Moisture Condensation

[Hubert Hofer]

My A1 & HC1 have had that problem twice within 6 months of having been sent to Sony Service agent. Both cameras had the moisture symptom within days of each other. Each service repair set me back $ 800.- for both. This last time 2 weeks ago I hadn't used the cameras for more than 1 tape each.
I think A1 & HC1 owners need to gang together to get some answers from Sony. My old Digital 8 has been left lying around in all sorts of places & yet starts up every time I check it. same with the old VX1000. I'm sure the A1 & HC1 are of flawed manufacture/design.

[Damian Clarke]

I would agree reading around that it does seem to be concentrated on the A1 and HC1, essentially the same camera anyway, so no surprise that it happens to both then. Seems to be a common flaw in both.
I store my FX1 and HC1 in the same Sony case in a normal temperature room under the same conditions. I pull out the FX1, no worries. I pull out the HC1, whines about moisture condensation. Now, if there really was a problem with the environment that caused condensation then the bloody FX1 would be complaining too, right?
I reckon there's no condensation at all, it's a firmware/sensor problem. Bollocks. Thanks Sony.

[Scott Hayes]

constant condensation errors. stored in the same place as my FX1 and Z1u. no issues
with either of them. AND I have the C31:23 error constantly. i have not had this camera
screw up taping a wedding, but it is getting harder to use as a deck. I am thinking
Canon HV30 as a replacement.

[John Lutz]

I have had a HC-1 for about 2 years and love it.
I never had a moisture problem until I took it to Maui, we had monsoon rains for 4 days although it was never in the rain directly, it gave me the moisture screen after shooting from the hotel room.
After comming back home to Arizona I was getting the moisture screen over half of the time I was using the HC-1, I had it all day yesterday, this morning I was reading this forum and saw the "TRY TO RESET" the HC-1............it worked.
I put a cassette in and got the moisture screen, then I did a reset with a paper clip,
re-entered the date and time and the HC-1 worked.
I sure hope the "FIX" is that easy.
John

[John Lutz]

Since my post in August about the moisture sensor screen it has happened four more times
all I have to do is reset the camera with a paper clip and it works fine, a lot cheaper than sending it back to Sony.

John

[Alister Chapman]

I was starting to get dew warnings so I cleaned the sensor myself and now the warnings have gone away. All you need is a cotton bud and some alcohol. The sensor is a small square device that stands upright and is on the rear left side of the cassette compartment. It is not part of the drum or tape transport so you shouldn't damage them in the cleaning process, but it is just to the left of one of the guide rollers when viewed through the open cassette door.

If it is very dirty it will appear like a small square circuit board about 5mm x 5mm with a black blob in the center and two solder connections at the top. After cleaning you should see a bright copper circuit where the black was prior to cleaning. Gentle wiping with an alcohol moistened cotton bud is all it needs.

Please not that if you do clean it you do so at our own risk.

[John Lutz]

Can you possibly send a picture of the sensor and exactly where it is located?

Thanks
John Lutz

[Daniel Shaw]

Originally Posted by Alister Chapman

I was starting to get dew warnings so I cleaned the sensor myself and now the warnings have gone away. All you need is a cotton bud and some alcohol. The sensor is a small square device that stands upright and is on the rear left side of the cassette compartment. It is not part of the drum or tape transport so you shouldn't damage them in the cleaning process, but it is just to the left of one of the guide rollers when viewed through the open cassette door.

If it is very dirty it will appear like a small square circuit board about 5mm x 5mm with a black blob in the center and two solder connections at the top. After cleaning you should see a bright copper circuit where the black was prior to cleaning. Gentle wiping with an alcohol moistened cotton bud is all it needs.

Please not that if you do clean it you do so at our own risk.

Alister, is 100% Correct.
I discovered this for myself, after pulling the camera apart.. Wished I read the message first.

I had a random problem with my Sony HVR-A1P HDV camera experiencing moisture issues. Even under very controlled constant environments.

The issue was definitely not caused by moisture.

With some lens cleaning fluid and a long cotton bud, I cleaned the small circuit board in the back left corner of the tape transport section.

It was initially black, but after two swipes, it was sparkling clean.

After cleaning it revealed something resembling a LDR (light dependent resistor)

After two cotton bud swipes, problem solved. No reset needed.
Saved myself a fortune on service as well.

Dan.

[Juan Parra]

Originally Posted by John Lutz

Can you possibly send a picture of the sensor and exactly where it is located? Thanks John Lutz

John,

I actually found this thread to solve the problem.

As Allister said:
"The sensor is a small square device that stands upright
and is on the rear left side of the cassette compartment."

Here's a before and after cleaning the sensor (picture attached).

Hope it's useful for you and the rest.
Cheers!

[Mike Calla]

Fantastic, I live in a humid city and was dreading the day i get a moisture error! thanks


...on another note, Juan, i think you might want to change the link in your signature. my guess is you stopped using that URL... but someone else sure is:)

[Juan Parra]

Originally Posted by Mike Calla

...on another note, Juan, i think you might want to change the link in your signature. my guess is you stopped using that URL... but someone else sure is:)

Thank you Mike, I thought I changed it, but now's done.
Glad it helped.

[Ian Campbell]

Thanks Alister and Juan!

One of my three HC1's has for awhile been giving me "mosture" warnings -- and a second one today started to do the same. It's definately a false warning when it's not humid where I am using the camcorders.

Today I tried your "trick" of cleaning off the sensor at the rear of the cassette compartment. So far so good. Right away the camera which has been giving the most grief works now. And the other seems fine now too.

One interesting thing, however, is that all of my HC1's look like Juan's first pic. The dark square in the middle of the sensor on all of my cams is solid black like the first of the two pics. Wiping the sensor on both cameras a few times with a cotton swap moistened with isopropyl alcohol didn't make the black square less black where it would revelled the lighter detail under the black. Should I try a different cleaner? I wonder if this "black patch" is meant to be completely removed? All of my camcorders appear clean and dust free when inspecting inside the cassette compartment.

I'm hoping that by giving the sensor a wipe, it has fixed the issue. If so, I'd be livid to have paid hundreds of dollars to Sony to fix such something this quick and easy to remidy.

Thanks again!

Ian

[Jessica Gallant]

Originally Posted by Ian Campbell

Thanks Alister and Juan!

Yes indeed, thank you! You just saved me from having to send my camera to Sony for repairs - I've been shooting interviews on my HVR-A1U for a friend's documentary and just started getting the "moisture condensation warning" today.

Jessica

[Kevin Triplett]

I've cleaned this sensor so that it looks like the photo and still no relief. I've tried resetting the camera and no change, still get the moisture condensation warning.

[Jessica Gallant]

I just got my HVR-A1U back from Video One Repair after having the moisture sensor replaced. From what they told me, the sensor in the camera frequently goes bad and needs to be replaced.