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Where can you buy big packs of sensor wands?


wlaidlaw

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Having had a particularly resistant oil spot/piece of clag on the sensor today, which took three wands to get it clean, I would like to buy my cleaning wands in packs bigger than 10 (Digipads) or 12 (Pec-Pad wands) for both economy and convenience. I am sure the pro photographers among us are buying them in bigger packs than this but where? I am happy to buy from the US, as they don't weigh a lot, although either France or UK would be easier.

 

Wilson

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Why not buy a sensor wand and a pack of 100 PEC Pads. I bought a kit from CooperHilll over a year ago and I'm still on the first 100 pack of PEC Pads and I clean my sensors all the time. In fact in the last 3 days I clean one of my M8 sensors twice.

 

Thanks for the tip about using to much E2 solution. That is exactly what I was doing. This morning I finally got a completely clean, NO spots at all, sensor on the black M8. Now we'll see how long it lasts.

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Why not buy a sensor wand and a pack of 100 PEC Pads. I bought a kit from CooperHilll over a year ago and I'm still on the first 100 pack of PEC Pads and I clean my sensors all the time. In fact in the last 3 days I clean one of my M8 sensors twice.

 

Thanks for the tip about using to much E2 solution. That is exactly what I was doing. This morning I finally got a completely clean, NO spots at all, sensor on the black M8. Now we'll see how long it lasts.

 

Ed,

 

Pec Pads own website specifically advises against using the pads to clean sensors, saying they are made from a harder material in comparison to the material on their sensor wands. Glad my tip on cleaning methods helped. I have found a Pack of 100 wands from Bristol Cameras but it is £230. I am guessing there is a pretty healthy profit margin in this price.

 

Wilson

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.......I am guessing there is a pretty healthy profit margin in this price.

 

Wilson

 

A very healthy profit driven by fear. Pec pads work fine and are still overkill. Remember, the surface of the sensor is a piece of glass with a coating just as hard as the coating on a lens. You don't see people cleaning their lenses with tissue that cost $5.00 a sheet.

I use Everyclear drinking alcohol which cost about three bucks a pint for my lens cleaning solution. It has very little water in it. Plus you can carry it on a plane because is a beverage.

 

Rex

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Rex,

 

I have kept the latest set of wands I used. I do have a pack of Pec-Pad non-abrasive wipes, which is what I assume you are talking about. I have seen reports about other people reusing the wands with cut up Pec Pad non-abrasive wipes. I just wondered if this was another case of being a cheap-skate and risking damaging the camera, like using cheap batteries. Even if I decide to do this, I will keep using Eclipse #2 fluid. I would not risk using ethyl alcohol on the sensor as this can react with tin on the sensor connections, just like high concentrations of methyl alcohol can (Eclipse #1). I am not sure how hard the coating on these sensors is. It could be like early lens coatings e.g. on the just pre-war Zeiss Sonnars, which was very fragile and Zeiss recommended wet cleaning only with a special cloth they supplied. Until about 10 years ago, you could still buy 500ml bottles of the Zeiss fluid. It was the best stuff I have ever come across for cleaning non-reflective coated spectacles and camera lenses, when used with very soft kitchen paper towels.

 

Wilson

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Wilson I have been using PEC-PADs on my Nikon D200 for over a year and all 3 of the M8's I've had. That would be about 5 months of ownership and I can't count as high as the number of cleanings I've done on all the M8's. I have not had any problems nor do I ever expect to.

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I've used Pec Pads on my D100 ever since the camera came out, and I've used Pec Pads on my D2X for more than two years. I've also used Pec Pads on my R-D1 since January. I've never had a problem on any of these cameras.

 

The Copper Hill method has been around for a long time now. It works fine and is a lot less expensive than the alternatives.

 

I've also tried Visible Dust's stuff and found it to be over-hyped, especially the Arctic Butterfly. A fairly gentle blowing with a bulb-blower will do a better job than the Arctic Butterfly can do, and you don't have to wash the bulb in isopropyl alcohol or ethanol after a very few uses.

 

What scares everyone about wet cleaning is the camera manufacturers' warnings that civilization as we know it will end abruptly if you TOUCH your sensor with anything. It's true, you can ruin a sensor if you mistreat it, but careful cleaning isn't mistreating. Unless you plan to spend more than half your life cloning out spots you can't avoid cleaning your sensor.

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Have to agree with Rex. Never thought of using a drinking alcohol as a lens cleaner.

 

The Eclipse solution is another sensor cleaning ripoff. The stuff retails for about $6000 liter. I'm pretty sure the Eclipse #2 solution is pure ethanol and thats about it. It is true that any water can cause a drying streak but if your technique is good, a really high proof vodka will work fine. I repeat vodka, not any other drinking alcohol but vodka. Only vodka is pure ethanol diluted in water. 100 proof vodka is 50% ethanol and 50% water. If you could find 200 proof vodka it would be 100% ethanol. The nice thing about Everclear is it can be found as high as 150 proof. And a one pint bottle will last a lifetime.

 

BTW, I don't recommend drinking it straight. Back in my drinking days, even I would not attempt such a feat. The reason is, the alcolol is so hydroscopic it draws the moisture out of your throat, causing your esophagas to contract which restricts your breathing.

 

It makes great cleaning fluid though. Ethanol is perhaps the mildest of all solvents except water. It is generally the safest thing to start with when you are trying to remove something from an unknown substrate.

 

Rex

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