i1profiler device becoming sticky to the touch

[GWGill]

Probably have to do it again in a year since I just remove the surface sticky part and not the whole rubberized coating.

My i1Pro2 now is a cheap looking plastic gloss black. But it isn't sticky and won't go that way anymore.

[geneo]

My i1Pro2 now is a cheap looking plastic gloss black. But it isn't sticky and won't go that way anymore.

Thanks Doug. That is a relief for me.

[FabienP]

Thanks Doug. That is a relief for me.

Please note that the i1Pro2 and i1Pro3 mentioned previously are spectrometers and not comparable to your i1display pro colorimeter.

I just checked my 5 years old i1 display pro and the rubber part is not sticky at all. Could it be that the newer colorimeters are not affected by the problem?

On the other hand, I had to throw away an older Wacom Intuos Pro pen which developed the same stickiness issue  .

Cheers,
Fabien

[geneo]

Please note that the i1Pro2 and i1Pro3 mentioned previously are spectrometers and not comparable to your i1display pro colorimeter.

Yes, I know.  I was referring to the i1 Display colorimeter with this issue mentioned above. My I1 display (version 3) colorimeter has the silky rubber coating on the frame.

Cheers

[Brookie]

On the other hand, I had to throw away an older Wacom Intuos Pro pen which developed the same stickiness issue  .


I have a relatively new Wacom pen (about 1 year old) that is starting to feel tacky. Crap........

[Ethan Hansen]

Every one of our i1Display Pros more than a couple years old has the sticky surface thing going. We also have several Portrait Displays C6 HDR2000 units (individually tweaked and calibrated i1Display Pro from the makers of CalMan) that feel ever so slightly tacky along the edge. The i1Display Pro Plus hasn't been out long enough to tell whether it degrades.

[alain]

Thanks

I did clean my i1 display with alcohol 75% and this went rather well.  I do expect a second and final cleaning within a few months.

[GWGill]

Another thing that goes sticky is the paper holding clip on the ruler of the i1Pro2 :-(

[NackJich]

I'm so glad I found this post. I was assuming storage conditions were causing this issue. My i1 Pro is covered in gunk. It's going to take some time to get that stuff off!
 

[deanwork]

That’s so strange, I thought it was only me experiencing this.

I pulled my i1Pro 2 spectro out a couple of weeks ago and the top had all this sticky gunk on it on the top. It looked like something had been melted on it. It was bad. Today I cleaned it off with alcohol and it is back to new condition. I thought it was something in my case where it was stored that caused this. I’ve had no damp or hot conditions and it has always been stored and sealed in the x-rite case. I just decided to seal it in a plastic baggie and put that back in the case and check it often. It’s weird as this only happened recently and I’ve had it for like 6 or 7 years.

John


quote author=NackJich link=topic=126695.msg1217095#msg1217095 date=1620466896]
I'm so glad I found this post. I was assuming storage conditions were causing this issue. My i1 Pro is covered in gunk. It's going to take some time to get that stuff off!
[/quote]

[PhilipCummins]

That’s so strange, I thought it was only me experiencing this. I pulled my i1Pro 2 spectro out a couple of weeks ago and the top had all this sticky gunk on it on the top. ... It’s weird as this only happened recently and I’ve had it for like 6 or 7 years.

It's pretty common for those soft-touch rubber surfaces to oxidise and then become sticky like that. I've had success in using talcum powder to mitigate the issue if you gently brush it over and let it absorb in with a finger until it's no longer sticky, otherwise the only other option is to just remove it altogether like you mentioned. (For example, my Logitech MX5500 keyboard has a palm rest that has this issue, so the talcum powder stops it from being sticky and keeps it in fairly OK condition albeit with a whiter finish now).

[kirkt]

I know that this is an old thread, but I came across it because of the rubberized coating on my i1 Pro 2 breaking down and becoming sticky.  It had been stored in the original case with the molded insert for a year or so.

I used 70% regular old drug store alcohol and a Magic Eraser sponge and got rid of the mess in about 5 minutes of firm scrubbing.  Apply the alcohol to the sponge, not the instrument, so you have some measure of control over where the fluid goes. 

Thanks for this thread.

Kirk

[Chris Kern]

I used 70% regular old drug store alcohol and a Magic Eraser sponge and got rid of the mess in about 5 minutes of firm scrubbing.  Apply the alcohol to the sponge, not the instrument, so you have some measure of control over where the fluid goes.

