Anybody cleaned the CCD without Sensor Swab and Eclipse??

[Igor]

After only (?) two months of use I got those nasty spots on my photos.....
Ordering Swabs + Eclipse would take considerable time (I'm in the Ukraine). Can anybody share experience of cleaning the CCD with what you have available right now and here?
Will alcohol work? Or only methanol? I have no idea where to find that methanol... Oh well...

[Tom Nolle]

Sure have, Igor. I've used the "blub blower" method, the "SpeckGrabber", and built my own swab using a small jar spatula. I use Everclear (Ethanol) and Pec Pads when using the swab; a hundred Pec Pads is less than a box of sensor swabs, and you can cut the 4x4 inch Pec Pads in half for use.

Bulb blowing works if you're really lucky and dust isn't sticking to the CCD. SpeckGrabber works if you have a big piece of something; small motes aren't visible enough to grab. The spatula/swab approach is usually best, but I will always blow the CCD off with the bulb first.

Tom

[Andre]

I just made my first attempt today.

I made a spatula with a piece of a plastic card - a hospital ID card. I attached a piece of lens cloth over the end of it to simulate a swab. For cleaner, I used lens cleaner. I used a magnifying glass and a strong halogen lamp.

I had to do it several times, but I now have it almost perfectly clean. Way better than what it was anyway.

I was nervous though. Part way through, I could see marks that I had made that I briefly thought were scratches. Luckily they were not.

I am happy with the result, but not sure if I want to go through it again - a bit nerve wracking.

Andre

[Tom Nolle]

IMHO, the issue of CCD cleaning is overblown on the Web, and it makes people more wary of it than they really need to be. If you use a lint-free cloth pad like the Pec Pad, a pure alcohol solvent (methanol, ethanol), and anything that's not ultra-hard as the stick you tie the pad to, you probably can't damage anything unless you're incredibly careless. Still, it's best to try to minimize the amount of swabbing you have to do. Blowing off the CCD first may work, particularly if you have let the camera set a while so you aren't collecting a static charge on the CCD to make dust stick. It also seems to depend on what your "dust" really is. Organic stuff like pollen can be a bear, and anything abrasive is even worse. Fortunately abrasive stuff doesn't seem to stick and can be blown off.

Tom

[Igor]

I went radical way myself: cleaned my with a vacuum cleaner!
Of course I was not bold (dumb) enough to put it directly into the lens opening, but very close so it sucked all (I hope) dust from the camera. Worked great! Recommend to all :)

[sandman]

i suppose it would depend if you had an upright or a hose model Igor. i can see a problem trying to balance an upright on top of the S2. :D :D :D :D

[Igor]

:)

Brian, have you rec'd my direct message re. macro lenses?

[sandman]

I have now, and replied

Brian

[Andre]

Originally posted by sandman
i suppose it would depend if you had an upright or a hose model Igor. i can see a problem trying to balance an upright on top of the S2. :D :D :D :D

LOL!

Actually, I wonder if adapting onto the end of the hose, maybe, a straw? That might be good for getting down into it.

[sandman]

Andre
if it works for Igor ,all well and good , but narrowing the tube will increase the suction, it's basic physics, so unless you want the viewfinder and flashgun to disapear up the hose i would advise extreme caution . i can't see fuji being very sympathetic when you take your vaccum in ,and ask them to get your S2 out .

If this sounds like i'm knocking Igors success with this, i'm not , his was a ingenious solution to his problem and it worked.

But i'll use the swabs .

Brian

[Igor]

Hey guys, nothing to worry about. You don't have to bring the hose to the very opening. An inch or two distansce would be OK, as the suction is strong enough. Try it, it removes ALL dust inside the CCD compartment of the camera!

[pauly99]

I tried the learn by your mistakes method. First used an ear wax remover (blower) which helped remove a little dust. Then purchased a cleaner from Radio S***** which contained some spatula sort of swabs with an isopropyl alcohol cleaner. The spatula swabs are great but the isopropyl alcohol left nasty streaks on the CCD. Found a more potent isopropyl alcohol (91%) which still left streaks. Then, upon recommendation from CaptJR through a previous post I found some everclear and beer. Beer to steady my nerves and the everclear does a marvelous job with the spatula swabs. So long as only two to three drops are used and as soon as you swipe a portion of the CCD you immediately use another swab to go over that same spot to dry then everything turns out A-OK.

This was my first cleaning at 1500 images. Noticed two very distinct dark spots on images (especially involving light colors).

Typically, how often are others out there cleaning there CCD's?

[Wichita Wayne]

You Hoovered your Fuji. I used Sensor Swabs and grain alcohol (Everclear or ethanol). All it took was two swipes and it was clean as a whistle. But the vacuum idea was good.

[dwbfoto]

Mini-vacuums are available; they may even have goosenecks (geesenecks?)!

[Yamatan]

Igor,

So, still need to keep the shutter open and mirror up to apply vacuum, right? I just noticed last week that I had many specks on my CCD as well. I was shooting at f16 and up. When shooting wide open I see nothing which I have doing mostly.

Anyway, I am off to local stores looking for AC adapter for my S2. Probably get cleaning kit as well if I find any.

I did find somebody else also at work who used the vacuum technique.

Thanks.

[Igor]

Be careful tho', don't bring the tube too close to the camera. 1" clearence would work .

[G. Modick]

Well, I also tried Igor's vacuum cleaning method in my first attempt at cleaning the CCD. It seems to have worked very well.

I will also invest in a blower and probably a cleaning kit, but since I wanted to clean a rather large particle of dust off the CCD I thought what the hey give it a go. I followed the manual instructions, saw the particle with a flash light, hooked up the vacuum and it was gone.

Personally, I feel you should use the blower first, followed by the vacuum method and then if that doesn't work use the cleaning pads. Using the blower and vacuum avoids coming near the sensor, thus avoiding any marks on the sensor.

Thanks Igor........you may have started a trend.