Fluorescent lamp replacement source
Phil Lee
lamps for flatbed scanners, such as UMax, Microtek, HP, Epson, Mustek,
Visioneer, and many others. I found, indeed, that finding a low cost, mail
order source is difficult. I do have a source to refer to you.
When a cheap flatbed scanner, Scanpaq SQ4836, 600 dpi, 36 bit ($100 at a
show with rebate) scanners lamp went dim within 5 days of purchase, we had
to search quickly. The scanner acted weird, it had a very slow scan and the
image had a magenta cast. The manual, of course, said that there are no
end-user serviceable components inside the scanner. We all know that
returning the scanner to the mfgr will result in high shipping and parts
costs, as bulbs are not covered under warranty. I didn't bother wasting my
time calling the mfgr.
It is easy to remove the top cover, move the lamp/optic carriage, and remove
the lamp, which had a black reflector partially covering it. The lamp in our
scanner was a Philips TL 8w/840 and is about 5/8" diameter x 11 1/4" long,
with two pin connectors on each end. It looked like a miniature version of a
standard 40w fluorescent lamp. Just try to do this quickly in a clean,
dust-free area so that dust does get on the front surface mirrors. You may
want to clean the glass too.
We were able to get a replacement lamp from Atlanta Light Bulbs, Inc,
atlantalightbulbs.com, (800) 822-4598. They appeared to be a distributor of
commercial, industrial, graphic arts, and medical lamps. They knew about the
type of lamp I was looking for and had ample stock. The lamps are $12.50 ea
including shipping and their min order is $25. We ordered a F8T5D which is
an 8 watt, T5, daylight phosphors, but received a NEC FL8D daylight. When
reassembled, the scanner worked fine. There may be some color shifts due to
a change in lamp mfgr, but we could not tell the difference.
Phil, Sys Engr, Minneapolis, Silicon Tundra, pl...@orbis.net
Bill Steinmetz
llprint
about $4.50 or so.
Ron Cohen