Cleaning lenses inside
in [Scanners]
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From: Don Phillipson on 8 Oct 2009 20:10 What chance of cleaning the lenses inside a Canon FS4000US Film scanner? This is an old unit bought used, but it looks as if an untidy spider has taken up residence inside . . . -- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada)
From: Barry Watzman on 8 Oct 2009 23:23 First, I don't know. But I do service Nikon film scanners, and in large volume over a period of years. On Nikon scanners, while dirt and dust and cleaning are HUGE issues, the problem is usually confined to one single item, the "lower front mirror" (the overall optical design of the last six Nikon scanners .... LS-2000, 4000, 5000, 30, 40 and 50 are all substantially the same). But how accessible the relevant surfaces of the FS4000US are, I just cannot say. One thing I can tell you ... I also service laptops ... and if either these scanners are laptops are disassembled by untrained users ... they often do enormous damage. However, for the Nikon scanners, there are some online instructions (with photos) that reduce the risk. Don Phillipson wrote: > What chance of cleaning the lenses inside a Canon > FS4000US Film scanner? This is an old unit bought > used, but it looks as if an untidy spider has taken > up residence inside . . .
From: isw on 8 Oct 2009 23:44 In article <halv1c$8tv$1(a)theodyn.ncf.ca>, "Don Phillipson" <ey925(a)ncfSPAMBLOCK.ca> wrote: > What chance of cleaning the lenses inside a Canon > FS4000US Film scanner? This is an old unit bought > used, but it looks as if an untidy spider has taken > up residence inside . . . Just take it apart and clean it. What can go wrong? Isaac
From: Barry Watzman on 9 Oct 2009 02:32 The list of things that can go wrong is quite lengthy. Some parts of a scanner may be precision aligned at the factory on an optical test jig; and when you "just take it apart" ... that alignment is lost (on a Nikon LS-2000, there are 4 screws that, if removed or even just loosened, will usually destroy the scanner). You have no idea how many people do not know how to work the ZIF connectors on "Flex Cables" (those thin, flat ribbon cables used in a lot of equipment). Also, on some scanners there are a LOT of "flex cables" and they tear VERY easily, they cannot be repaired, and in some cases replacements are either difficult to get or not available at all. I could go on, but the answer to "what can go wrong" is: LOTS OF THINGS. MOST untrained people who take these things apart without instructions do damage to them. isw wrote: > In article <halv1c$8tv$1(a)theodyn.ncf.ca>, > "Don Phillipson" <ey925(a)ncfSPAMBLOCK.ca> wrote: > >> What chance of cleaning the lenses inside a Canon >> FS4000US Film scanner? This is an old unit bought >> used, but it looks as if an untidy spider has taken >> up residence inside . . . > > Just take it apart and clean it. What can go wrong? > > Isaac
From: isw on 9 Oct 2009 12:59
In article <hamle7$e00$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, Barry Watzman <WatzmanNOSPAM(a)neo.rr.com> wrote: > The list of things that can go wrong is quite lengthy. Some parts of a > scanner may be precision aligned at the factory on an optical test jig; > and when you "just take it apart" ... that alignment is lost (on a Nikon > LS-2000, there are 4 screws that, if removed or even just loosened, will > usually destroy the scanner). You have no idea how many people do not > know how to work the ZIF connectors on "Flex Cables" (those thin, flat > ribbon cables used in a lot of equipment). Also, on some scanners there > are a LOT of "flex cables" and they tear VERY easily, they cannot be > repaired, and in some cases replacements are either difficult to get or > not available at all. I could go on, but the answer to "what can go > wrong" is: LOTS OF THINGS. MOST untrained people who take these things > apart without instructions do damage to them. OP has a scanner that, by his own observation, is already no good because there's a spider (and, presumably, its web) inside it; the only thing he can do is make it better. It's just very unlikely that getting the scanner open enough to clean out the webs will involve dismantling the lens assembly (which I agree is probably not a good idea). IME most of the other "precision alignments" you mention are effected by precision designed plastic injection moldings, not tiny screws, and no "optical test jig" will be needed now any more than it was when the thing was assembled originally. Besides, if you never try, how are you going to learn how to do things like that when you really need to? Isaac |