Servicing Nikon Scanners

John King

Well-Known Member
Registered
I have just had my Coolscan V 35mm scanner cleaned and checked by someone who actually seems to know what he is doing. The main other company that used to do this work, Fixation in London SE1 no longer touch them because ‘there are no spare parts......... WRONG!

I took my scanner, by appointment to gentleman in Lincoln called Graeme Hardie who has a small company called ‘LincolnScan’ and it was returned to me after 4 hours, in probably better shape than it was when it left the Nikon factory. This is not his normal service, the day return was by prior arrangement. The cost of this service was £100 and well worth it. It was also pointed out that the scanner lens inside the scanner does not appear to have been placed correctly when originally made by Nikon as it was fixed and had not moved but had to be adjusted!

The parts that were replaced were not actually faulty, but carried out as a preventative measure because they degrade with age. Surprisingly there was very little dust inside after perhaps 20 years of service.

The Coolscan models he can service are all the later ones with USB & Firewire (not SCSI), so: 40, 4000, 50, 5000, 8000 & 9000.

His website is: lincolnscan.co.uk

The work carried out was itemized on the invoice as:-

Extended LS-50 service: Complete de-assembly: scan mirror clean: illuminator mirror check/clean: lens and COD sensor blow clean: lens position check/adjust (aspect ratio): focus position sensor check/clean: clean & re-lubrication of scan & scan rails and bushes, scan lead-screw & focus cam: lubrication of scan & focus motor bearings: main ADC capacitor replacement (banding issues): PSU C4 capacitor replacement: PSU load test: final scan tests with both MA -21 & SA-21 adapters: USAF 1951 target scan with aspect ratio measurement.
 
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Well not so well actually. I contacted him well over a year ago and had not heard back so I E Mailed him a a couple of weeks ago and I had slipped through his net so we agreed a date and arranged to take it down to him. He has now retired and is using the time to do more of them. I thought that the requirement for scanner service would be dropping off now but no, there is still a huge demand!

The time he sets for doing a complete strip down is around 4 hours, with me it was closer to 3.5. So now into retirement, his work should be passing through his hands quicker. (Still 4 hours per item) but the quantity should be more. He has a background in high end electronics so he should know what he is doing.

Now the testing of the scanner shows that it is like new again. It certainly has higher contrast on the screen and it is possibly a little quicker as well with very sharp scans at the other end. The two diodes he replaced were still working, but as he explained they do degrade over time so that is done as a part of the service. All in all it was money well spent.

PS Sorry it is not a B&W.
PPS. Sorry again Airolo is actually just inside Switzerland not Italy
 

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