Aztek Premier Issues - East Coast Servicer

[kwy290]

I have an Aztek Premier drum scanner that has been giving me trouble as of late. I've been in touch with Evan Lippincott at Aztek, who has been great, but wants the scanner in for service at their location in California. He seems to think it could possibly be the motherboard or some other large component malfunctioning. Has anyone had any experience working with a technician who services these machines on site? I'm hoping to save some money by not shipping the scanner across the country, and perhaps their hourly rate will be lower then Azteks.

Any suggestions or contacts would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks! - Keith

[Daniel Stone]

Aztek built the machine, I wouldn't trust anyone else but them to service a recent model Howtek or Aztek machine...

Unfortunately that's the price you pay (sometimes) if things come up.
My DPL8000 has run beautifully since I got it serviced in early 2012. And the few times I've had questions, Evan has always been extremely helpful, honest and forthright. They're great guys to do business with, and know these machines inside and out.

Would you have your Ferrari serviced at a Ford dealer? Probably not...

Just my $.02, as a fellow Aztek owner

[Lenny Eiger]

+1 on the Evan is terrific.
It is quite expensive, to be sure. But the scanner will be working like a well-oiled machine when he's done...

You can save a little bit by getting a musician's Anvil case. They will even cut the foam for a Premier and you will have something you can transport it with...

Good luck,

Lenny

[8x10 user]

What is your power like in at the site? These seem to like very clean power sources and also you have to be careful with the SCSI procedures. Try the other SCSI port and see if that helps.

A new motherboard will be very expensive and most likely Aztek is the only source for service. For Aztek the high rate is understandable when you consider the overhead and that at least three people work there. There is a lot of un-billable work involved in a business like that. Working with Aztek was way easier and more affordable then Kodak. Getting answers to basic questions from Kodak required a service call and a long pre screening registration process. There are now independent techs for Creo and Heidelberg scanners due to the short fallings in service and support. Not so with Aztek; for a reason... Really Aztek is the decedent of the work by independent tech (Phil) from Howtek. Very few people worked on the Aztek scanner project. The improvements over the Howtek line are mostly a "family secret".


I have an Aztek Premier drum scanner that has been giving me trouble as of late. I've been in touch with Evan Lippincott at Aztek, who has been great, but wants the scanner in for service at their location in California. He seems to think it could possibly be the motherboard or some other large component malfunctioning. Has anyone had any experience working with a technician who services these machines on site? I'm hoping to save some money by not shipping the scanner across the country, and perhaps their hourly rate will be lower then Azteks.

Any suggestions or contacts would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks! - Keith

[onnect17]

I sent you a PM but not sure you got it. A friend familiar with the equipment mentioned he noticed some strange behaviour when the battery in the motherboard is bad.

[kwy290]

Thanks for the responses everyone. The scanner is connected to a Tripp Lite Omni surge protector, so I imagine power is clean from that. I recently got a new SCSI cable and also switched to the second SCSI port on the back of the scanner. I also updated the firmware and after that I was able to get out a preview scan, but then the high-res scan would eventually come back with an error and quit.

I haven't heard anything about the battery on the motherboard, what exactly does that entail?

And I definitely agree with everyone about having Aztek service the machine, I have no doubt they will provide excellent service, as they have already been tremendously helpful over the phone. But unfortunately scanning clients have dropped off as of late and I'm trying to justify how important the scanner is for what little use it gets. I think it is a good service to offer, but I understand why not many people offer scans on this type of equipment. Thanks again!