I used to think cleaning sensors with a wet method was bad practice

I read a repair manual from 1985 that described using a diluted isopropyl alcohol solution on a sensor, and it surprised me how common this was before modern dry swabs existed. The manual said repair shops in Tokyo had been doing this for years with no damage. Has anyone here tried a liquid method on older CCD sensors and seen better results than dry cleaning?

2 comments

2 Comments

henry_moore5517d ago

It's a hard pass from me on liquid methods for any sensor, old or new. The risk of leaving microscopic residue or causing uneven drying marks is just too high, and I've seen enough wrecked mirrorless cameras to know modern dry swabs are better in every way. If a manual from 1985 says it was common, that just tells me they didn't have better options yet, not that it was actually a good practice.

the_charles17d ago

I read a thing from a repair tech once who said the biggest issue with liquid wasn't even residue... it was that people used too much pressure trying to dry it off. They had a camera come in where the guy used one of those old school squeeze bottles and the sensor looked like a rainy windshield. I get what you're saying about the dry swabs being safer though... I've used both and the margin for error with liquid is just way too thin. That "common practice" line in the manual sounds like what you'd say about changing oil with a butter knife if nothing else was around.