bocaburger Posted November 30, 2014 Share #21 Posted November 30, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) But it far easier to get your horse shod and six-shooter cleaned over there than in London. Each to his own.. No Texan worth his salt needs someone else to clean his hogleg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 30, 2014 Posted November 30, 2014 Hi bocaburger, Take a look here M Sensor Cleaning. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
edwardkaraa Posted November 30, 2014 Share #22 Posted November 30, 2014 Thanks. IIRC they recommend a pass with the Sensor Clean liquid after using the Smear Away. Supposedly the VDust Plus is a combination (or an in-between). I don't even know where I would get ahold of methanol. What is this Eclipse stuff I read about that a lot of people use? Any caveats? Actually I use eclipse, which is methanol. It is a powerful solvent so some warn against touching any plastics or glues with it. Premoistured sensor swabs plus are the best imo. They have just the right amount of liquid. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted November 30, 2014 Share #23 Posted November 30, 2014 One hour to drive and get on a train, two hours on the train, and hour to get across London, say one/two hours wait in the Leica store and I'm off again, an hour back to the station, maybe an hour waiting for the train, two hours on the train, train arrives and an hour back home. Ten or eleven hours if everything goes well, not to mention the cost, petrol, station parking, and the extortionate price of the train ticket, London tube tickets, etc. about £300 in total at a rough guess. Then there is loss of earnings. I could drive all the way, but that would take even longer. This is why I would query the bizarre idea that Leica do a free clean if you just pop into the store. It is free for a privileged few, the rest like me have to buy our own cleaning materials, but given it only takes ten minutes to clean a sensor that is much better than wasting eleven hours. In fact if I lived in London I'd still query the idea that my time was so cheap that it was better to make even a short journey to have a sensor cleaned than do it myself. Steve Since when is it a privilege to have to live in the city? The BBC even does a program “Escape to the country “ As for the price of train tickets, the UK never fails to astound me: I can get a return from Rotterdam to Paris on the Thalys for less than 50 Euro. 35 by regular train... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted November 30, 2014 Share #24 Posted November 30, 2014 I also think you have to make an appointment with Leica Mayfair in advance. I am with Steve on the cost implications. I could buy a reasonable point and shoot or a used IIIC for the price of a Mayfair clean in travel by itself, let alone my time. I am going to carry on wet cleaning my M240 but use the sticky lollipop/blower/Arctic Butterfly only on M8 and 9. I might change from Eclipse to pure ethanol. I wonder if they mean 96%, which is as high as you can get by distillation (remembering your phase diagrams from chemistry) or the 100% which may contain metal ions, as it is made by adding metallic sodium, lithium or potassium to 96% ethanol. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlaing Posted November 30, 2014 Share #25 Posted November 30, 2014 No Texan worth his salt needs someone else to clean his hogleg Ain't much hog leg use here anymore. Automatics are the new hog leg. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwardkaraa Posted November 30, 2014 Share #26 Posted November 30, 2014 I also think you have to make an appointment with Leica Mayfair in advance. I am with Steve on the cost implications. I could buy a reasonable point and shoot or a used IIIC for the price of a Mayfair clean in travel by itself, let alone my time. I am going to carry on wet cleaning my M240 but use the sticky lollipop/blower/Arctic Butterfly only on M8 and 9. I might change from Eclipse to pure ethanol. I wonder if they mean 96%, which is as high as you can get by distillation (remembering your phase diagrams from chemistry) or the 100% which may contain metal ions, as it is made by adding metallic sodium, lithium or potassium to 96% ethanol. Wilson If I understand correctly, I believe ethanol is mixed with a few percents of methanol which makes it much less hygroscopic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted November 30, 2014 Share #27 Posted November 30, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) If I understand correctly, I believe ethanol is mixed with a few percents of methanol which makes it much less hygroscopic. Edward, Thanks for that thought. I know that 100% ethanol will quickly revert to 96% by absorbing water from the atmosphere, unless you keep it tightly sealed. I think that 96% ethanol/4% methanol is called "denatured alcohol" in Europe. The problem is knowing what else might be in there. It is not uncommon for things to be added to reduce its palatability, like pyridine. These are probably not what you want near your very expensive sensor. For that reason, I will stick to either Eclipse or absolute ethanol alcohol. I am not certain why the UK is so paranoid about this. You can buy 96% palatable ethanol in any French supermarket. I see the old retired farm workers in my village, buying bottles of this and cartons of grape juice to "make" their own wine. At least you know it is not made from fermented banana skins and corn husks, like some European "wine". Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayewing Posted November 30, 2014 Share #28 Posted November 30, 2014 I am sure that I read somewhere that Leica uses Isopropyl alcohol for sensor cleaing. I have not as yet used it on a sensor though it is very good for removing greasy marks from spectacles. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted November 30, 2014 Share #29 Posted November 30, 2014 I am sure that I read somewhere that Leica uses Isopropyl alcohol for sensor cleaing. According to an LFI article from July, 2007..."Leica's customer service uses nothing fancy but a homemade plastic spatula, dry optical cloths and isopropyl alcohol." I no longer subscribe to LFI, nor recall any discussion on more recent practice, although videos have shown techs using 'lollipop' for at least part of the procedure. Cleaning products, and sensors (on newer cameras), have changed. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted November 30, 2014 Share #30 Posted November 30, 2014 Edward, Thanks for that thought. I know that 100% ethanol will quickly revert to 96% by absorbing water from the atmosphere, unless you keep it tightly sealed. I think that 96% ethanol/4% methanol is called "denatured alcohol" in Europe. The problem is knowing what else might be in there. It is not uncommon for things to be added to reduce its palatability, like pyridine. These are probably not what you want near your very expensive sensor. For that reason, I will stick to either Eclipse or absolute ethanol alcohol. I am not certain why the UK is so paranoid about this. You can buy 96% palatable ethanol in any French supermarket. I see the old retired farm workers in my village, buying bottles of this and cartons of grape juice to "make" their own wine. At least you know it is not made from fermented banana skins and corn husks, like some European "wine". Wilson No, denatured alcohol is 85% Methanol with Bergamot oil added (to make it undrinkable) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwardkaraa Posted November 30, 2014 Share #31 Posted November 30, 2014 According to wikipedia it's 90% ethanol and 10% methanol. Denatured alcohol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted November 30, 2014 Share #32 Posted November 30, 2014 According to wikipedia it's 90% ethanol and 10% methanol. Denatured alcohol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The proportions of ethyl/methyl alcohol vary. In the UK it varies between 90/10 and 95/5 but with purple dye and pyridine added (Methylated Spirits). Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocaburger Posted November 30, 2014 Share #33 Posted November 30, 2014 I'm really wondering what the Visible Dust solutions contain, as they don't contain any alcohol and are not labeled as flammable or poisonous. I've never had a problem with them leaving smears or residue, but then again I've never cleaned a Leica sensor with Leica shutter oil spots on it, nor any sensors without AA filters. I re-read the Visible Dust website and they definitely say to use only the brown swabs on sensors without a low-pass filter though, which would include the M240. Is that because low-pass filters don't have coatings? And so far I have not seen any evidence of oil spots on my M240, so perhaps being a Leica factory demo, all the splatter happened already and the sensor was cleaned at the factory before they shipped it out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocaburger Posted November 30, 2014 Share #34 Posted November 30, 2014 Ain't much hog leg use here anymore. Automatics are the new hog leg. That's a shame. To me there's no finer shootin' iron than an 1820SAA or one of its modern clones. The only auto I ever cottoned to is the 1911. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlaing Posted November 30, 2014 Share #35 Posted November 30, 2014 That's a shame. To me there's no finer shootin' iron than an 1820SAA or one of its modern clones. The only auto I ever cottoned to is the 1911. 1911's it is. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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