OK this does fix it all right. I am copying below the exact screws to remove (from another chat). All you need is keep them in the order you remove them and follow the instructions backwards after you put the two halves back together. 13 Screws Total: 1. Very Top Screw of the Camera (when looking at the camera with a birds eye view/lens pointing away) 2. Top of camera Screw next to the W/T zoom knob (when looking at the camera with a birds eye view/ lens pointing away) 3. Inside the battery slot Top Left corner screw (long screw) 4. Inside the battery slot Top Right corner screw (long screw) 5. Inside the battery slot Middle Left screw. 6. Screw next to the Firewire port (inside the LCD area) 7. Screw under the ?Battery Release? Knob (when look at the bottom of the camera lens facing down) 8. Screw to the Right of the SD Card Slot (when look at the bottom of the camera lens facing down) 9. Above the Tri Pod hole LEFT Screw closer to the LCD (when look at the bottom of the camera lens facing down) 10. Below the Tri Pod hole and Below that small black hole.. Screw to the left closer to the LCD (when look at the bottom of the camera lens facing down) 11. Below the Tri Pod hole and Below that small black hole.. Screw closest to the edge and closest to the speaker (when look at the bottom of the camera lens facing down) 12. Inside the battery slot Lower Left screw. 13. Below the Tri Pod hole and Below that small black hole.. (when look at the bottom of the camera lens facing down) one more there Total: 13 Screws. After removing the Screws? 1. First remove the grey plastic piece on the very top of the camera. (Above the eye piece) 2. Carefully separate the camera in half. 4. Look for the big White plug closest to the battery slot. (It is located on the circuit board and it has a bunch of wires coming out of it) 5. Unplug it and wait for a few minuets. Then re-plug it. (At this point I personally tried to put the battery in and turn the camera on to see if it had worked. (i don't know this may be dangerous so be careful!!!) 6. Carefully bring the 2 camera sides back together and make sure you get a snug fit. (The section by the speaker should snap in properly) 7. Put the grey piece back in its proper place. 8. Put the screws back into their proper places. Took me about 10 minutes including the waiting time so I guess it is not so bad if you like tiny screws...THANKS A BUNCH

Thanks... it worked!!!!!!!!!!!! Took me about 20 minuts. I am amazed because I was near to send to the trash the JVC. Rest assured that my next cam will be other brand cause JVC never seemed to care about me as a customer. Thanks again, tomorrow I will be able to record my one year old in his xmast party.

The step by step instructions worked great!! I have a JVC GR-d30U and it's had Operation Paused:Condensation message for 3 years off and on. I use this camera for playback only and it never leaves the house so condensation never made sense. Thanks!!! It only took me about 15 minutes including leaving the wire harness unplugged for 5 minutes

I have recently contacted JVC aboout this problem. I am not one to take no for an answer. I WILL get to the bottom of this. I love to argue and they WILL respond , No matter how far I have to go. Rest assured I WILL find the answer. When I do, I will post to a blog or respond to e-mails. Scott.

Didn't try the un-screw thing but connecting the damn camera to the pc through firewire (IEEE 1394) sometimes work. After a couple of tries, the computer will recognize the camera and the error message will disappear.

Yes taking apart the body and "resetting" it worked. Cleaning the little black window did not work. Thanks for the fix! Michael

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH! Yes, it took me about an hour to take it a part and put it back together again but IT WORKS PERFECTLY NOW! At least so far... I guess I was one of the lucky ones. I bought this JVC Mini-DV on ebay used about 2 years ago and have used it A LOT with never so much as a burp. Then the other day, when I was making a demo video for my magic items, it started the condensation crap! You have NO idea how frustrated I was! lol It was about 4am and I was fit to be tied. Then I came across this post and although it seemed more than I was willing to do I was desperate enough to try it. I'M SO GLAD THAT I DID! If you need any help please feel free to email me!

Thanks for the solution. Now I can use my lemon JVC mini-dv handycam. I should have done this a long time ago because it's been years that this cam has this illness. I came close to throwing it to the garbage can. Thanks so much.

Hi all, Yep so I had a case of "condensation", operation paused. blah blah. This camera had not been outside nor subjected to a temperature change for months when it somehow contracted the phantom condensation... I have a JVC GR-D90u as well... and this fix WORKED. And it wasn't nearly as hard to do as I imagined. Yes, I had tried the "leaving it on for 1-48h in manual/dsc mode" ...(that worked the first couple of times), tried a hair dryer, tried the "q-tip w/windex on the little black square" trick...nothing. It's a bit amusing how many posts on various sites will list these solutions over and over ...even when the original post said "tried it, doesn't work". JVC just made some cameras with a crap sensor on them. Sure, give the other methods a try first, cause it might I suppose, actually be condensation...but when that fails... You can remove the screws in the outer casing...and the camera comes apart..in half down the middle. Be warned there are at least 5 different types of screws... you will want to remember what went where. (I simply wrote a quick reminder/location of where the screw went on a sheet of paper ..and placed the screw next to it.) Proabably 18 screws or so to remove (I took out a couple that I dont think needed to come out). Also be careful to separate the halves gently as there are a few wires connecting one half to the other, and a couple connecting the lens parts to the main board (I had pulled out one of these, but manged to get it back in). There are a few tabs and parts that kinda snap in, but it wasn't hard to figure out. -By the way, I don't need to mention to disconnect the power before trying any of this, do I? I disconnected the bundle of wires at the back (by the battery). ...and I guess that forced a hard reset or whatever. put it all back together. Seems to not be quite as good at playing tapes..a bit of distortion or blue screen occasionally... but might just be dirty. Heck, could be the tape itself. I shall investigate. It's still far better than it not working at all. Thanks for this fix!!!