[filmscanners] Re: Cleaning SS4000 scanner
That works! I didn't even notice the 4 screws securing the top of the carriage as they were black--not the same silver color as the other screws. The top half of my mirror was dusty. The lens looks fine. I think my scans are better now. Thanks. Tony Sleep tonysl...@halftone.co.uk wrote: On 20/07/2009 Tony Sleep wrote: There is a 3rd screw down a hole (top rhs of the cover, as shown), and the 4th retains the cover over the stepper mechanism - the slim rectangular box protuberance that your LH sketched blue line crosses. Essentially, there is a screw in each of the 4 corners of the transport cover. On second thoughts this may be wrong, my memory seems to have holes in it... the 4th screw may not be in the stepper cover but also down a hole, bottom RH corner of the transport cover. Anyhow, one way or another there are 4 screws that retain that cover. -- Regards Tony Sleep http://tonysleep.co.uk Unsubscribe by mail to listser...@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Cleaning SS4000 scanner
On 20/07/2009 Tony Sleep wrote: There is a 3rd screw down a hole (top rhs of the cover, as shown), and the 4th retains the cover over the stepper mechanism - the slim rectangular box protuberance that your LH sketched blue line crosses. Essentially, there is a screw in each of the 4 corners of the transport cover. On second thoughts this may be wrong, my memory seems to have holes in it... the 4th screw may not be in the stepper cover but also down a hole, bottom RH corner of the transport cover. Anyhow, one way or another there are 4 screws that retain that cover. -- Regards Tony Sleep http://tonysleep.co.uk Unsubscribe by mail to listser...@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Cleaning SS4000 scanner
James wrote this last month. At the moment, I have my SS4000 apart and I have removed 10 (not 6) self-tappers but see no way to remove the carriage. I do have the lamp off, however. Any suggestions? Is there a site with some images of this process? I spent some time with google but was not successful. I am amazed how much dust is inside the machine right now! On 13/06/2009 James L. Sims wrote: With the support for my Polaroid Sprintscan 120 now unavailable, I am looking for a replacement. Vuescan should resolve antique s/w issues on Windows, though SCSI support may become more awkward I believe ASPI drivers are available for Vista. On Mac I don't know with current OSX, but similar was possible. Same applies to SCSI Nikons etc. Regarding physical service, I recently popped the lid off my Polaroid 4000 (4 lever tabs) as it seemed to have got rather flary and low contrast with some strongly backlit slides that included bright backgrounds, despite living under a dust cover when not in use. Half a dozen self-tappers later and I was able to remove the lamp holder and the top of the film carrier carriage. I was then able to clean the angled mirror with a DSLR sensor swab - it was covered in a thick layer of dust. Inspection with a torch showed the lens to be clean, reflected in the mirror. I then cleaned every trace of dust and dirt from the mechanism surfaces I could get at, and wiped and re-lubricated the helical carriage advance screws. Result : a total transformation! Scans bright and clean, loads more shadow detail - virtually everything in Kodachrome. No flare and colour much easier to get spot on. The mechanism sounds happier for lubrication too. No more misfeeding neg carrier either, which the scanner has been mistaking for the slide carrier half the time, for about the last 4 years. I wish I'd done it earlier, as I now think I should really rescan quite a lot. Has anyone had any experience with Epson's V750M? The specs. look impressive if they hold up. No experience, but if I had the money I'd have bought one to scan the relatively small amount of 120 I have. From reading reviews the V750 is very little different from the much cheaper V700. Lens coating seems very slightly better and you get Silverfast with the 750. Most important factor appears to be stand-offs for the film carrier, which can be improvised. Personally I'd use Vuescan anyway. -- Regards Tony Sleep http://tonysleep.co.uk -- -- Unsubscribe by mail to listser...@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body Unsubscribe by mail to listser...@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Cleaning SS4000 scanner
