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From: Barry Watzman on 10 Jan 2008 13:49
Put some Windex on a Q-tip, clean the mirror, wipe gently with a dry
Q-tip, then blow dry with compressed air; you may need to repeat this on
a really dirty mirror. It works fine on the Nikon scanners that I am
servicing, and those are front-surface mirror (as are probably the
mirrors in your Epson scanner). Front surface mirrors can be easily
scratched, but Q-tips seem to be fine if used carefully.

rumblings wrote:
> Barry Watzman wrote:
>> Re: "I know that the mirrors become dusty over time and was wondering
>> if over a period of say 3 years, I'd get better results than the V750
>> by buying a cheaper model (eg the 4490) and replacing it after say 18
>> months (to overcome the problems of dust in the light path)"
>>
>> Mirrors can be cleaned. It's not that difficult to do.
>
> I clean the glass regularly but have not been successful with the
> mirrors. I've tried using compressed air but as the tin was tipped up,
> fluid came out and has left a residue on the mirror. The other problem
> is that as they are mirrors and facing each other it is extremely
> difficult to distinguish reflections from what is real. I don't think I
> could clean them properly without dismantling them and haven't had the
> courage to try that. In any case, I doubt I could restore them to mint
> condition. My current scanner is an Espon 3200. On which scanner do you
> find the mirrors "not that difficult to do"???
From: rumblings on 10 Jan 2008 14:33
Interesting. I wouldn't have thought of using something as small as a
cotton bud for such a large area. Is Windex water based?? Is it better
than using methanol? I'll likely try out this technique next time.

Access to the mirrors on the 3200 is through a 4mm wide slot, with the
bulb right next to it and difficult to remove. Looking down through the
slot, it is very difficult to see what is what due to the reflections.
The unit doesn't look easy to open up and I suppose I've been afraid of
not re-seating components properly if I did. Another difficulty is that
as inside is an enclosed space, compressed air is likely to leave a
portion of the dust in there. Guess I should have a look at Epson forums.

Does this sound like the Nikons you service?? - and are they flatbeds or
do you service Coolscans??

Barry Watzman wrote:
> Put some Windex on a Q-tip, clean the mirror, wipe gently with a dry
> Q-tip, then blow dry with compressed air; you may need to repeat this on
> a really dirty mirror. It works fine on the Nikon scanners that I am
> servicing, and those are front-surface mirror (as are probably the
> mirrors in your Epson scanner). Front surface mirrors can be easily
> scratched, but Q-tips seem to be fine if used carefully.
>
> rumblings wrote:
>> Barry Watzman wrote:
>>> Re: "I know that the mirrors become dusty over time and was wondering
>>> if over a period of say 3 years, I'd get better results than the V750
>>> by buying a cheaper model (eg the 4490) and replacing it after say 18
>>> months (to overcome the problems of dust in the light path)"
>>>
>>> Mirrors can be cleaned. It's not that difficult to do.
>>
>> I clean the glass regularly but have not been successful with the
>> mirrors. I've tried using compressed air but as the tin was tipped up,
>> fluid came out and has left a residue on the mirror. The other problem
>> is that as they are mirrors and facing each other it is extremely
>> difficult to distinguish reflections from what is real. I don't think
>> I could clean them properly without dismantling them and haven't had
>> the courage to try that. In any case, I doubt I could restore them to
>> mint condition. My current scanner is an Espon 3200. On which scanner
>> do you find the mirrors "not that difficult to do"???
From: Leonard Evens on 11 Jan 2008 10:10
rumblings wrote:
> I hope to buy an Epson scanner soon to use mainly for scanning old photos.
>
> Should I buy the expensive V750? It has two features which the cheaper
> Epson scanners don't have. Is it worth paying the extra for these??
>
> The features I refer to are:
>
> 1. Hi Pass Optical System
> 2. Dmax of 4 instead of 3.2
>
>
> The hi pass optical system sounds a useful feature but I know that the
> mirrors become dusty over time and was wondering if over a period of say
> 3 years, I'd get better results than the V750 by buying a cheaper model
> (eg the 4490) and replacing it after say 18 months (to overcome the
> problems of dust in the light path)
>
> I suppose I'm asking, Does the V750 have noticable advantages over the
> 4490 for print scanning?

