Do scanner lamps wear out over time?

[luisr]

I have one of those cheap Mustek scanners that is a little over three years old. It has been used quite a bit but not abused.

I have been noticing lately that images are coming a bit dark lately. When I got the scanner I was quite happy with it because I got very good images with good contrast and good color saturation. You could adjust the image to match the original with little or no rework at all. Three years later with same computer, same Windows version, same driver, about the same frequency of use; the images are coming out dark. This did not happen suddenly.

I am starting to suspect that the lamp is probably not as bright as when it was new but I have no way to determine that. Perhaps I am getting what I paid for.

[archie]

Interesting question ... 3 years does sound like it provided a lot of use and having only used my scanner for 1.5 years, would be satisfied to get 3 years out of it. Can the lamp be replaced or has the technology become so much better in the last few years that getting a new scanner is better? ...
My guess is that an expensive scanner won't last any longer than a cheap one but indeed, it would be interesting to know what the life expectancy of a scanner lamp is and whether they can even be replaced.

[HAL9000]

We have replaced scanner bulbs at work. Take your scanner apart an you will find that usually there isn't anything special about the bulb, it's a standard florescent bulb which you should be able to get a replacement at any hardware store.

[luisr]

It is indeed a fluorescent lamp but I don't think any hardware store will carry this one. It's about 3/16 of an inch in diameter.

[HAL9000]

Check it out, we've seen them anywhere from about that to about 3/4" in the scanners that we have repaired.

[audiyoda]

I know it sounds silly, but many pet shops that have good fish departments sell plenty of unusual sized fluorescent bulbs.

-Craig

[kcbhiw]

Some smaller scanners use ccfl lamps (cold cathode fluorescent), which are the same deal used in laptop displays for the back light. check out www.digikey.com as they have several ccfl lamps or attempt to use one from an old laptop display. there are several lengths available.

hope this helps.

[luisr]

I had another photo scanning session today and I had an idea. Ever noticed the "warming up" thing many scanners have when running the first time in the session? Well, I tried making it longer. In the preview window I clicked "Pre-scan" several times to make the scanner run with the lamp on for several minutes before actually scanning the pictures. Results were better this time and the images came out quite good.