Glass Haze on Epson 4990

[Stephen Sample]

I just received my new refurbished Epson 4990 from Epson. I cleaned the top of the glass with lens cleaner. However, when the scanner is on and the light is shining from below, there appears to be a haze on the inside of the glass. When the scanner is turned off the glass seems to look very clear and clean. Do I have a problem here and need to return the scanner for another? I just scanned a color photo and it looks good. Thanks for your advice.

[Kirk Gittings]

You can clean this yourself. I have many times. There is a tutorial on the Yahoo Epson Scanner forum, which unfortunately I do not have the time to look up again right now. FWIW The 750 appears to have less outgassing than the 4990 and not require the interior cleaning.

[Henry Ambrose]

This should help:

http://tinyurl.com/yxaark

I use a product called Invisible Glass and a microfiber cloth to clean the glass. Be careful of the wiring connections. Its not that difficult to do just go slow and easy. Be sure the glass is -really- clean before you put it all back together.

If you're not in a hurry you could send it in for service or replacement but I wonder if it would come back really clean or if you'd get another one just as hazy. Anyway, you'll get to do this again because it will haze up again.

It would have been nice if they'd made the glass removable from outside.

[Ron Marshall]

I read of someone who claims higher contrast scans with improved resolution after painting the gray interior parts of the scanner with matt black paint:

http://ajaxnetphoto.blogspot.com/200...vers-flat.html

Has anyone tried reducing internal reflections, and if so how effective is it?

[Doug Fisher]

I agree with Kirk that you will get it done well and correctly if you do it yourself. This also avoids more potential damage during shipping. The only thing that is a negative is that you would void the warranty if you open up the scanner. Many of us have speculated that is why Epson put the new screws under the caps. You can pop the caps out but they will show marks. One guy in Europe was able to buy replacement caps.

There is a good .pdf on cleaning Epson scanners and an exploded diagram for your scanner at the Epson Scanner Users Group at Yahoo Groups. Here is a link. In order to cut down on spammers, you do have to sign in though.

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/E...canners/files/

Doug
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www.BetterScanning.com

[Stephen Sample]

Thanks all. I won't clean it now, but will now know how to in the future. This is a wonderful forum! Steve

[Charles Hohenstein]

Are people seeing similar hazing problems with the new v700 and v750?

[Kirk Gittings]

FWIW The 750 appears to have less outgassing than the 4990 and not require the interior cleaning.

myself above.