Gina

If you don't try you'll never know

Quite agree. I could try a couple of solvents and paint stripper on the sensor and see what happens just by eyeballing it.

Does it still work?

It would seem NOT

I have no idea what that glue must be, but it clearly forms a very strong bond between the glass and the backing. it's almost like it's welded rather than glued.

James

I think you're right.

Now then... Connected up to camera and tried live view - Err 70 Swapped back to camera's own sensor and amera works fine.

So that would seem to be that - I've finally succeded in destroying the test sensor - guess one of the glass slivers must have caught a fine gold wire

And Puff The Magic Dragon sadly slides back in her cave...

Disheartened of Devon

Took a grindstone to the glass but it's quite thick - over half a mm - and took quite a lot of grinding through. Having got through it in one place at the side of the sensor away from the tiny gold wires I tried getting a craft knife under the glass. It broke away in pieces. I carefully broke away most of it staying clear of the fine wires. Here is the result photo.

Next is to attack the glass with a grindstone

I've brought my netbook indoors and connected up my spare camera. Set to live view and checked first with it's own sensor and then swapped to the test sensor - with a strip of red insulation tape over one half of the sensor area to provide a crude image.

Guess what??? IT WORKS! After all that torture - amazing!!

No I meant Ajax and Vim.

Oh, I don't know - I don't use aggressive cleaners like those, there are more effective chemical cleaners that don't scratch.

Paint stipper does not work on the Canon 1000d sensor, it does nothing at all.

Oh dear - not good

Thank you for posting the results and for doing the tests

I just tried some paint stripper on a webcam and it cleaned the bayer layer off perfectly in seconds and left a perfectly clean surface. I fell the canon sensor won't be so willing to play ball. Good news for webcam imagers though. Now i need a dead camera to test it with or i might do a little test on the sensor i have alread butchered but just do it in a corner.

Good

I simply couldn't contain myself and took the back off my spare 1100D, with the aid of my ring light magnifier, saving the screws onto double sided sticky tape attached to a sheet of paper. Disconnected it's own sensor and connected the test sensor. The result was entirely white frames. I've only viewed the results on the camera screen and the camera was on fully automatic mode. I think I need to connect the camera to computer and run live view with the back completely off (not connected to the main board). Then I can alter exposure easily without juggling camera, test sensor etc. taking great care to prevent anything shorting out. I've put the camera back to it's own sensor now and tested it with a lens - all working fine.

Can you still buy those Gina?? Haven't seen them for years.

Do you mean Dremels or cameras?

One last thought, couldn't you use a Dremel type tool to grind away the glass around the edge?

I guess I could - I have some grinding tools - good idea

erm I'm starting to think you might be flogging a dead horse Gina? "A" for effort though and if it still works its a testiment to Canons build quality!

I've been thinking that myself

I'll test it tomorrow - I want good light to take out all those tiny screws to put it in a working camera. With hundreds of G of shock applied to it the result will be interesting

If it doesn't work I might just break the glass and attack the insides - maybe attack it with chemicals and see what happens. We already know the effect of grinding it down.

Yes, if it still works Gina, you should post it on a Canon forum so they can see it. They would freak out.

I think they might

This is one fascinating thread , would it not be an idea to contact Canon to ask about the adhesive they use ?

Steve.

You think Canon would tell me?

Makes you wonder why people are so paranoid about cleaning them in case they damage them!

Yes, the front is glass and hard as glass as a result Only an abrasive cleaner would hurt it but I don't think many astronomers would consider using Ajax or Vim on their glass

Thinking about temperature and not wishing the "cook" the whole thing, I attacked it with a soldering iron - absolutely no effect! Epoxy normally softens and burns with a soldering iron. These sensors are mighty tough!!

I suppose I ought to plug it into a camera and see if it's still working...

I thought of epoxy resin but it seems harder than that. It turns white when scraped with the sharp point of a Stanley knife or that might be powdered glass. Here's another couple of photos after attack with hammer and chisel :-

What about baking it in the oven at a low temp, around 120C, and see if it softens any?

I guess I could try that.

Chisel Knife?

I'll give it a go I hate to be beaten!

Seems to me that unless anyone has any ideas as to how I can remove the glass without destroying the sensor, I'm stuck and will very very reluctantly have to abandon this project If this is the case I'm gutted - I had my heart set on this I think the only way to remove the glass would be to break it but with those extremely fine gold wires I think this is pretty much doomed.

Photo showing broken edges of glass cover plate :-

have you tried all the corners. One corner didn't want to work with mine and chipped a little bit. I had the metal around the sensor to lever it off with.

I've tried all the corners and sides and all I've managed to do is chip off slithers of glass - the adhesive appears to be stronger than glass.