On 19/07/2009 sn...@cox.net wrote: James wrote this last month. At the moment, I have my SS4000 apart and I have removed 10 (not 6) self-tappers but see no way to remove the carriage. I do have the lamp off, however. It was me who wrote the report originally. I removed only the lamp carrier (2 screws) and the front upper portion of the film advance housing (4 screws), then decided any further dismantling looked too hard and probably unnecessary. Access to the reflex mirror is limited, through a roughly 20mm x 15mm aperture in the bed of the film carrier, but I found it was enough to be able to thoroughly clean the mirror with a DSLR sensor cleaning pad on an angled arm (I use Green Clean, the wet pads have a plastic arm, and I heated and bent one about 45 deg). My mirror had been utterly filthy with thick dust. Once I'd done that I could shine a torch onto the mirror and was able to see the lens cell reflected. That was perfectly clean, so I left it alone. Just as well, getting to it would require an awful lot more dismantling. The only other thing I did was to wipe the parts of the coarse and fine carrier advance worm gears and support rods that I could see, using a pad with some WD40 to remove old lubricant. I then dribbled a little light machine oil onto the rods and some light grease onto the worm gears. As expected, after reassembly, the carrier movement distributed this to the areas I couldn't get to just by scanning a few frames. The sound of the mechanism changed noticeably, sounding less strained, during the first couple of scans. All the internal dust I could get at was removed at the same time, especially the little sensor notch toward the rear, LHS of the carrier mechanism. I have no idea how this sensor works - it doesn't even look like a sensor just a V-shaped notch in plastic - but that is what detects the filmstrip holder is not the mounted slide holder. Mine was filled with fluff that wanted to stay there. You can figure out where it is from the design of the Polaroid brush (which I don't have). Just cleaning that mirror has made an amazing difference to scan quality. It also now very seldom fails to correctly recognise the filmstrip holder at the first attempt. I think I've had 2 misfeeds in maybe 30 loads. It had been driving me crazy before, misfeeding about 2/3 the time. Any suggestions? Is there a site with some images of this process? I spent some time with google but was not successful. The only page I know of is http://pages.videotron.com/tiller/SS4000faults.htm which won't tell you much -- Regards Tony Sleep http://tonysleep.co.uk Unsubscribe by mail to listser...@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Cleaning SS4000 scanner
Tony, Thanks for the details. If you ever do this again, how about a few digital images along the way :). After I removed the lamp, I tried to remove the film carrier. With the scanner oriented in the same fashion as the background shot on the website you quote below, I removed the two sheet metal caps that retain the ends of the rails. I suspect the two other screws that you refer to are under the film carriage on the left side. I marked up the background of the SS4000 Problems page and put it here: http://www.tallgrassimages.com/gallery2/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=590 I should have powered up the device and moved the carriage to the right--or used the suggestion of gaining access to the worm gear and moving it while powered off. Did you have to do one of those two options? Thanks Stan Tony Sleep tonysl...@halftone.co.uk wrote: It was me who wrote the report originally. I removed only the lamp carrier (2 screws) and the front upper portion of the film advance housing (4 screws), then decided any further dismantling looked too hard and probably unnecessary. Access to the reflex mirror is limited, through a roughly 20mm x 15mm aperture in the bed of the film carrier, but I found it was enough to be able to thoroughly clean the mirror with a DSLR sensor cleaning pad on an angled arm (I use Green Clean, the wet pads have a plastic arm, and I heated and bent one about 45 deg). My mirror had been utterly filthy with thick dust. Once I'd done that I could shine a torch onto the mirror and was able to see the lens cell reflected. That was perfectly clean, so I left it alone. Just as well, getting to it would require an awful lot more dismantling. The only other thing I did was to wipe the parts of the coarse and fine carrier advance worm gears and support rods that I could see, using a pad with some WD40 to remove old lubricant. I then dribbled a little light machine oil onto the rods and some light grease onto the worm gears. As expected, after reassembly, the carrier movement distributed this to the areas I couldn't get to just