Survey: Out gassing of flatbed scanners

[martin_patek_strutsky]

Read in a lot of comments that hazy glass plates probably because of

out gassing of electronic components are a common problem with

flatbed scanners.

 

Would like to hear about your personal experiences with it.

 

Have you encountered this problem?

If yes, for how long have you used the scanner before it showed up?

 

Did you contact the customer service? Did they repair it without

complaining? Or did they try to sell you the story that this is

normal wear you have to live with?

[martin_patek_strutsky]

To start answering my own question:

 

I have an Epson 4870 getting hard use since about 4 months and cannot report any problem. Never had problems with my older scanners either.

[kelly_flanigan1]

Professional flatbeds are designed to have replaceable glass. Consumer flatbeds may or maynot be easy to clean; or replace. Very inexpensive units maybe snap together; and never repaired; just tossed. <BR><BR>Digital Flatbeds that are intergral with color copiers have removeable glass; for cleaning; removing the outgass scum; dust etc. Our first color copier in the 1980's had a removeable glass; to remove the outgassing plastic buildup. The cleaning helps pump up the system contrast. The repair books on copiers with intergral flatbeds cover this; in the 1980's models. <BR><BR>In the calibration routine of the fiery of our digital color copier; the glass cleaning ritual is mentioned as effecting the system calibration; slope of the transfer function of the Twain device. After cleaning; the measurement of a Kodak gray scale patch has a greater slope. <BR><BR>Our 1000 dollar 600 dpi flatbed we bought years ago has a removeable glass; and the manual mentions the outgassing problem; lowering of the transfer function of the device.<BR><BR>In lower cost amatuer flatbeds; the unit has no service contract; no big expense. There is a much higher "goober factor"; where a user will break the glass; mess up the scan bar; or break something. The design philosophy is to make the glass fixed; or not publish "How to clean" info on low end flatbeds. This radically reduces warranty problems; where goobers break the scanner during a glass cleaning. <BR><BR>In expensive scanners; the glass is replaceable. Often the glass gets scratched due to staples; dirt and grit embedded in papers being scanned. <BR><BR>In wide format scanners that drag the original over a scan glass; the glass will scratch abit with a lone staple being left in place. In a color scan; the scratch line sometimes shows; and is retouched out; this takes labor.<BR><BR>In low cost flatbeds; customers removing the glass sometimes allows grit to land on the scan bar. Pros use an anti static vacuum; and remove stray dirt. Hacks use canned air; and reposition dirt; which lands on the scan bar's sensor. A cleaning glass ritual often makes a hacks scans have higher contrast; but streaks in the shadow areas; due to dust on the scan bars. The units that return to the factory; self serviced may have these problems. Some low end flatbed makers void the warranty; if the glass is removed.

[ted_davis1]

My otherwise excellent and inexpensive Mickotek Scanmaker5900 started fogging about a year after heavy use. I unsnapped the platic case, cleaned inside the glass with Windex and lint free cloth, and now it's good as new!

[imaginator]

I have seen this on several inexpensive flatbed scanners. I took mine apart and cleaned the glass, just to find that I had cleaned all the crud, but left lots of lint. That's the trick, cleaning without leaving lint. I finally got rid of the lint after several attempts.

[mike_zallini]

I think it's the plastic more than the electronics causing the out-gassing you describe. I cleaned my Microtek with Windex then used a Swiffer cloth to get rid of all the lint. Turned out perfect!

 

Mike.

[david_williams10]

Microtek 3600, after about 2 years it got bad enough to warrant taking it apart and cleaning the glass. Took about 20 mins.

 

David

[peter_williams2]

My old HP 6200C had it really bad. Main concentration of the fog was over the power supply area. This is why I believe that it is the electronic components that give out the vapour that results in fogging the glass. I sent it back to HP twide, who did a very poor job of cleaning it. Then I cleaned it myself and it was much better.

[kelly_flanigan1]

"Outgassing" increases at higher temperatures. Outgassing also radically increases as the air pressure is lowered. In spacecraft materials; many plastics are taboo; ie totally banned. JPL's labs did alot of studies on outgassing of plastics and other materials in the 1960s and before.<BR><BR> In a total vacuum; the mass of an object will drop with time; as the gunk outgasses. The mass loss fraction rate is dependent on the surface area to volume of the object. The actual rate in "micro gunk" per hour is dependent on surface area. An illegal plastic was used on the space telescope; and one optic got fogged. <BR><BR>The fogging also happens on the inside of a new car windshield; the gunk outgasses from the plastic dashboard. In a hot closed car; a black dash can reach 100C or higher. The mold releases used in molding outgass; plus the actual plastic dies to. There are many many thousands of plastic grades; outgasing varies alot.<BR><BR> In the vacuum of space; outgassing is a total disaster around optics and optical windows and ports. Metal parts have outgasing from micro fissures and cracks; that retain machining oils and even ones finderprint/oils. In castings; porosity creates a haven for holding gunk. Typical spacecraft failure modes are some Bozo subsitutes a different wire; small washer; and the QA police miss the bogey.<BR><BR> In consumer items; the wrong type of grease in a relubed lens can cause outgassing; fogging of a "repaired/CLAed" lens. Spaceflight optics use very special greases; with wide temperature ranges; and little outgassing.

[martin_patek_strutsky]

Thank you for your replies and thanks especially to Kelly for his insights on this topic. It looks like most of you have done this cleaning job by themselves, what seems pretty daring to me.

 

Haven't tried to disassemble a scanner yet, but my personal experiences with DIY repairs of consumer/ prosumer grade hardware has mostly been disastrous. Usually I make exactly the wrong moves and some plastic parts are broken even before the repair begins...

[bill.akstens]

My new Epson Perfection 3270 glass was hazy right out of the box. I'm not sure I see any ill effects from it in my scans.

[jon_austin]

The glass in my 5-year-old HP ScanJet 6250C fogs up regularly, and I find myself removing the top panel and cleaning (and subsequently de-linting) the glass about once annually. These days I only use it for copying documents, so it's no big deal.

 

The glass in my 2-year-old Canon N676U is still clean and clear. It's a good thing, too, since it's the one I now use for imaging, and it doesn't appear to be as easy to disassemble as the HP. For less than $100 new, I'd probably give it away / replace it before I'd resort to taking it apart.

[anthony_bhe]

I bought a refurb Epson 2450 that was also hazy when I got it. It seems a little bit more hazy now that I've had it for about a year, and is getting to the point where I may try to clean it if I can find away to do so without introducing more dust inside the scanner.