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)
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 . . .
In article <halv1c$8tv$1@theodyn.ncf.ca>,
"Don Phillipson" <ey925@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?
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$1@theodyn.ncf.ca>,
> "Don Phillipson" <ey925@ncfSPAMBLOCK.ca> wrote:
>
>> What chance of cleaning the lenses inside a Canon
>> FS4000US Film scanner? This is an old unit bought
>> used, but it looks as if an untidy spider has taken
>> up residence inside . . .
>
> Just take it apart and clean it. What can go wrong?
>
> Isaac
>> "Don Phillipson" <ey925@ncfSPAMBLOCK.ca> wrote:
>>
>>> What chance of cleaning the lenses inside a Canon
>>> FS4000US Film scanner? This is an old unit bought
>>> used, but it looks as if an untidy spider has taken
>>> up residence inside . . .
"Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
news:hamle7$e00$1@news.eternal-september.org...
> The list of things that can go wrong is quite lengthy. Some parts of a
> scanner may be precision aligned at the factory on an optical test jig;
> and when you "just take it apart" ... that alignment is lost (on a Nikon
> LS-2000, there are 4 screws that, if removed or even just loosened, will
> usually destroy the scanner). You have no idea how many people do not
> know how to work the ZIF connectors on "Flex Cables" (those thin, flat
> ribbon cables used in a lot of equipment). Also, on some scanners there
> are a LOT of "flex cables" and they tear VERY easily, they cannot be
> repaired, and in some cases replacements are either difficult to get or
> not available at all. I could go on, but the answer to "what can go
> wrong" is: LOTS OF THINGS. MOST untrained people who take these things
> apart without instructions do damage to them.
Thanks for practical advice: plan now is:
1. Vacuum slide scanner from outside (and operate and store it in as
dust-free a location as I can manage.)
2. Continue scanning slides (from the 1960s, many unseen for
decades, half badly faded)
3. Test Photoshop on a couple of well-chosen samples,
including those with dust/spider marks.
4. If this cleanup remains unsatisfactory, then I shall take off
the cover to assess interior components.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
In article <hamle7$e00$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
Barry Watzman <WatzmanNOSPAM@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?
I would try moderate air, probably from a can, and work my way up the
pressure settings until the obstructions are gone. Would also minimize
disassembly.
The best way to clean is with compressed air, not a vacuum. There is
very little risk in removing covers. Once you get inside, you have to
be more cautious.
Don Phillipson wrote:
>>> "Don Phillipson" <ey925@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 . . .
>
> "Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:hamle7$e00$1@news.eternal-september.org...
>
>> 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.
>
> Thanks for practical advice: plan now is:
> 1. Vacuum slide scanner from outside (and operate and store it in as
> dust-free a location as I can manage.)
> 2. Continue scanning slides (from the 1960s, many unseen for
> decades, half badly faded)
> 3. Test Photoshop on a couple of well-chosen samples,
> including those with dust/spider marks.
> 4. If this cleanup remains unsatisfactory, then I shall take off
> the cover to assess interior components.
>
Cleaning lenses inside 
Linear Mode
