How to clean DV head?

[cheerful]

I am getting corrupted video on playback. Is there any good way to clean the head?

Thanks!

[RottenFoxBreath]

cotton bud and isopropyl alcohol.
simplest and most effective,better than head cleaners with the abrasive brushes,or sand paper quality absorbant tape!

[cheerful]

Thanks! I was thinking of doing that. Just want to make sure.

[cheerful]

I found some 70% rubbing alcohol at home. Is that ok? Or it has to be iso-propyl alcohol? Does it need to be sth like 99%?

Thanks!

cotton bud and isopropyl alcohol.
simplest and most effective,better than head cleaners with the abrasive brushes,or sand paper quality absorbant tape!

[redwudz]

Rubbing alcohol is generally isopropyl alcohol. I would favor denatured but 70% isopropyl is OK. The 30% remainder is water. 99% just has less water. Make sure it doesn't have additives as some rubbing alcohol can.

I would also recommend a foam swab as the cotton fibers can get caught on sharp edges. Don't get the swab too wet, you don't want it dripping around inside the camera or deck.

Either way, be gentle. This not a place for heavy scrubbing especially on the exposed recording head. Change swabs when they show any gunge.

Clean the rollers or guides too, if they are accessible. Check for any fibers or loose debris and let it dry out a while before using.

[edDV]

The quality cleaning tapes are fine except for extreme cases..

[handyguy]

You should use denatured alcohol, its cheap about $4 a quart. Used to clean video heads. I used to put it on a coffee filter & clean my vcr heads with it.

[ozymango]

You should use denatured alcohol, its cheap about $4 a quart. Used to clean video heads. I used to put it on a coffee filter & clean my vcr heads with it.

When I first read that, I thought you were cleaning your VCR heads with coffee! Although who knows, maybe that'd work, if you use good Kona or Jamaican Blue Mountain beans.

Small caveat on the head-cleaning thing if the original poster is still reading this -- you always want to make sure to wipe the VCR heads in the direction the heads travel, i.e. do *not* wipe from the top of the drum to the bottom, just a gentle side-to-side across the face of the head, left-ish to right-ish or vice-versa. Basically this keeps you from accidentally breaking off the head, they're actually rather fragile (or brittle, actually) and not meant to stand much force up and down.

Not that I've ever actually broken off a head by (oops) cleaning it vertically, but it *could* happen and better safe than sorry.

And don't try to scrub!!! A gentle touch will do it! Inspect the head of the swab (or coffee filter or whatever you use) as you clean the VCR heads to see if you're getting any grunge off the head. Usually you'll see a few small specks of black or brown, tape oxide; a nice sign that you're actually doing some good. Oh, and make sure the head is totally *dry* before testing a tape -- a friend once permanently destroyed his VCR heads by trying to play a tape while the heads were saturated with rubbing alcohol; makes a nice slurry of tape oxide and liquid that just bonds to everything and is impossible to remove. It was a cheap VCR so not a major loss really but forewarned is forarmed, or something like that.

[cheerful]

Thanks for the advice. I am going to clean my DV camcorder.

A bit confused about the reference to rubbing alcohol. Does it contain additive that is bad for this cleaning job?

[lafamar]

It´s important you use isopropyl alcohol, because doesn´t have water (says expert people industry). Water is dangerous for all systems (in this case oxide the VCR heads).

[edDV]

For the DV camcoder, the cleaning tape should be enough. If it's in bad shape, have it cleaned by a pro. You can screw up an expensive piece of equipment.

For a VHS VCR, the investment is less and the parts are easier to reach and the tolerances less tight.

read this
http://www.taperesources.com/useful_info.html

VCR 101
http://www.ehow.com/how_113964_clean-vcr-heads.html

[handyguy]

Use denatured alcohol, its pure.

'denatured' means they just made it so you can't drink it.

"VCR heads in the direction the heads travel, i.e. do *not* wipe from the top of the drum to the bottom, just a gentle side-to-side across the face of the head, "

I just push the drum with my finger & it rotates around....

Best to not clean your heads until you need it & make sure its not just a tracking adjustment when you play it.