My beloved, faithful 10 year-old home/office Microtek flatbed scanner just decided to stop working a couple of weeks ago. Whenever I turned on my computer it would awaken with a whizz and a rumble and a glowing scanner light, then go back to sleep if I did not need it. Well, now it just sits there, forever dark and lifeless. No amount of prodding from the computer or the scanner’s array of buttons will get it to react in any way.
I’d love to repair the scanner, if such a thing is possible. I’m a handy guy, so I have no qualms about cracking this baby open. But I would not know exactly what to do once it’s open.
Might the cause be a dead scanner bulb? If so, are they replaceable? If it’s not the bulb, what might be another likely culprit?
new ones are $50 and probably better quality, easier to just replace it. of course when i first started working they were $2000-3000, now there’s less of a reason to try and fix one.
I am by no means anything close to the kind of person who might know anything about fixing a scanner, but considering that you don’t seem to be much closer yourself, I’d say only do so with the full expectation that you’ll probably just break it even more, since scanners require a certain amount of calibration to even function at all. That said, why not try? A good replacement isn’t going to cost you much anyway.
Old school scanners are one of the most common item in thrifts that allow computer parts to be sold (not all do) and are typically 5-10 dollars. Ebay has loads of them also.
Re repairability a scanner is not all that complex to fix if you have the parts, but they are often sealed to a limited extent to prevent dust infiltration and cracking them open defeats that. Unless you want to make it a project repair is not suggested. Getting duplicate on ebay would be a source for parts.
I had a temp job for a while repairing Hewlett Packard printers, and may speak from experience.
Forget about home repairs. You need specialized computer interfaces, special tools, special calibration equipment, and a whole warehouse full of spare parts. Modern home electronics aren’t like a 1950’s lawnmower.
My own flatbed scanner – an Epson – died this summer. I replaced it with a better machine, for less than I’d paid for the original. For giggles, I took apart the old one, knowing it was beyond my ability to fix. Fun, but…
I did a handyman autopsy and discovered that the problem is a dead power supply – the plug-in “wall wart” type. I can get a replacement for less than 10 bucks on Ebay, a cheap and easy fix. Yay!
(Embarrassed) Well, humph. Good for you. But you just deprived some tech of his wages. We’ll report you to the union. Oh, you are getting such a picket line on your street!