by scanning a few frames. The sound of the mechanism changed noticeably, sounding less strained, during the first couple of scans. All the internal dust I could get at was removed at the same time, especially the little sensor notch toward the rear, LHS of the carrier mechanism. I have no idea how this sensor works - it doesn't even look like a sensor just a V-shaped notch in plastic - but that is what detects the filmstrip holder is not the mounted slide holder. Mine was filled with fluff that wanted to stay there. You can figure out where it is from the design of the Polaroid brush (which I don't have). Just cleaning that mirror has made an amazing difference to scan quality. It also now very seldom fails to correctly recognise the filmstrip holder at the first attempt. I think I've had 2 misfeeds in maybe 30 loads. It had been driving me crazy before, misfeeding about 2/3 the time. Any suggestions? Is there a site with some images of this process? I spent some time with google but was not successful. The only page I know of is http://pages.videotron.com/tiller/SS4000faults.htm which won't tell you much -- Regards Tony Sleep http://tonysleep.co.uk Unsubscribe by mail to listser...@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Cleaning SS4000 scanner
This is very encouraging, Tony. I have had my ancient SS4000 under a cover for several years as well, and I'm sure it could use a similar cleaning. I may give it a try. I take it that re-assembly was not a great problem? Cheers, Roger Smith On 13-Jun-09, at 12:48 PM, Tony Sleep wrote: On 13/06/2009 James L. Sims wrote: With the support for my Polaroid Sprintscan 120 now unavailable, I am looking for a replacement. Vuescan should resolve antique s/w issues on Windows, though SCSI support may become more awkward I believe ASPI drivers are available for Vista. On Mac I don't know with current OSX, but similar was possible. Same applies to SCSI Nikons etc. Regarding physical service, I recently popped the lid off my Polaroid 4000 (4 lever tabs) as it seemed to have got rather flary and low contrast with some strongly backlit slides that included bright backgrounds, despite living under a dust cover when not in use. Half a dozen self-tappers later and I was able to remove the lamp holder and the top of the film carrier carriage. I was then able to clean the angled mirror with a DSLR sensor swab - it was covered in a thick layer of dust. Inspection with a torch showed the lens to be clean, reflected in the mirror. I then cleaned every trace of dust and dirt from the mechanism surfaces I could get at, and wiped and re-lubricated the helical carriage advance screws. Result : a total transformation! Scans bright and clean, loads more shadow detail - virtually everything in Kodachrome. No flare and colour much easier to get spot on. The mechanism sounds happier for lubrication too. No more misfeeding neg carrier either, which the scanner has been mistaking for the slide carrier half the time, for about the last 4 years. I wish I'd done it earlier, as I now think I should really rescan quite a lot. Has anyone had any experience with Epson's V750M? The specs. look impressive if they hold up. No experience, but if I had the money I'd have bought one to scan the relatively small amount of 120 I have. From reading reviews the V750 is very little different from the much cheaper V700. Lens coating seems very slightly better and you get Silverfast with the 750. Most important factor appears to be stand-offs for the film carrier, which can be improvised. Personally I'd use Vuescan anyway. -- Regards Tony Sleep http://tonysleep.co.uk -- -- Unsubscribe by mail to listser...@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body Unsubscribe by mail to listser...@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Cleaning SS4000 scanner
On 13/06/2009 Roger Smith wrote: This is very encouraging, Tony. I have had my ancient SS4000 under a cover for several years as well, and I'm sure it could use a similar cleaning. I may give it a try. I take it that re-assembly was not a great problem? It's easy. 4 plastic spring clips release the cover (use a flat-bladed screwdriver to lever the tangs inward, and another to lift the lid slightly). As you remove it, just bear in mind that that lid/top remains attached to the innards by the wiring loom at the front LH corner. Then you need a small Philips screwdriver. 