass.

Incidentally, there are actually liquids designed to be poured onto sensors/mirrors/glass to trap dirt, then harden into a rubbery material, and be pealed off. There are similar issues with using them... for example, there's a similar concern about peeling force on sensor IBIS mounts.

You are absolutely right ProfHankD.

I should have more emphasized on that: I wrote "I don't want a strong adhesive that will rip out the sensor, or a bad adhesive that will leave some nasty residue." which clearly is not enough.

I would suggest something like a post-it note which has a very low tack adhesive. Incidentally doing this sort of thing is known to have caused damage with some Canon 1D cameras so caution is needed.

If I have tough spots I put the cleaning fluid on the sensor and leave in on for a few minutes. Worked everytime I needed to do this.

I've cleaned a filter before with such tape; worked like a charm, but never used it for sensors though.

Adhesive tape removal is a source of ESD (electrostatic discharge), which makes another reason it's not recommended.

I had a 20+ year old Nikon D1X with a filthy sensor. I procrastinated because I couldn't get the shutter to stay open & mirror to stay up despite turning those options ON in the menu. Manual told me it had to be on its AC adapter to stay that way! (Progress)

I used cotton swabs dipped in isopropyl alcohol. It was probably 91% (9% H2O) since it was at home. I then used a dry one to make sure no water spots. Checked with a magnifier-good. That camera had no 'floating' mechanism for sensor stabilization so there was no movement.

I had been leery but others said the glass over the sensor assured reasonable cleaning could be done at home.

No idea what was on that sensor but it looked like dried material...maybe a water spot. Tape probably wouldn't have worked. Air didn't.

I have also sprayed 3M Glass Cleaner (into a separate cup!), then used the wooden-stick cotton swabs. This was better on film cameras with lubricant migration (or my own fingerprints).

I have had to clean (glass) fiber optics at work & appropriately soft cleaning media & 99-100% isopropanol (a.k.a. IPA) is common.

But you need to know that you are cleaning glass and some kind of plastic, which is unfortunately common (some (D)SLR mirrors). I hope the day never comes when sensor filters are polymer (

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Murray