Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40

[orestesp]

Hello,

There's a listing for this particular scanner in my area listed as "scanning faintly" and "black lines appearing on the scans". The scanner otherwise operates normally, I've been told. I don't have a scanned file from this machine, unfortunately. I will go and inspect it in the following days in person, hopefully.

I was just curious if anyone of you with some experience servicing scanners like these, upon hearing this, do you have any suggestions on what things I should check for in order to get an assessment on what I am looking at?

Would this be worth fixing or is it simply paperweight? I am guessing it's either a problem with its mainboard/image processing board or a bad CIS array, if the problem is in one specific area, but that's just an educated guess, as I have zero experience dealing with machines like these.

Thanks.

[orestesp]

Re: Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40

I should also note that, judging by the kind of business that is selling the machine, it probably has seen little to moderate use over the years. Also note that the machine is in really good cosmetic condition.

[blackcat4866]

Re: Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40

If I were to do some guessing, I'd say it's possible that the CIS(s) & the white reference roller are dirty or the roller wrinkled. If the roller is wrinkled or will not clean, it will need to be replaced. Once cleaned you may need to calibrate the scanner with the Normalization & Stitch Target. If the enduser has lost the chart, that will add $75 to the call.

This scanner is used on a lot of the Canon iPF7xx series MFPs so we see quite a lot of them, though they don't usually see very heavy usage.

I could offer you something more substantial with a photo. =^..^=

[orestesp]

Re: Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40

If I were to do some guessing, I'd say it's possible that the CIS(s) & the white reference roller are dirty or the roller wrinkled. If the roller is wrinkled or will not clean, it will need to be replaced. Once cleaned you may need to calibrate the scanner with the Normalization & Stitch Target. If the enduser has lost the chart, that will add $75 to the call.

This scanner is used on a lot of the Canon iPF7xx series MFPs so we see quite a lot of them, though they don't usually see very heavy usage.

I could offer you something more substantial with a photo. =^..^=

Thank you for your prompt reply, black cat.

Yes I understand, I also want to see the machine up close and see how it scans. if everything goes well I'll go there Monday evening and post my findings. The machine is sold with its calibration chart, fortunately. Does the main white roller that I saw on the service manual wear out quickly? As I said, I doubt that machine has seen heavy usage, so probably the glass on one of the CIS sensors got damaged? Can you give me an estimate for the cost of that roller so I can know how much I'll have to invest to potentially get it running again?

[blackcat4866]

Re: Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40

Usually it's just dirt on the CIS(s) or the white reference roller, probably both (voids=dirty white reference, lines=dirty CIS). The one that I saw that was wrinkled had almost no usage:
Colortrac Replacement Hold-Up Roller Unit for Canon M40 Scanners (10H070)

=^..^=

[charm5496]

Re: Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40

These units operate well and are pretty solid. Like cat stated already, just clean the scanner and the white reference roller, make sure the customer hasnt inadvertently messed with scanning presets causing the image quality issues. And if they have the calibration/auto-stitch chart, go into settings and run both of those adjustments.

[orestesp]

Re: Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40

Hi guys,

I am just about to head out to check out that unit. I will post my findings once I get back. Just a quick question: will I be able to find any spare parts, say like a CIS sensor anywhere or will I be stuck with a machine I can't fix due to no spare parts being availiable?

[orestesp]

Re: Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40

If I were to do some guessing, I'd say it's possible that the CIS(s) & the white reference roller are dirty or the roller wrinkled. If the roller is wrinkled or will not clean, it will need to be replaced. Once cleaned you may need to calibrate the scanner with the Normalization & Stitch Target. If the enduser has lost the chart, that will add $75 to the call.

This scanner is used on a lot of the Canon iPF7xx series MFPs so we see quite a lot of them, though they don't usually see very heavy usage.

I could offer you something more substantial with a photo. =^..^=

I've taken a couple of pictures on the inside of the unit. All CIS sensors look clean, and the reference roller appears to be in good shape. The LCD works fine, I can navigate through all the menus. The paper controls operate the motor correctly. I've also attached a scanned file from the scanner. It's all complete gibberish, though some section of the actual scanned document can be hardly seen. What do you think?

Thanks.

[blackcat4866]

Re: Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40

Wow! Is there any of the original image? It all looks like "noise" to me.

I've never seen anything like this on a Colortrac, but not any one of the CIS(s) could cause this sort of image all the way across. So I'm going to conclude that it's not any of the CIS(s). If you've re-seated all the ribbon cables and checked them for damage, and tried a new USB cable, about the only thing left is the scanner board. I don't see any point in calibrating, since the image is unusable.

No guarantees, though. =^..^=

[orestesp]

Re: Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40

Wow! Is there any of the original image? It all looks like "noise" to me.

I've never seen anything like this on a Colortrac, but not any one of the CIS(s) could cause this sort of image all the way across. So I'm going to conclude that it's not any of the CIS(s). If you've re-seated all the ribbon cables and checked them for damage, and tried a new USB cable, about the only thing left is the scanner board. I don't see any point in calibrating, since the image is unusable.

No guarantees, though. =^..^=

I've been tinkering it over the past week and I've noticed two things worthy of note:

1. The machine won't scan in B&W, with the error "Scan speed too fast". What happens is it pulls the paper very fast in and then this error pops up.
2. The machine won't update to the newer firmware. It's currently running v.1.44 and from what I can tell the latest is 1.76, which I downloaded from Colortrac's website. It fails with the message that you see on the attachment. Could the FPGA itself on the board have failed in some way? I tried doing a reflow on the FPGA but nothing changed.

Thanks.

[blackcat4866]

Re: Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40

Sorry I don't have any experience with this. In my mind it confirms the scanner board diagnosis. =^..^=

[orestesp]

Re: Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40

Sorry I don't have any experience with this. In my mind it confirms the scanner board diagnosis. =^..^=

Yes this is what I've been thinking as well. Thanks for taking the time to look into it.

[blackcat4866]

Re: Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40

Maybe this will help:

(Not sure why: CutePDF would not isolate that single page. Maybe the web link?)

[orestesp]

Re: Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40

Maybe this will help:

Thanks again blackcat, but all I see is this:

ERROR: undefined
OFFENDING COMMAND: eexec
STACK:/
quit
-dictionary-
-mark-

Some kind of problem with the .pdf file?

[orestesp]

Re: Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40

Maybe this will help:

(Not sure why: CutePDF would not isolate that single page. Maybe the web link?)

I think there is no 2.xx version firmware for my machine, since the one that I downloaded from Colortrac's website, is 1.76 while my machine is currently running 1.44.

As for a replacement board, this is probably going to be tricky, since I can't find a used one up for sale and this scanner has been discontinued for years now. If I can't find a solution in the following days or weeks, I may be parting it out, as everything else on it seems to be in pristine condition.