D800 - first time sensor cleaning (wet) - frustrations

[elliotn]

Hi

I've been trying to clean the sensor of my D800 for the first time. (Previously I've been too nervous to do it myself, and have paid for a commercial service.)

What's the secret?

I've now used 20 swabs and I'm still seeing smears along the edges and random spots of dust. Occasionally, I'll get a nearly clean sensor (i.e. 5 or 6 small specks of dust remaining, and no smears), but then the next attempt will be much worse (smears along top and bottom edge of frame, and several clusters of dust).

I'm using these swabs:

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www.amazon.co.uk

And this Eclipse liquid:

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www.amazon.co.uk

4 drops of Eclipse on the swab. Swipe one way, and then the other. Test shot at f22, examined on computer.

 

[wasserball]

I apply household 70% isopropyl alcohol using a q-tip swiping back and forth and then around the perimeter of the sensor. Yes there is a possibility of loose fiber getting trap in the sensor area if you are not careful. Use the dry end of the q-tip to dry out the sensor. Turn the camera with the sensor facing down (towards the floor) I use a 99 cents propylene squeeze bottle (no fancy rocket blower for me) to blow out any dust or lint trapped and to dry out the wet solution. All is good. It works for me. You can be overly fancy in doing something that is simple and straight forward. Oh, the D600 doesn't have any oil or dust on the sensor.

 

[philm5d]

Hi

I've been trying to clean the sensor of my D800 for the first time. (Previously I've been too nervous to do it myself, and have paid for a commercial service.)

What's the secret?

I've now used 20 swabs and I'm still seeing smears along the edges and random spots of dust. Occasionally, I'll get a nearly clean sensor (i.e. 5 or 6 small specks of dust remaining, and no smears), but then the next attempt will be much worse (smears along top and bottom edge of frame, and several clusters of dust).

I'm using these swabs:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/XCSOURCE-Sensor-Cleaner-Cleaning-DC581/dp/B00TF9AMPA/

And this Eclipse liquid:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004WBR8C6/

4 drops of Eclipse on the swab. Swipe one way, and then the other. Test shot at f22, examined on computer.

Four drops is too many and will lead to the problems you describe. Just ONE drop is enough and even then wait a few seconds for it to soak in to the swab and even evaporate a little. I use this type of swab https://www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Ca...8&qid=1495031975&sr=1-18&keywords=sensor+swab

You don't need the full frame swabs necessarily. After using all your pre-bought swabs keep the wands and remove the pads. Buy some "pec pads" and make your own using the old plastic spatulas. Fold the pec pads in two place the spatula in the fold, wrap the pad around the shaft and secure with a bit of sellotape. Use them once only.

Try not to aim for 100% dust free, settle for just a little less than perfection and you'll be happy! Good luck!

 

[elliotn]

Thank you both for your tips. I've reduced the quantity of Eclipse fluid. But I'm still not there yet. Attached is an image of the top right corner (at 100%):



Edited to add: and here's the full size jpeg that I took that crop from (click 'original size'):



As you can see, most of the sensor is now dust free, but there's a lot of mess around the edges.

 

[elliotn]

I apply household 70% isopropyl alcohol using a q-tip swiping back and forth and then around the perimeter of the sensor. Yes there is a possibility of loose fiber getting trap in the sensor area if you are not careful. Use the dry end of the q-tip to dry out the sensor. Turn the camera with the sensor facing down (towards the floor) I use a 99 cents propylene squeeze bottle (no fancy rocket blower for me) to blow out any dust or lint trapped and to dry out the wet solution. All is good. It works for me. You can be overly fancy in doing something that is simple and straight forward. Oh, the D600 doesn't have any oil or dust on the sensor.

I must say I'm tempted to go round the messy edges with a q-tip.

 

[philm5d]

Just persevere and you'll get there. I never look forward to swabbing a sensor but cleaning them every now again is a fact of life. Let us know how you get on!

 

[mrgs1]

Did it need a wet clean anyway? If it was just dust couldn't a blower and an article butterfly cleaned it. There are dry cleaning methods including a Gelstick etc, obviously if oil or some other smear was present then a wet may of been the solution.

 

[mais51]

Thank you both for your tips. I've reduced the quantity of Eclipse fluid. But I'm still not there yet. Attached is an image of the top right corner (at 100%):



Edited to add: and here's the full size jpeg that I took that crop from (click 'original size'):

Look like the sensor still wet when the image as taken - make sure you use the type of cleaning fluid that leaves no residue after drying off

As you can see, most of the sensor is now dust free, but there's a lot of mess around the edges.

 

[elliotn]

Did it need a wet clean anyway? If it was just dust couldn't a blower and an article butterfly cleaned it. There are dry cleaning methods including a Gelstick etc, obviously if oil or some other smear was present then a wet may of been the solution.

Yes, it needed wet cleaning. The instructions for my swabs recommend using a dry swab first, and only proceeding with a wet clean if marks remain. The dry swab did a great job, removing 95% of the dust. But two pieces of 'dust' left long smudges - I reckon one was an oil spot, the other maybe pollen. So a wet clean was necessary.

 

[md lucero]

Check out this video done by Moose Peterson. The Copper Hill Products are no longer available, but you can apply these techniques to the products that you are using. This is the method that I have been using for years with great success.

 

[elliotn]

Check out this video done by Moose Peterson. The Copper Hill Products are no longer available, but you can apply these techniques to the products that you are using. This is the method that I have been using for years with great success.

Thanks. I've just taken delivery of a packet of Pec Pads. I guess I need to trim them down to 24mm strips, and then tape them to the spatula, as shown in the above video?

