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Ron Marshall
13-Oct-2005, 14:41
I have had my Epson 4990 scanner for four months now and just noticed a light haze on the inside of the lower glass. The upper appears clear inside. I don't think that it is dense enough to degrage scan quality, especially since it is quite uniform.

I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this problem and if there is a way to remove the glass to clean its inner surface should the problem worsten.

dan nguyen
13-Oct-2005, 14:54
send it in for cleaning if under warranty... or pay to get it done or you can do it yourself....

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00Dacp&unified_p=1

martin howard
13-Oct-2005, 15:19
Dear Ron,

I've had an epson 4990 for around 6 months and I believe there has been a light haze from the beginning so I thought this was normal! However, the hazy in my machine appears more like a light irregular pattern (like ripples). I still haven't been able to establish whether the haze is deteriorating or if it is degrading to the image quality ( It certainly isn't visible on scans or small prints). I'm also rather curious as to the cause and I still haven't decided whether to chasing up the warranty.

I'd also like to know if anyone has contacted epson about this specific problem or indeed if it's present in earlier models or other brands?

tim atherton
13-Oct-2005, 15:31
it's usually evaporation or offgassing or whatever from the oil and lubricants

If it's in warrantly you might as well get Epson to do it. If it's out (or you feel confident wieldign a screwdriver...) you may well be able to do it yourself.

I did this on my older Umax Powerlook III - it was pretty easy to get the top cover off. Just don't let tons of extra dust get in ther. You screw it all back together agan, take a peek and there is a nice speck of dust ont he CCD ir on the inside part of the glass...

Ron Marshall
13-Oct-2005, 16:11
Thanks for all the help. Since it seems straightforward, and something I will probably have to repeat, I'll do it myself to save on the driving and to assure it is done in a dust free setting.

dan nguyen
13-Oct-2005, 16:49
If you do it yourself, shine a flashlight at angle to check and make sure that it's as clean as you like, before you snap and screw everything back on... it will save you time.

Ron Marshall
13-Oct-2005, 17:41
Thanks Dan. I am getting the feeling that this crud is difficult to completely remove? I plan to use alcohol, any suggestions?

dan nguyen
13-Oct-2005, 18:32
you're welcome.......first I use regular glass cleaner... not good enough because of residues... someone suggest me this Invisible Glass for my car (found at auto part store) then I tried it on my scanner.... best use with lin-free cloth for scanner. After that try it on the windshield of your car with any clean rag....

http://www.autogeek.net/stoninglas.html

Kirk Gittings
13-Oct-2005, 20:29
Mine is heavily used and I have to clean it about every 6 months. I use a mixture of 1/3 denatured alcohol and distilled water. Works fine.

Conrad Hoffman
13-Oct-2005, 20:43
Haven't had to clean my 4490 yet, but a warning about Invisible Glass. It's great stuff for glass, none better, but never get it on plastics. I believe it will craze polycarbonate- don't get it on your glasses and don't get it on your headlight lenses if they're plastic. The damage is hard to see, but scatters light like crazy.

dan nguyen
14-Oct-2005, 20:08
Epson use glass.. not plastic... I just want to help not promoting a product that I have no relation to it....