Re: Best approach to sand in lens assembly

On 16 May 2005 03:57:41 -0700, "Alex Bird"
<alex@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I don't normally repair any sort of camera, but this is my own, and my
>gosh it's depreciated since I bought it, so I thought it worth the
>risk.
>
>Canon Powershot A40
>
>The camera isn't actually dead, failing, etc. A grain or two of sand
>have got into the retracting/zoom lens assembly and it makes a clicking
>sound in operation.
>Ironically I keep a filter adapter and UV filter on it all the time to
>prevent this sort of thing, but I took it off yesterday to show someone
>what it was, whilst at a fantastic beach party - whoops.
>
>I have some lovely cleaners/brushes/lubricants for plastic gears, so
>I'm very tempted to disassemble the lens and totally clean it.
>However, now I'm in the camera I'm not so sure, perhaps a blast of
>compressed air ? I'm out of air, but wouldn't it push the sand further
>in ?
>
>Has anyone experience of these Canon lens assemblies ? Probably
>identical to the A30 too.
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>Alex

Is the sand in the optics or just the zoom/ focus ring assembly?
It' just requires a very careful, methodical disassembly and cleaning.
The safest cleaning solvent to use would be denatured alchohol as most
of the gears will be nylon plastic.(You'll most liekly need to strip
off the old lube as the sand will be in it and won't come out
completely untill all the gears and surfaces are clean and dry.)
Compressed air is good as well, try and avoid using the dust-off stuff
as it has a dry propellant that leaves a residue.
You'll need a good grade of lithium grease to relube the gears and
lens barrel, a thin grade of silicone grease will work as well.
Use of a stiff nylon brush during cleaning is good as well, like a
tooth brush or perhaps acid brushes which can be gotten at your local
hardware store.(If you want to spend the bucks a local art store will
have a variety of nylon in small sizes and stiffnesses.)
Take photos or video tape the disassembly in detail to aid in
reassembly and work in a clean breeze free work space to avoid dust
contamination.
.

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