2 screws to remove the 'saddle' that contains the lamp (leave wires attached, just lift it to one side), and 4 to remove the top plastic part of the film carrier mechanism/stepper motor cover. That will give you just about enough room to see the small rectangular hole in the chassis with the angled mirror underneath. I tried removing the dust 'dry' but it was futile, a wet DSLR sensor cleaning pad on a bent plastic arm did the job. A lens tissue with lens cleaning fluid would do just as well. Be gentle, it's surface silvered. With the helicoid, I just wiped off as much old, dry lubricant that I could get to with a bit of cloth wrapped round some stiff wire damped with WD40, then smeared on a little light grease. There are also some visible metal guide rods for the carriage. I wiped those with lint-free cloth and then used a brush with a little light oil. You can't clean and re-lube the whole length of either the helicoid thread nor the guide rods, but operation will distribute the fresh lubricant one you have it back together. All other dust was removed with a dry brush then the used DSLR pad, then the bits and lid replaced. A 10minute job -- Regards Tony Sleep http://tonysleep.co.uk Unsubscribe by mail to listser...@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Cleaning SS4000 scanner
I too found the same thing. Even though covered up the mirror got really dusty and the scans were really poor. Tony's instructions are pretty much what I had to do and I used denatured alcohol with a small piece of lint-free optical cloth. Just be sure not to get the swab or whatever you use too moist as drops will form on the mirror and the cleaning solution/alcohol will drip into things is shouldn't. I guess I have another question - has anyone compared their SS4000 slide scans to the Epson V750/V700? I find the SS4000 to be terribly slow. I'm looking to archive a couple of years of slides and there's no way I want to do it with the SS4000. I'd like to mount as many as possible and do a batch scan if possible. So I'm looking at the Epson V750/V700 or perhaps picking up a Nikon Coolscan 5000 + slide feeder and then selling it after I'm done. I'd be using Vuescan. Thanks - John Roger Smith wrote: This is very encouraging, Tony. I have had my ancient SS4000 under a cover for several years as well, and I'm sure it could use a similar cleaning. I may give it a try. I take it that re-assembly was not a great problem? Cheers, Roger Smith On 13-Jun-09, at 12:48 PM, Tony Sleep wrote: On 13/06/2009 James L. Sims wrote: With the support for my Polaroid Sprintscan 120 now unavailable, I am looking for a replacement. Vuescan should resolve antique s/w issues on Windows, though SCSI support may become more awkward I believe ASPI drivers are available for Vista. On Mac I don't know with current OSX, but similar was possible. Same applies to SCSI Nikons etc. Regarding physical service, I recently popped the lid off my Polaroid 4000 (4 lever tabs) as it seemed to have got rather flary and low contrast with some strongly backlit slides that included bright backgrounds, despite living under a dust cover when not in use. Half a dozen self-tappers later and I was able to remove the lamp holder and the top of the film carrier carriage. I was then able to clean the angled mirror with a DSLR sensor swab - it was covered in a thick layer of dust. Inspection with a torch showed the lens to be clean, reflected in the mirror. I then cleaned every trace of dust and dirt from the mechanism surfaces I could get at, and wiped and re-lubricated the helical carriage advance screws. Result : a total transformation! Scans bright and clean, loads more shadow detail - virtually everything in Kodachrome. No flare and colour much easier to get spot on. The mechanism sounds happier for lubrication too. No more misfeeding neg carrier either, which the scanner has been mistaking for the slide carrier half the time, for about the last 4 years. I wish I'd done it earlier, as I now think I should really rescan quite a lot. Has anyone had any experience with Epson's V750M? The specs. look impressive if they hold up. No experience, but if I had the money I'd have bought one to scan the relatively small amount of 120 I have. From reading reviews the V750 is very little different from the much cheaper V700. Lens coating seems very slightly better and you get Silverfast with the 750. Most important factor appears to be stand-offs for the film carrier, which can be improvised. Personally I'd use Vuescan anyway. -- Regards Tony Sleep http://tonysleep.co.uk -- -- Unsubscribe by mail to listser...@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body -- John Karen Hinkey hin...@seanet.com Unsubscribe by mail to listser...@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
