Scanner Repair

December 24, 2003 10:33 AM

I just acquired a scanner that was destined for the dump. THe only thing wrong with it is that the glass is fogged on the interior of the scanner. I would think that opening it and cleaning it would be fairly straight forward, and am wondering if anyone has had an experience to suggest this is a none trivial operation.

I don't know if this is bad form, asking two questions in as many days. Please forgive me if I've made an AskMe faux pas. And thanks in advance.

posted by Grod to Technology (8 answers total)

The last scanner I took apart was rather simple. I had to take out four long philips-head screws from the bottom (one at each corner), and the top of the case lifted right off.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:08 AM on December 24, 2003

I suppose it really depends on model. I've pulled apart a scanner to clean the glass. I did it slowly and methodically, attempting to make sure nothing was thrown out of alignment. It was fairly easy.

Besides, I'm guessing if the scanner was destined for the dump, then it was free. What have you got to lose?
posted by dpkm at 11:23 AM on December 24, 2003

Response by poster: I've got nothing to lose except a free scanner. I was just wondering if it would be as easy as it looks. It was only used twice, and there's nothing wrong with it other than the glass. Free is free.
posted by Grod at 11:29 AM on December 24, 2003

Fogged with condensation? Or grime?
posted by scarabic at 11:34 AM on December 24, 2003

Be careful that what you're calling 'fogged' isn't some sort of fungus. There are types of fungus that like to grow on glass in warm, humid environments (like you might get in a heated basement, for example). They will minutely etch the surface of the glass and can be very difficuly to eradicate. The worse news is that they spread to other items (like camera lenses, for example). You can spot fungus by looking for a very fine, white, filigree or spider-web like appearance through a magnifying glass. If you think your fogging is fungal, best thing is to get rid of the affected item.
posted by normy at 12:33 PM on December 24, 2003

related:

anyone know of a free PC ocr program which actually works?
posted by dash_slot- at 6:58 PM on December 24, 2003

Response by poster: OK. Well, it was easy to clean, but now I've got another problem. I downloaded the driver, I plugged the scanner into the wall, I plugged the scanner into the computer via USB. Plug'n'play detected it, no problem, liked the driver installed, etc. However, there's no light on the scanner (microtek scanmaker 3600), I can't scan with it, and when I go:
settings>control panel>scanners and cameras>Scanmaker 3600> Test Scanner or Camera
I alternately receive two messages.
The test failed because the device is not available. Verify the connection and try again. Is the first message. When I try again I am told that:
Your scanner or camera successfully completed the diagnostic test..
The cycle repeats. I think this thing is going to finish its trip to the dump, but I'm bummed 'cause I really needed this thing.
posted by Grod at 8:25 PM on December 24, 2003

Grod, look through the Microtek site; see if there are any technical bulletins. I had a much older scanner be Microtek that would not, would not talk to my computer correctly. In fact, those error messages sound familiar. It wound up I had to put in an initialization string in the driver (it's been years, but it was some combination of the letter 's' and either a slash or a minus, either before or after...I know this isn't all that helpful but it's a start).

I also had to turn the scanner off and back on after every scan.
posted by notsnot at 12:15 AM on December 25, 2003