SC Johnson Windex Wipes have worked reasonably well for me to resuscitate deteriorating rubber.  I've found these chemical-impregnated fabric sheets, intended for cleaning glass, to less messy than working with liquids.  I don't know whether the product is available elsewhere, but it's easy to find in the United States and, if memory serves, I believe I've also run across it in retail stores in Canada and México.  It's advisable to use disposable gloves when cleaning devices with sticky rubber, because the crud that comes off is difficult to wash off your hands.

However, I don't think there is any permanent fix for sticky-rubber syndrome.  Once the rubber starts to deteriorate, you need to keep removing some of it repeatedly as long as any of the material remains on the surface of the device.

[PhilipCummins]

However, I don't think there is any permanent fix for sticky-rubber syndrome.  Once the rubber starts to deteriorate, you need to keep removing some of it repeatedly as long as any of the material remains on the surface of the device.

Yes there is no permanent fix as the rubber itself is denaturing and separating out. I used Talcum/Baby powder on my MX5500 palm rest over a year ago; still all good and can be reapplied if any areas get sticker than usual however I don't use the keyboard that often. This is only if you wanted to keep the original texturing of the rubber intact and the surface hasn't degraded to the point of being ugly/unusable; in that case you'd just remove it entirely. Note you wouldn't use Talcum powder on certain things if the powder could impact it (ie camera lenses, etc).

[TechTalk]

I suspect that you could also use corn starch for this purpose as well. I had a set of hand exerciser balls for physical therapy. They were made of a tacky rubber compound and came covered in a powder that gradually wore off. The instructions were to recoat them with corn starch (or baby powder) which worked well for that material.

[Lust4Life]

OK folks!
Are we all spineless consumers of a device that cost thousand of dollars that clearly has a manufacturing defect?

I have the full iPro kit, as I expect most here do as well.  Cost several thousands of dollars.
If I want to continue to professionally calibrate my camera, monitor and printer I can just buy the i1Pro 3 for nearly $4,000.00!!

When new, as well as now works great IF you will wear nitrile gloves or spend hours of our time away from photography
trying to fix what X-Rite should do in a no charge product recall of our defective units!

I'm disgusted as I have written to X-Rite and get nil for solution other than "Buy the new model".

I went on eBay there there are several units with the same problem, some even with what looks like a "mold" growth coming off the covering selling for $100!  Not a good return on our investment.

How about we all start advising the photography world to avoid X-Rite products?
Or we do a post here asking for all X-Rite users to collective petition X-Rite to do the right thing.
I expect they sold thousands of those units and there ought to be many disgusted with the way X-Rite has ignored the problem they created and are just sticking their head in the sand hoping we will just go away.

I would feel differently if this was a $50 investment, but a recall is the only respectable response from X-Rite that we all should insist on!

[digitaldog]

OK folks!
Are we all spineless consumers of a device that cost thousand of dollars that clearly has a manufacturing defect?

Your 'sticky' device no longer measures?

How about we all start advising the photography world to avoid X-Rite products?

Not interested. Mine are not sticky and operate fine.

[Doug Gray]

It's annoying but I had the I1Pro 2 for over 5 years before it started to get sticky so I cleaned it with alcohol.. It's now well over 10 years old. I recently bought an I1Pro 3 and checked it against the now quite old I1Pro2. Matched within an average of .5 dE00. I consider that incredibly good.

Products should be assumed to have infinite life or even average life large multiples of the warantee. I'm pretty pleased with the XRite products which includes an i1isis. All surprisingly consistent over time.

[PhilipCummins]

I have the full iPro kit, as I expect most here do as well.  Cost several thousands of dollars.
If I want to continue to professionally calibrate my camera, monitor and printer I can just buy the i1Pro 3 for nearly $4,000.00!!

You'd buy the i1 Basic Pro 3 or the i1 Basic Pro 3 Plus and transfer your license for i1Profiler.

Given the i1Pro 2 hardware could be up to 10 years old and this thread has quite a few suggestions of how to remove the coating (or maintain it) the choice is really up to you?

Personally the i1Pro 3 hardware is a better choice nowadays as they moved off the Tungsten bulb for illumination to a full-spectrum LED which means there is less risk of the bulb failing (which stops you from calibrating via the White tile, making the i1Pro 2 inoperable).

[Lust4Life]

Thanks Philip, Good information on the 3 that I had not looked into.

Friday night I watched a 2 hour movie and took a cotton cloth with alcohol and tried what others had done.  By the end of the movie I have stripped off most of the sticky coating.

Ran a monitor calibration yesterday and will redo today to compare the results.
All seems to still be working fine.

I'll call X-Rite again on Monday and see what I can work out with them on just updating the unit only to the 3.