How To: Clean Heads (?)

[Drew Curran]

I found this link for head cleaning tapes in the UK

http://www.stainesandbrights.co.uk/a...CESSORIES.html


Drew

[John Doran]

amazon.co.uk

[Drew Curran]

John can u post a link for JVC head cleaning tapes on the amazon site?

ta

Drew

[Carl Hicks]

Originally Posted by Jim Fields

I must be weird as I dont use cleaning tapes, but cleaning soloution and a few Q-Tips and clean all the rollers, heads, etc by hand. I just take the plastic cover off the door for better sight and flexability.

Jim, cleaning the video heads this way on a DV-sized tape transport is very risky. They are fragile, and even a single cotton fiber can snag the video head the wrong way and damage it. It's much safer to use a cleaning tape.

[Joe Bowey]

Didn't I see a post a long time ago which someone had pics of the jvc camera and how to clean it with swabs?Iam willing to learn how to clean it with professional tools.

[Steve Oakley]

Originally Posted by Joe Bowey

Didn't I see a post a long time ago which someone had pics of the jvc camera and how to clean it with swabs?Iam willing to learn how to clean it with professional tools.

skip q-tips. there are foam cleaning pads on sticks made especially for the job. all that said, the heads are fairly fragile, and even with the cassette door off, its still hard to clean because the holes in the tape transport are pretty small. you have to be really really carefull. its not like cleaning 3/4 or betaSP by any means. its for anyone who's not skilled....

[Richard Zlamany]

I was taught never to use qtips because they snag the heads.

The proper tool is a chamois head cleaning stick like these:

http://www.electronix.com/catalog/ad...hamois&x=0&y=0

[Chris Rentzel]

Carl,

Is there a rule of thumb as to how often to clean the tape heads? Is it bad to clean them before each shoot, or does this wear on the heads too much?

Thanks!

[Panos Bournias]

Since a month I get head cleaning messages on the camera during shooting. Yesterday I shot 6 tapes and between the 5th and the 6th I got this message, I cleaned the head and no problems.
As soon as I start capturing today, the spooler gave me a head cleaning sign. It happened on the second tape that during shooting seemed to have no problems. I cleaned the heads but the mesage came back again and again. Using the camera as a deck, to check if there is a problem with the head of the BR-HD50, I got the same message at the same region of the same tape.
I captured anyway the footage, that looked mainly unusable anyway, and imported it to Avid to get a message that the frames are corrupted, cannot playback the footage etc.
What is this? It is a new situation and I am worried because I cannot risk another "Bad Tape", it could put me out of business.... Can Carl give me a guidance? I am planning to check the camera in Jakarta next week and maybe give the tape for an analysis? I am using JVC normal DV tapes all the time and I was shooting HDV 30p.
Panos

[Jim Boda]

Originally Posted by Richard Zlamany

I was taught never to use qtips because they snag the heads.

The proper tool is a chamois head cleaning stick like these:

http://www.electronix.com/catalog/ad...hamois&x=0&y=0

Very true. Only use Q-tips on the pinch rollers and capstans...and don't over-saturate because the solution could damage the bearings.

Only use Chammy's on the heads and it's a delicate precedure. Only clean in the direction of the tape path (no vertical motion on the drum). Lightly hold the chammy stick (dipped in cleaning solution) against the drum and spin the drum.

I used to clean 3/4" machines this way. There was a way to fake the drum to play mode without a tape inserted and I could gently chammy swab the drum while it was spinning.

Better to use the cleaning tape if you don't know what your doing. You can also "gently" blow out the dust w/ compressed air (Not difluoroethane) before running the cleaning tape.

[Steve Oakley]

Originally Posted by Chris Rentzel

Carl,

Is there a rule of thumb as to how often to clean the tape heads? Is it bad to clean them before each shoot, or does this wear on the heads too much?

Thanks!

only when you need to when it comes to a cleaning tape. at best, if you change brands of tape from say sony to jvc / panasonic / maxell. Another alternate head clean method is to just play scan a normal tape FF/RW for a minute or two, maybe a little longer if you need to. preferably use a new tape, not the same tape you've been shooting on if the tape is a problem. this is much less wearing way to clean the heads as its normal tape and will usually clear all but the most stubborn clogs.

[Liam Hall]

Originally Posted by David Scattergood

Will do Drew...I know some of the JVC cleaning tapes are hard to find, perhaps Liam (in London) may know of a supplier?
I've had a quick browse on the creativevideo site (where I get my PRO HD tapes from) but nothing jumps out.

Sorry David, I must have missed this thread originally.

I couldn't find a JVC head cleaner, so I've been using Panasonic. Which was working fine until last week when I started getting an "Insert Cleaning Tape" message whenever I tried to play something back. I have been shooting in some harsh places recently, so I think it just needs a quick service.

[Tim Dashwood]

Originally Posted by Chris Rentzel

Is there a rule of thumb as to how often to clean the tape heads? Is it bad to clean them before each shoot, or does this wear on the heads too much?

The official recommendation (from page 7 of the user manual) is 1 to 2 times every 5 hours in low or high temperatures, 1 to 2 times every 20 to 30 hours at normal room temperatures.

The manual also says to only use cleaning cassettes produced by JVC.

[Drew Curran]

Originally Posted by Drew Curran

http://www.stainesandbrights.co.uk/a...CESSORIES.html

I got my JVC cleaning tape here.
Drew