If you already have a 3200, I'm not sure why you have to upgrade if you
are just going to be scanning prints. Print dynamic range is pretty
low so you don't need an increased dmax. Similarly you are unlikely to
need the higher resolution. Prints are unlikely to have enough fine
detail to enlarge enough where the extra resolution would make a difference.
From: rumblings on 11 Jan 2008 10:36
Leonard Evens wrote:
> rumblings wrote:
>> I hope to buy an Epson scanner soon to use mainly for scanning old
>> photos.
>>
>> Should I buy the expensive V750? It has two features which the cheaper
>> Epson scanners don't have. Is it worth paying the extra for these??
>>
>> The features I refer to are:
>>
>> 1. Hi Pass Optical System
>> 2. Dmax of 4 instead of 3.2
>>
>>
>> The hi pass optical system sounds a useful feature but I know that the
>> mirrors become dusty over time and was wondering if over a period of
>> say 3 years, I'd get better results than the V750 by buying a cheaper
>> model (eg the 4490) and replacing it after say 18 months (to overcome
>> the problems of dust in the light path)
>>
>> I suppose I'm asking, Does the V750 have noticable advantages over the
>> 4490 for print scanning?
>
> If you already have a 3200, I'm not sure why you have to upgrade if you
> are just going to be scanning prints. Print dynamic range is pretty
> low so you don't need an increased dmax. Similarly you are unlikely to
> need the higher resolution. Prints are unlikely to have enough fine
> detail to enlarge enough where the extra resolution would make a
> difference.

dirty mirrors
From: Barry Watzman on 11 Jan 2008 23:26
I service the coolscans. I am presuming that you are going to
disassemble the unit enough to get good, total, unrestricted access. Is
it risky? Yes, but you are apparently at the point of giving up use of
the scanner anyway.


rumblings wrote:
> Interesting. I wouldn't have thought of using something as small as a
> cotton bud for such a large area. Is Windex water based?? Is it better
> than using methanol? I'll likely try out this technique next time.
>
> Access to the mirrors on the 3200 is through a 4mm wide slot, with the
> bulb right next to it and difficult to remove. Looking down through the
> slot, it is very difficult to see what is what due to the reflections.
> The unit doesn't look easy to open up and I suppose I've been afraid of
> not re-seating components properly if I did. Another difficulty is that
> as inside is an enclosed space, compressed air is likely to leave a
> portion of the dust in there. Guess I should have a look at Epson forums.
>
> Does this sound like the Nikons you service?? - and are they flatbeds or
> do you service Coolscans??
>
> Barry Watzman wrote:
>> Put some Windex on a Q-tip, clean the mirror, wipe gently with a dry
>> Q-tip, then blow dry with compressed air; you may need to repeat this
>> on a really dirty mirror. It works fine on the Nikon scanners that I
>> am servicing, and those are front-surface mirror (as are probably the
>> mirrors in your Epson scanner). Front surface mirrors can be easily
>> scratched, but Q-tips seem to be fine if used carefully.
>>
>> rumblings wrote:
>>> Barry Watzman wrote:
>>>> Re: "I know that the mirrors become dusty over time and was
>>>> wondering if over a period of say 3 years, I'd get better results
>>>> than the V750 by buying a cheaper model (eg the 4490) and replacing
>>>> it after say 18 months (to overcome the problems of dust in the
>>>> light path)"
>>>>
>>>> Mirrors can be cleaned. It's not that difficult to do.
>>>
>>> I clean the glass regularly but have not been successful with the
>>> mirrors. I've tried using compressed air but as the tin was tipped
>>> up, fluid came out and has left a residue on the mirror. The other
>>> problem is that as they are mirrors and facing each other it is
>>> extremely difficult to distinguish reflections from what is real. I
>>> don't think I could clean them properly without dismantling them and
>>> haven't had the courage to try that. In any case, I doubt I could
>>> restore them to mint condition. My current scanner is an Espon 3200.
>>> On which scanner do you find the mirrors "not that difficult to do"???
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