Where is Panasonic AG1970 dew sensor located?
 

I recently picked up a Panasonic AG1970.

It was in the cold and brought inside, when turned on a flasing "D" appears and the video drum spins non stop.

I waited 24hrs and tried it again, same result.

I understand these sensors fail, and can be bypassed with a resistor ?

Any help is greatly appreciated

Never worked on a 1970 but my for my AG-1980's the dew sensor is located on the K-Mechanism unit. There is a little connector that comes off the mainboard (two wires) and wraps around a bit, then connects to a post on the K-Mechanism chassis where the actual dew sensor is mounted on a post like thing. The post is at the top of the K-Mechanism unit.

I don't think the 1970 uses the K-Mechanism, but the dew sensor is probably somewhere near whatever mechanism the 1970 uses as I imagine that is where it is important to detect dew.

They are annoying little things. Maybe they were useful at one time but I usually just short mine out, not sure if that is a best or accepted practice- just what I do. I have some pictures of the dew sensor on one of my 1980's for my personal records that I can upload in a little bit if that helps. Photos added. Please excuse my AWFUL finger!! AHHH

Thank you !

I think I found it on the AG1970

Can you explain the next step to bypass the sensor ?

Again, I really appreciate the help on this.

Nice, yes that looks like a dew sensor.

I believe the dew sensor interacts with the machine by simply being a device in between ground and some other point on the machine that takes dew detection as input. Under normal conditions, the dew detection input is grounded and the machine runs normally. When there is dew, whatever physically constitutes the dew detector breaks this ground connection and "opens" the circuit, so the dew detection input is no longer grounded (0 volts).

Had a look at the 1970 manual (which is available on these forums) just to check in case I was way off base, and I think my understanding of it is correct. It looks like one lead of the dew detector is set to ground (0V) while the other lead goes to pin 1 on a chip identified as IC6002. Having a look at what voltages need to be on the pins for the thing to work, it shows pin 1 always being zero volts (attached image of IC6002 voltages from 1970 manual).

So I think you should be fine if you just short the two solder points on the dew detector. Short it anyway you like, but I usually just solder them together. That is what I have done in the past on my 1980's and it's always worked (which incidentally I never knew if that was the right thing to do, because my 1980 manual hardly contains any information about the dew detector! The 1970 manual seems to be more detailed!). Obviously, this completely removes the dew detection function of the machine, so if you are using it in inappropriate conditions it won't stop you!

You are the man !!

I really appreciate you taking the time to research and dig for the information.

I will try soldering a wire between the solder points on the dew sensor.

Again, thanks for helping a newbie out !

I would not mess with the sensor, Just stick a jumper wire in the red connector cavities shorting out the corresponding pins, it will be an easy reversal later on if you decide for whatever reason by just pulling off the jumper wire.

Not sure why I didn't try a simple cleaning of the sensor first; but I am glad I did because it fixed the issue.

Just took a swab dipped in head cleaner and voila !

If it truly fails in the future I now know how to remediate it.

Appreciate you both latreche34 and sevarre

No problem! These forums have helped me out immensely, so glad to help you out.

This is a smart idea.

Nice, that is truly the best case scenario!