[Ultrarunner2017]

HI;
Perhaps I should have posted this in another forum, but I believe that this is more of an electrical issue than anything else.

So, I've got an aging Canon 8400F flatbed scanner. It uses a CFL, not an LED lamp.
When I first power the unit on, it works fine. The "lamp adjustment" takes only a second or two.
But as the scanner has been on - with the lamp remaining lit as I scan a large number of documents - the lamp adjustment period gradually increases. After an hour or so with the lamp on, it takes at least a minute to adjust the lamp and begin a scan.

This scanner has two CFL lamps; one under the glass for documents, and one in the lid for slides, negs and transparencies. When I was scanning thousands of slides recently, under the same conditions, the delay was minimal for the entire time, which was well over two hours of continuous use with the lamp lit.
Therefore, I have concluded that the main lamp (the one under the glass) is going bad. The big question is whether the problem is the lamp itself, or the lamp's power supply.

Having many CFL light bulbs throughout my home, I have seen them delay their illumination as they get old and are close to burning out. Is this the normal way in which a CFL fails, or should I suspect the power supply?

Thanks for your help

FW

 

[jreagan]

I doubt they are CFLs in the sense that we use in luminaries. Are you upto date on the firmware on the scanner (if updatable?) I'd guess that you might get more advice over in a computer/scanner area.

Have you tried different scanning software? I use VueScan to drive my older Epson scanner from my W7 system since Epson didn't provide W7 drivers for it.

 

[mpoulton]

Those are actually "cold cathode" lamps, not CFL. They are replaceable fairly cheaply, but it's not intended to be done by a consumer. It's more like replacing your smartphone screen than changing a lightbulb. The inverter that powers the lamp may also be the problem, and that's replaceable too.

 

[Ultrarunner2017]

Thanks guys;
Thanks for clearing up the CFL vs CCL.
I am using several different software programs; the CanoScan toolbox ver 4.9, and ABBYY PDF Transformer, as well as Adobe Photoshop. Regardless of what software is used, they use the same twain driver.

In the end, it appears that this scanner has reached the end of its useful life. It was more from curiosity than practicality that I posted about possibly replacing the lamp and/or inverter.

Thanks for your input.

FW