Greetings - I've got a STX11002, and I last baked out the desiccant plug about 8 months ago. Apparently over the summer, sufficient moisture got into the CCD chamber to make a mess on the chip. You can see the residue left on the chip. So the question is, is there any way for me to clean this myself, or does it need to be shipped back for maintenance? This is on the interior of the chamber, presumably on the chip itself (if the chip is protected by an interior window, then the residue appears to be on that window). It is NOT on either the inside surface of the external chamber window. Thanks for any help you can provide!
Hi Charles - sorry to see this! This camera model has a chamber window above the sensor with an air-gap of several millimeters about the sensor. The KAI-11002 sensor has a very thin, cover glass window with anti-reflective coatings. This covers the chip. So, it is likely the contamination is on the cover glass, not on the chip itself. I really don't like the look of that - it seems like a substantial amount of liquid got in there. Any chance the o-ring on the desiccant was damaged? I think this will have to go to @Bill at the SBIG Repair Centre in Lompoc, California.
Wow, I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like that before. I would suggest he camera come in for cleaning, I don't think you'd want to try that, it looks kind of oily... Send me an email, bill@sbig.com, and I'll give you the instructions for sending it in. -Bill