Hi guys,
I'm trying to fix a Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 film scanner. When powered up, the light blinks slowly (as it should), the software can see it, but as soon as it tries to start the "startup dance" (i.e. pull the mechanism into a sane starting position), the light turns either solid on or solid off, the PC software locks solid, and... well... that's it. You can unplug the scanner (USB or power) and the PC software will suddenly spring back to life and whimper about the scanner being unplugged, but that's it.
I've had the thing open this afternoon -- as far as parts go, it's the usual story -- loads of custom LSIs and not much else. There are, however, a couple of "TACON" 470uF capacitors dotted around the motherboard, and about a dozen or so tin-can SMD electrolytics of various values. Random ESR tests with my Atlas ESR came up in the region of 0.09 Ohms for the TACONs, and about an ohm for the few tin-cans I tested (it's hard to test SMD parts with the Atlas's standard probes).
Initially I thought the problem was with the power supply for the scanner -- a cheap Maplin 24V piece-of-scrap. Evidently this was not the case, because the scanner still behaves the same way when connected to my "testbench" power supply -- a Densei-Lambda EWS600P-24 (yes, a 600W, 24V PSU -- most definitely NOT a toy).
None of the capacitors are showing signs of leakage or bulging, unless it's happening on the bottom side. I'm tempted to shotgun them anyway, unless anyone has any Minolta scanner repair tips to share that suggest the problem may lie elsewhere?
Tech support and parts are basically NLA for these -- I've got the service manual, but it's basically a "how to remove stuff" book, no schematics, or even troubleshooting info (if light blinks this way, swap board X, etc). Pretty pathetic, really.
Any ideas folks?
Cheers,
Phil.
EDIT: Should have pointed this out -- the tin-can electros have value markings, but no obvious make/model markings. The scanner dates back to 2003 based on date-codes on the PCB and components.
I'm trying to fix a Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 film scanner. When powered up, the light blinks slowly (as it should), the software can see it, but as soon as it tries to start the "startup dance" (i.e. pull the mechanism into a sane starting position), the light turns either solid on or solid off, the PC software locks solid, and... well... that's it. You can unplug the scanner (USB or power) and the PC software will suddenly spring back to life and whimper about the scanner being unplugged, but that's it.
I've had the thing open this afternoon -- as far as parts go, it's the usual story -- loads of custom LSIs and not much else. There are, however, a couple of "TACON" 470uF capacitors dotted around the motherboard, and about a dozen or so tin-can SMD electrolytics of various values. Random ESR tests with my Atlas ESR came up in the region of 0.09 Ohms for the TACONs, and about an ohm for the few tin-cans I tested (it's hard to test SMD parts with the Atlas's standard probes).
Initially I thought the problem was with the power supply for the scanner -- a cheap Maplin 24V piece-of-scrap. Evidently this was not the case, because the scanner still behaves the same way when connected to my "testbench" power supply -- a Densei-Lambda EWS600P-24 (yes, a 600W, 24V PSU -- most definitely NOT a toy).
None of the capacitors are showing signs of leakage or bulging, unless it's happening on the bottom side. I'm tempted to shotgun them anyway, unless anyone has any Minolta scanner repair tips to share that suggest the problem may lie elsewhere?
Tech support and parts are basically NLA for these -- I've got the service manual, but it's basically a "how to remove stuff" book, no schematics, or even troubleshooting info (if light blinks this way, swap board X, etc). Pretty pathetic, really.
Any ideas folks?
Cheers,
Phil.
EDIT: Should have pointed this out -- the tin-can electros have value markings, but no obvious make/model markings. The scanner dates back to 2003 based on date-codes on the PCB and components.
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