 

[Ferguson]

There's a sticky border around the sensor that is part of the automatic cleaning system. Do not touch it. If you touch it, lift your tool and discard it. It's like glue, and if you touch it even a bit and drag it across the sensor, it's a smeary mess that is really tough to clean.

I agree with another poster, use too little eclipse rather than too much. Too much smears. A dry pec pad is not going to hurt anything and is worth trying against difficult smears as well. (Be sure you have removed dust with a blower first, as you don't want to drag dust around on the sensor).

Try not to use 70% isopropyl, as it does not evaporate as quickly or cleanly, eclipse is better, 90%+ is better but not as good.

 

[Herra Kuulapaa]

There's a sticky border around the sensor that is part of the automatic cleaning system. Do not touch it. If you touch it, lift your tool and discard it. It's like glue, and if you touch it even a bit and drag it across the sensor, it's a smeary mess that is really tough to clean.

There is no sticky gluelike border around the sensor in D800 or any other Nikon FX model involved in piezo cleaning.

Just IR/AA/UV filtering under a metal frame seated on black rubber. But you cannot touch that rubber with your swab so only thing you swipe is the AA/UV filter on the right.

 

[elliotn]

There's a sticky border around the sensor that is part of the automatic cleaning system. Do not touch it. If you touch it, lift your tool and discard it. It's like glue, and if you touch it even a bit and drag it across the sensor, it's a smeary mess that is really tough to clean.

This is the first I've heard of a 'sticky border' around the sensor edge (apart from a similar comment you made a few days ago). It seems believable, as the streaks I've been experiencing seem to come from the edges of the sensor. Can you back up your assertion?

 

[Herra Kuulapaa]

There's a sticky border around the sensor that is part of the automatic cleaning system. Do not touch it. If you touch it, lift your tool and discard it. It's like glue, and if you touch it even a bit and drag it across the sensor, it's a smeary mess that is really tough to clean.

This is the first I've heard of a 'sticky border' around the sensor edge (apart from a similar comment you made a few days ago). It seems believable, as the streaks I've been experiencing seem to come from the edges of the sensor. Can you back up your assertion?

I'd be interested to hear also where this so called sticky glue surface is?! I have taken more than a few full frame bodies apart and haven't found such material on sensor.

This is what I see looking inside my D800, an AA filter/dust shaker glass sitting on top of the IR filter and sensor below them.

 

[elliotn]

This is what I see looking inside my D800, an AA filter/dust shaker glass sitting on top of the IR filter and sensor below them.

Thank you. In this image, where does the image-capturing part of the sensor end? I see a golden border (perhaps 1mm wide in reality) - Is this border outside of the image-capturing area? I ask, because I'm wondering how hard I need to push the cleaning swab into the edges/ends of the mirror box.

 

[SushiEater]

I apply household 70% isopropyl alcohol using a q-tip swiping back and forth and then around the perimeter of the sensor. Yes there is a possibility of loose fiber getting trap in the sensor area if you are not careful. Use the dry end of the q-tip to dry out the sensor. Turn the camera with the sensor facing down (towards the floor) I use a 99 cents propylene squeeze bottle (no fancy rocket blower for me) to blow out any dust or lint trapped and to dry out the wet solution. All is good. It works for me. You can be overly fancy in doing something that is simple and straight forward. Oh, the D600 doesn't have any oil or dust on the sensor.

Go to the decent pharmacy and get yourself sterile swabs. They are cheap and don't have any lint. The come in a box and each package is sealed. There are two per package and I think 100 (50 packages) in a box. They are single sided and handle is made out of wood.

 

[SushiEater]

Try not to use 70% isopropyl, as it does not evaporate as quickly or cleanly, eclipse is better, 90%+ is better but not as good.

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[elliotn]

I am getting better results with the Pec Pads than the VSGO swabs. No more smears around the edges. Unfortunately after each clean I get several large dust spots which seem to have shed from the Pec Pad itself.

 

[Ferguson]

There's a sticky border around the sensor that is part of the automatic cleaning system. Do not touch it. If you touch it, lift your tool and discard it. It's like glue, and if you touch it even a bit and drag it across the sensor, it's a smeary mess that is really tough to clean.

This is the first I've heard of a 'sticky border' around the sensor edge (apart from a similar comment you made a few days ago). It seems believable, as the streaks I've been experiencing seem to come from the edges of the sensor. Can you back up your assertion?

I'd be interested to hear also where this so called sticky glue surface is?! I have taken more than a few full frame bodies apart and haven't found such material on sensor.

This is what I see looking inside my D800, an AA filter/dust shaker glass sitting on top of the IR filter and sensor below them.

OK, now I think I'm going insane.

First, there's an adhesive strip that's supposed to be part of the automatic sensor cleaning. It's referenced a lot of places, here's one from Hogan:

http://www.dslrbodies.com/cameras/camera-articles/sensors/cleaning-your-sensor.html

(Search for the word Adhesive).

But when I look in my D800 I don't see it, and I clearly remember getting a pec pad sticky once and making a royal mess. I've been paranoid ever since and stuck purely to the sensor portion, and clearly have extrapolated that to the D800, even though I do not see a strip. And yes I see it says "bottom" and I said "border". As I said, early insanity, but I did not completely invent this.

And I KNOW I had a sticky mess once. I just now am not sure which camera.

I had a D300 (non-S) before that -- did it have the strip visible?

And where is it physically on the D800, as looking inside I do not see it.

Postscript: Could it have been a D80? Had one of those also. Can't look now as battery is years dead and wife has the charger somewhere unknown. D300 long sold.

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