Premium Members William Demeritt Posted January 28, 2015 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 I've heard a few other operators speak about what they do for regular maintenance: weekly, annually, bi-monthly, etc. Whether you're talking about cleaning your gimbal, top to bottom sled cleaning, complete battery rejuvenation/24 hour tests, do you have a checklist or calendar for maintaining your gear? For me: - batteries live on charge in the garage between gigs. Usually once every 3 months, I trigger the 24 hour test on the Anton Bauer chargers. - gimbal service: at least once per year, or immediately after any job where exposed to the elements/desert. - sled cleaning, top to bottom, once a year with canned air and paintbrush - PRO arm: swap canisters between sections in the arm, kinda like rotating my tires. I figured it doesn't necessarily help, but it shouldn't hurt? What else do you do for your rig/cleaning/maintenance routines? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members David M. Aronson Posted January 28, 2015 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 -Wash vest pads once a month/ right after an outdoor summer job/ or when it starts to smell -refill personal kit about once a month or as needed (5 hour energy, protein bars, advil, etc.) -I check all the screws to make sure nothing's stuck and make sure there aren't any stripped heads once every 3 months or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jess Haas SOC Posted January 28, 2015 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 -Batteries live on the charger and when I start to question their capacity I run a test to see where it is at. -Everything that could rust/corrode gets a little Corrosion-X every once in a while when I feel like it. -When things look dusty they get dusted off. -Stuff gets fixed when it breaks. -I try to let my vest air out before packing it up in the case. I haven't noticed any stench even after years of use but maybe lack of cleaning is why my ACs all seem to stay at the monitor these days? ;-) Thats about it. I like gear I don't have to baby and for the most part I don't baby it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Dan Coplan Posted January 31, 2015 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 I don't wash or clean a damn thing. Makes me look like more of a vet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Brian Freesh Posted January 31, 2015 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 So does having old gear, gray hair, and a beer gut, but no one is making a point to have any of that, save for Ron Baldwin. ;) I recently cleaned my vest for the first time. It now looks practically brand new and is quieter. Another op looked at it and said "We gotta get you some scratches on that thing!" I said I'd just cleaned them all off and he was impressed. The vest is almost 5 years old but didn't look bad before cleaning. I take care of my equipment, the better shape it's in the better I can do my job. Plus it just looks professional. It's subtle, and probably subconscious, but it tells people you're on your game, giving them confidence in you. I often get compliments on the condition of my gear, and then a story about the last op they worked with whose "rig looked like it was about to fall apart." I don't have any specific timeline or process or anything. I just keep an eye on it, I occasionally wipe it down on set if it's getting pretty dusty, so it never accumulates much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Guille Moreno Posted February 1, 2015 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 I do my best to keep the equipment in good condition, but then again, as we all learnt... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Peter Abraham Posted February 4, 2015 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 Ted's manual. A brilliant tome. Home maintenance. Yeah. Not regularly. I do wash the pads, man they get gormy. When working near dust or sand I take a high-powered shop vac or automotive vacuum and cleanse the entire rig as best as I can. ESPECIALLY suck out each and every connector not used on the day. Dirt and dust can get into the female pin receivers and wreak havoc down the road. A side note about using canned air/ air compressers. Everyone has their ways of doing things. I was instructed very early on NEVER to blow air against something where moving dust would create a potential problem. Obviously, as a film A.C. I learned to use canned air judiciously. But when it comes to connectors and the seals around a monitor and whatnot, the harder you blow air at something, the more likley you are to force particulate INTO connectors, cracks, gaps and seals. Using a high-powered vacuum and a narrow nozelled brush end removes that potential and in fact can pull deeply-seated bits of dust, dirt and sand. The gimbal. Ahhhh. Matthew Fleischmann and I had some fun a year or so ago. I devised a method of cleaning- deep cleaning- the bearings of a gimbal without removing it from the centerpost. Worked like a charm, took about 20 minutes and he reported a clear difference in the feel of his gimbal post-cleansing. ( Pun intended ). We agreed we shoulda shot video of it somehow. I think he kept the little custom-cut item we used. If he did, I'll get with him soon and we'll shoot photos or a video. I'd never tried it before and it worked very nicely. Cables? They get dirty, are hard to clean. Swill a BNC end in denatured alcohol, it gets the grit off of the gold-plated pin. I've only had to wash my cases once. About a year in, with my Model I and the infamous set of blue cases, I went down into the Lackawanna Coal Mine to shoot some political commercials. This was in 1987, and we were not in the area open to tours. It was quite safe. My first and last time down a mine. There was cold air moving briskly through the shafts and water drizzling along the walls and floors here and there. The cases all got coated in black gritty mud, coal dust and water. We laid out garbage bags to keep my minivan clean, went to a local do it yourself car wash with the high-powered spray gun and power-washed the cases. That was a mess... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members William Demeritt Posted February 4, 2015 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 I don't mean maintaining the aesthetic look of gear. I mean moreso maintaining the performance of the gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alan Rencher Posted February 4, 2015 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 Peter, cleaning cables is easy. In addition to what you said, pour some denatured alcohol on a rag, hold the rag in the palm of your hand, and pull the cable through. Works like a charm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Victor Lazaro Posted February 4, 2015 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 Guys, guys! We need a dishwasher safe rig. That is the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Brian Freesh Posted February 5, 2015 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Done and done. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members William Demeritt Posted February 5, 2015 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Those were the days, back when Brian trusted me with his rig. Those days are long since passed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Peter Abraham Posted February 5, 2015 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 " Palmolive ??" " You bet, Will ! The sled's soaking in it !" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alan Rencher Posted February 6, 2015 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Dishwasher, now that's fancy. I've just been showering with mine all these years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Sanjay Sami Posted February 7, 2015 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 Peter I would love to know how to clean my pan bearing without dismantling. Can you describe what you did ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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