At 10:49 PM 2/24/2004 +1000, Rob Geraghty wrote: >I gather nobody on the list has attempted to clean the CCD of a SS4000? > >Rob
Hi Rob, The following was posted in January of '03 on this List by Thomas Maugham: Summary of SS4000 cleaning discussion. HOW DO I KNOW IF MY SCANNER NEEDS CLEANING? By opening the unit and examining the optical mirror. Or, if you want a preliminary idea of how dirty the mirror may be before taking this step, look at the amount of dust underneath your scanner. If you do not use a dustcover, this is likely to be a good indicator of how much dust may be on the optical lens and mirror. (this is because the scanner has open holes and serves as a dust collector, unless you have a dust cover) HOW DO I OPEN THE UNIT FOR EXAMINATION AND CLEANING? First, get the scanner unplugged from the computer and out on a clear well lit table where you can work on it. Turn the scanner upside down, you will see four plastic catches on the bottom sides near the corners. A small flat screwdriver can be used to pop open these catches. Be careful not to break them. Once you have released the catches and have slid the top off, you will see the mechanism. The top cover and main chassis will, of course, still be connected by various wires. Connect the power cord to the unit and press the power button on. The scanner will attempt to go through one cycle. Be observant, at one point the optical mirror will be perfectly revealed. It may take a few tries to see how it works. As soon as the mirror is perfectly accessible, pull the power cord so it freezes in that position. HOW DO I CLEAN THE OPTICAL MIRROR? With compressed air. Air comes in two forms, a compressor or a can of dust-off available from camera stores, etc. If you have compressor, set to about 40 lbs of air pressure. I recommend you use a medical compressor because it does not have oil pistons. (Regular air compressors sold for general machine or airbrush use have oil pistons, so make sure your compressor does not emit tiny oil droplets out the nozzle) If you use the canned air, remember not to hold the can at an angle because some of these squirt a liquid out if held at angles other than generally vertical. Perhaps you can put the scanner on it's side while blowing the dust away. Another suggestion for canned air is to put a downward bend in the tube that is used to extend the nozzle, you can do this while slightly heating the tube with a match. Blow off the mirror and lens real good. WHAT IT THE MIRROR NEEDS FURTHER CLEANING? Then you need denatured alcohol available from hardware or paint stores (which is NOT drugstore isopropyl alcohol). Use lens cleaning tissue, and put a little denatured alcohol on the tissue. Fold the tissue over and drag it across the mirror using no pressure. Do not get the alcohol on plastic parts or let it get behind the mirror, or let it drip all over everything. Use each tissue only once and discard. WHAT CAN I DO TO KEEP THE UNIT IN GOOD CONDITION? make a plastic dustcover. Or, put it in a plastic bag when not using it. Anything to keep dust from getting into it is a good thing. This is not authorized factory service information. I am not qualified to do anything, I have no education, I don't know anything. These are practical suggestions for do-it-yourselfers and are based on my personal experience of doing it. My remarks about cleaning the mirror come from questioning a life-long camera repairman. I have no factory training or information. There are many people on this list who are scanner scientists and mechanics and can probably offer better information, so let's hope to hear from them. Later, Johnny __________________________ Johnny Johnson Lilburn, GA mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
