Preventative Cleaning of GL2 Tape Heads at DVinfo.net

Pete Wilie · January 5th, 2005, 12:30 PM

How often do you (should you) clean the Canon GL2 tape heads with the dry cassette cleaner?

I shoot a lot of events, and can't afford to stop in the middle of an event and clean the heads when I get a message to do so. On the other hand, I don't want to "overclean" the heads so much that it damages or reduces the life of the heads.

So, I would like to establish a SOP of cleaning the heads every X hours.
What should X be?

Ken Tanaka · January 5th, 2005, 12:44 PM

Nobody has a reliable rule for this, Pete. All you'll get here are peoples' anecdotal best practices ranging from, "Only when the picture gets messed up" to "Every 5th tape". The fact is that "xx hours" is generally a poor meter, as it does not factor the amount of playback on the heads.

So "every so often" will likely be the best guide. No regimen of prophylactic cleaning will offer failure protection. For that you need a second camera, like professional still photographers carry.

Pete Wilie · January 7th, 2005, 08:52 PM

Hi Ken, thanks for the feedback.

I guess the engineer in me just won't be satisfied with "every now and then" :)

While nothing is for sure in life [except "death and taxes" :) ], I'm a big believer that reasonable precautions can help. Over some amount of time and use, this should become a fairly predictable event, particularly for a given camera. I guess I subscribe to the theory "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

So, you can choose "every now and then" if that suits your needs, but for me I would like to establish a regular cleaning interval. Of course, this would be based on total usage, not just record time.

Surely I'm not the first to address this issue. Anyone else perform scheduled maintenance of their GL2?

January 5th, 2005, 12:30 PM	#1
Pete Wilie Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 331	Preventative Cleaning of GL2 Tape Heads How often do you (should you) clean the Canon GL2 tape heads with the dry cassette cleaner? I shoot a lot of events, and can't afford to stop in the middle of an event and clean the heads when I get a message to do so. On the other hand, I don't want to "overclean" the heads so much that it damages or reduces the life of the heads. So, I would like to establish a SOP of cleaning the heads every X hours. What should X be?

January 5th, 2005, 12:44 PM	#2
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Nobody has a reliable rule for this, Pete. All you'll get here are peoples' anecdotal best practices ranging from, "Only when the picture gets messed up" to "Every 5th tape". The fact is that "xx hours" is generally a poor meter, as it does not factor the amount of playback on the heads. So "every so often" will likely be the best guide. No regimen of prophylactic cleaning will offer failure protection. For that you need a second camera, like professional still photographers carry. __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

January 7th, 2005, 08:52 PM	#3
Pete Wilie Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 331	an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure Hi Ken, thanks for the feedback. I guess the engineer in me just won't be satisfied with "every now and then" :) While nothing is for sure in life [except "death and taxes" :) ], I'm a big believer that reasonable precautions can help. Over some amount of time and use, this should become a fairly predictable event, particularly for a given camera. I guess I subscribe to the theory "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." So, you can choose "every now and then" if that suits your needs, but for me I would like to establish a regular cleaning interval. Of course, this would be based on total usage, not just record time. Surely I'm not the first to address this issue. Anyone else perform scheduled maintenance of their GL2?