Required maintenance interval for Hasselblad Flextight X1

[Vic Montaigne]

Hello to everyone!

I would like to ask those of you familiar with the Hasselblad Flextight X1 scanner if they know (rather than guess) which maintenance interval is actually needed to keep the scanner in good shape when it is used only lightly.

I am well aware that the manual says it is either 15.000 scans or one year, whichever occurs first, BUT I also know that getting this beast to servicing is not exactly an easy endeavour. Maybe in the real world it is more the actual scans counting here, at least I would love to hear that... Does anybody know what would be actually required for a lightly used unit?

Thanks as always,

[pinup tragic]

There is a maintenance / service manual online for an 848 i may use it to lube my 949 first i'd need to know what kind of oil is used on the rail, i am getting the service message also so it must be a year since mine was serviced it has done quite a few but nowhere near filling the green service bar also the cost is prohibitive here in OZ around $550 a service - the thing is built like a tank, i just get the odd squeak from a spring now and then i might wait until the year after.... i believe when i bought it from a fishing mag publication it had not been serviced for 4 years but was in great condition with little use so that makes it 2 services in 4 years the last one was not really needed - i may use it once a week maybe a little more do 60 3F scans at a time - light use every couple of years maybe stretch to 3

[Vic Montaigne]

I noticed it is not only tragic pinup and myself. There are more people (of course there are!) having the same question, sharing the impression that the preemptive maintenance intervals might just be overdoing it a little in the case of a lightly used scanner, who are however on the other hand not really sure about that either. In the past some posted on photo.net, yet there never seemed to be any really conclusive answer.

I had a look at the service manual for the FT 848 mentioned by tragic pinup. It offers some interesting revelations, thank you for bringing it up! Two points popped up for me:

1. Lubrication:

Part of the routine service is obviously the lubrication of the screw drives (spindles). Although I think it should not be difficult to find the right lubricants, the ones good for helical mounts should probably be fine, I would personally not want to risk getting some of it where it absolutely does not belong. In general I would not feel comfortable doing any of the lubrication or internal cleaning in a nearly new unit myself. (Others might of course very well be up to it.)
The manual held one good clue though: any squeaking noise occuring while repositioning the holder, or during focus optimisation, indicates the need to lube the screw drives. I guess the absence of unusual noises probably does not guarantee that a unit is not yet due for service. I still consider this a valuable hint.

2. Dust

Another part of the service is cleaning, including the sensor. And here is where the little diagnosing tool hidden in the FlexColor software comes in handy, as it nicely informs on possible dust specks on the sensor. This also works for the X1, I tried it. So, at least this part can be monitored based on facts.

So what is the conclusion? The need for cleaning the sensor can be monitored. The need for lubrication is becoming obvious only when noises start to occur, leaving the basic question on necessary intervals somehow unanswered.

This leads to the question whether the need for re-lubricating arises

a) from decreasing by use (number of scans) or
b) from drying out over time?

Would anyone know?

PS: It is even 25.000 scans or 12 months, 15.000 only applies when a feeder is used.