Ditto. And never use the dry head cleaning tapes. These are pretty abrasive. I've seen them take the chrome plating off of video heads in less than 15 minutes of use.

Last time I tried to clean Cammie's head - she got really pissed at me and said she can clean her own head and she would appreciate it if I would refrain from trying to clean her head. And she also asked me to take my tongue out of her ear.

I wasn't sure how my tongue got in her ear. I'm sure I probably slipped on the soap and it just plopped in.

Besides...her head wasn't really that dirty. I just have a little fetish about cleaning heads.

Jsnkc - "I never clean them unless I am seeing problems, . . " Yes - I agree. I've got pixels now after 100 use-hours approx. I've previously executed a Cleaning Procedure when I got a "WARNING!" to clean the heads - did it and no problem, the Warning went away. So I've now done a total of 2 x 10 second cleaning procedures, should I carry on until the problem disappears

Chienworks - "And never use the dry head cleaning tapes." . . . I do a 10 second cleaning procedure. Are you saying that the 15 minutes was the cleaning procedure? Kells, Canon is emphatic about NOT using anything BUT Dry Cleaning Tape . . . hmmmm.....

kameronj - Thanks for the "light" relief, I needed it . . this is a very worrying occurrence . . .mmmm

Thanks Guys. If you can answer my comments, thank you. I'll keep you informed,

Grazie

HI Grazie, the SOny 9000 has never required cleaning, though I did do it this year for the first tme just pasrt of a good clean and overhual.
The home machine Panasonic 1000, has had a few cleans as it sometimes pixalates, and needs a few cleans in one go then works for months no problem.
Changing the topic have you tried/seen the new IOV message system ?, it is now online with newsgroups and e-mail updates.

I trust you are well and all is hunky dory..
ZC

Grazie, well, not 15 minutes all at once. That was the recommended 30 seconds used about 30 times over a year. And no, it wasn't my VCR. I was visiting my favorite repair shop and the proprietor said, "c'mere, you've gotta see this!" while pointing to another customer's VCR.

I usually never use the cleaning tapes, I just take apart the unit and get in there with the old Qtips and alcohol and clean them that way. But if you're not good at taking things apart I wouldn't reccomend this method unless you draw a really good diagram when you take it apart so you know how to put it back together!

Thanks Guys 'n Gals:

Okay, update:

1 - Cleaned heads ONCE. Did a shoot . . . not too good

2 - Repeated shoot this time with a "fresh" tape out of a newly opened box. Excellent!

3 - Took "duff" tape to mate who:

a) Uploaded it to his Casablanca AVIO via his Panasonic DV/miniDV deck

b) Downloaded same footage from Avio to NEW fresh tape

c) Checked - no pixels!

d) Playback newly downloaded tape on the XM2 through to TV. Excellent!

So conclusions:

1 - XM2 recorded everything

2 - Tape MUST be suspect

3 - Panasonic less finicky than XM2 playback. This can be the only result.

Thanks for all your support people. I'll get on with the rest of my Life - as tomorrow IS my Birthday Yahhhooooooooo . . ..

Grazie

This reminds me of another old trick, sometimes when a head cleaning doesen't solve the problem, take a brand new tape and put it in the deck. Fast forward all the way to the end of the tape, then rewind it. Sometimes that will clear off some of the particles on the heads that cause problems. This used to work very well for me on old 1" machines and I assume it will have the same effect on DV decks as well.

And sometimes the brand of tapes can cause problems as well, we have found that the Panasonic Mini DV tapes give us the least problems and the Sony ones have given us the most problems.

Another little trick:-sometimes you can clean your heads just by putting a new tape in your camcorder and playing it thru. Also, the caution against intermixing ME and MX tapes should be repeated here. It's reported to be OK if you use one or the other exclusively, but ME tapes contain some kind of lubricant that MX tapes will coagulate and clog heads-this has happened to me twice before I found this out. And one final mention, NEVER use Q-tips to clean your heads. Go to RadioShack and buy a pack of their head cleaning swabs-(about $2.00), and a pint of denatured alcohol from your local hardware store. Although most head cleaning tutyorials recommend pharmaceutical grade denatured alcohol, I dont think it's really neccesary, and it's never caused me any problems. Never contaminate your alcohol by dipping used swabs into the can, always pour out a small amount and discard leftover liquid after cleaning..

I guess I should have clarified myself a little, I guess I just assumed people wouldn't go to walgreens and pick up a box of Qtips and clean their heads with them. Anyways, yes you do need to use Qtips that are especially designed for cleaning video heads. I reccomend using Isopropyl Alcohol, not sure what the diffrence between that and denatured is though?

Happy Birthday Grazie! Jeez, if'd I'd known I'd sent you some BSs! Have a shot of something debilitating for me. DGrob

Denatured alcohol is ethyl alcohol with methyl alcohol and other stuff added to it to make it undrinkable (so they reckon!). Some of the dissolved solids may leave a thin film on heads. Probably quite harmless as its so thin. Its also called metholyated spirits.

If you are worried out that use Propyl alcohol (propanol), its another type of alcohol that is I believe also drinkable and may therefore be subject to silly duty problems actually buying it.

Please be careful, they are all inflammable.

If you gotta use isopropyl alcohol, use the 90% stuff, not 70%. I still recommend denatured stuff from the hardware store. It's cheap, doesn't leave a film, and a pint will last you a lifetime of headcleanings. Also, make sure you know what you're doing. Never scrub the heads at random, fatal damage may occur. I just gently hold a dampened swab against the pathway the heads take when they spin, and manually spin the head with my fingers. Can't hurt anything that way-(unless you press too hard, light pressure will do it). Alsao, alcohol is supposed to dry out rubber parts, so don't dribble.

After using my Canon DV for about 3-4 years, I ran a Maxell dry head cleaner tape through it. I wasn't having any problems before cleaning, I just thought it was about time.

After I ran the cleaner I had problems playing back and recording. Unfortunately, this led me to running the cleaner one more time and that cleared up most of the problem. I replaced the the tape with a new one, played it a few minutes, and everything was OK.

The moral of the story is, "if it works, don't fix it'!

Grob, thanks for the Birthday Wishes! I'ev had some great cards and emails. Hey ho . . I'm nice to know!

Grazie