& Maintenance Video equipment lasts well when it’s treated well.
Common sense and regard for
its susceptibilities will keep it running smoothly for a long time. Camera Care & Maintenance •Equipment Storage •Liquid & Food •Equipment Transport •Tape Clogging •Wet Weather •Magnetic Fields •Heat & Humidity •Lens •Sea Spray / Salt / Sand •Cable Faults •Dust Equipment Storage • Always return the equipment to its case after use. • Ensure that the case is stored upright or placed on a flat horizontal surface. • Don’t stack heavy pieces of equipment on top of each other. • Put sachets of silica gel in the case to absorb moisture. Equipment Transport • Never bang or drop the video equipment. • Ensure that the case is well padded and that the case can’t be flung about or banged. • When transporting by car, put equipment on the floor of the back seat as this prevents it from falling during sudden stops. • On airplanes, carry your camera as carry-on luggage. Wet Weather • Rain and spray can cause short circuits or total equipment failure. • Raindrops falling on microphones will mar the sound track. • Use an umbrella or wrap the camera and VTR in a plastic bag if you have to shoot in the rain. • Don’t run cables through puddles. Heat & Humidity • The temperature in a closed car in the sun can reach over 50ºC and cause permanent damage to both video tapes and equipment. • If you move suddenly from a cold, dry environment to a hot, moist one, the “dew” warning light on the VTR will light up, the VTR will automatically switch off. It won’t operate again until it dries off inside. Prevention / Solution
• Allow the equipment time to warm up
and acclimatize before switching it on. • Plan extra set-up time into your production schedule. • To dry out quickly, get the equipment into a dry-air environment. Sea Spray / Salt / Sand After a day at the beach, clean the equipment thoroughly because: • salty air and sea spray is corrosive to video heads, metal parts of video equipment including the chassis and circuit board. •salty air will form a coating on the front element of the lens. •sand can wreak havoc in the tape transport mechanisms. Dust • Keep the camera and the VTR in a dust-free environment. • Dust will coat lenses, cause abrasions on the video heads and lead to drop-outs on the tape. Liquid & Food • Avoid eating, drinking or smoking around video equipment, in control rooms or near editing decks. • Split coffee has accounted for many loud bangs, blue flashes and large repair bills. Tape Clogging • VTRs left in pause mode for longer than 30 seconds will start to lift tape particles off the tape and clog the head leading to dropouts and head damage. Magnetic Fields • Avoid power transformers, electric motors, television sets and loudspeakers. • The magnetic fields generated can scramble the information on tape or interfere with recording. Lens • Use an air bottle or a lens brush or special lens cleaning fluid to remove surface dust. • Never rub the lens to remove spots. • Use a neutral density filter to protect the lens from scratches. • Fit a lens cap when the camera is not in use. Cable Faults • Most camera problems result from cable faults. • Look for problems in the cable that link your camera to the recorder. • Avoid pulling directly on the cables or resting heavy objects on exposed cables.