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JUN 15

Canon LIDE 20 Scanner Disassembly

Tips on taking a Canon Canoscan LIDE 20 apart. ( In most of these pictures I have already takenthe scanner apart at least once.)

PAGE_STATUS: Draft.Should break this into parts.

I’m hoping to make a tolerable large format digital camera back for an 8×10″ field camera bymodifying a Canon LIDE scanner.

The LIDE scanners are:

very common

supported by open-source driversvery cheap on the used market

are connected by a single usb cable for both power and data

easily powered by a netbook

lightweighta long-lived series with steady incremental improvements

lessons learned on one series apply almost directly to most others

Overview

The general idea is to strip out the optics and slap the scanner onthe back of a field camera.

The sensor is a linear array with a lenslet strip positioned directly infront of it. This strip will be removed, leaving the sensor at thebottom of a deep, dark channel with a narrow field of view in thescanning direction. As the sensor moves across the image plane,the incident rays will be occluded by the channel for a large portionof the scan. So the channel must be widened. This might be trickyas the sensor is glued to the structure, cannot tolerate any flexure,

and should not be touched by debris.

The light source normally use to illuminate the object being scanned will need to be removed,disabled, or at least covered.

The LIDE’ scanners use the glass platen itself as support for the sensor housing. I would like toremove the glass but there must be something to support the sensor housing. Maybe a largerectangle can be cut out of the glass.. or two strips cut out for the guides.

The last bit of hardware is to mount the scanner onto the camera. I’ll get everything else settledbefore worrying about this to much.

Software.Even the Canon drivers will continue to work until you yank out the light source. Once it’s out the

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driver may just return a scanner failure notice, or lamp failure, or calibration failure. Afterward you’llneed to use something like SANE‘s free , open source drivers (assuming you’re using Linux). In theend you’ll either need to some basic programming using something like the underlying bits of SANEor you can buy a copy of VueScan. VueScan is available not only for Linux but even for moreobscure systems like Mac or even Windows. And yes, it’s worth it.

The part I haven’t started at all yet is building the image chain for this beast. Shouldn’t be toohard.

Imaging Expectations

It’s gonna be noisy. Anything in the scene that moves will be distorted (linear array). B&W only. No idea where the sensor cuts off… ~360nm to ??~1100nm??… maybe 900.. dunno. Unsure ifintegration time varies with scanning settings or if it’s just fixed. Scan times for older models~1min, newer models ~8sec. Output image: TIF up to 19000×26000 pixels, at ?10bit. Unsureabout bitdepth.. Canon claims 16b, but I’ll call BS on that. It’ll depend on the noise. Wouldn’t besurprised if it was only 6 or 7 bit in the end.

Begin disassembly

Here’s the scanner, minus the cover. The cover is easy to remove by simply flexing the hinge abit. -v2 Well, on the LIDE 25 it took a lot more pressure than the LIDE 20.

Remove platen retainers

A plastic retainer runs down each long side of the platen. They stop the platen from sliding forwardwhich would free it. There are no screws. The plastic strips are held in place with tape along most of

their length.

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Begin at the front of the scanner and pry up the ‘ovals’.

You can see coming at the sides of the ovals is a good place to work. (I initially started at the veryend.)

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Pull gently while slipping something underneath to separate the tape from the plastic. As I’mplanning on removing the platen permanently, scratches were not a concern.

One strip off, one to go.

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With both retaining strips gone, the platen will slide back with moderate pressure. Once back, theplaten can be removed entirely.

Sensor and platform details

Move the platform toward the middle of the scanner. I did this by pulling the cable mid-scan. Ugly,but I haven’t had any problems. Notice the ‘rod’ and the ‘string’.

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WARNING: There are two, free-floating plastic glides on the top of the platform. Collect thesenow.

Drive string

The ‘string’ is freed by unlocking the endpiece where the spring sits. On the bottom of the scanner(be sure not to turn the scanner over), next to the platform lock, you’ll see a small, round hole.Insert say a small screw driver and push gently to allow this ‘string lock’ to be freed. While pushingthe screw driver, slide the string lock free.

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You can carefully flip the platform over to see how the string runs through the gears. Separate thestring from the platform. Be sure not to kink the string.

Sensor package removal

WARNING: There is a small spring underneath the sensor package. It will come free as youremove the package.

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The sensor package pivots on a hinge on the platform. It can be worked free with very littlepressure as it slides to unlock when slightly elevated.

Sensor detail

Here you can see the light guide and the lenslet strip. In this picture the light guide is just above thescrewdriver tip and the lenslet strip is one of the black horizontal pieces. There’s a better shot ofthe lenslet placement a few pics below.

Here is the LED used to illuminate objects during scans. It seemed to be just butted against thelight guide without adhesive.

Light guide removal

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This is easier than I had expected. I gave each of the attachment points a gentle prying. Notenough to really see any movement. Then started prying at the end opposite the LED, switchingto just pulling with my fingers as soon as I could get a hold.

Lenslet removal

Like the light guide, the lenslet strip is easy to pry out. The strip will be discarded, the only realconcern is with possible damaging the sensor directly below while removing the strip.

WARNING: There is nothing protecting the sensor but this lenslet strip.A note on cleaning the sensor… Don’t worry about a bit of dust getting on the linear array. But domake sure that your tools and particles of plastic created while working keep clear of the sensor. Ifyou wish to clean the sensor use air. A small squeeze bulb is perfect. Do NOT use those old cans ofcompressed “air” from back in the film camera days. They contain chemicals that can contaminatethe senor’s silicon.Ha! That turned out to be a non-issue. The sensor is embedded within some form of clear plasticor something similar. (pics and description coming soon)

LIDE 25

Related articles

VueScan 9 Versatile Scanner Software: Better than Ever, Charles W. Moore, MiscellaneousRamblings (lowendmac.com)

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Posted on 15 June 2011, in ideas and tagged camera, flesh this out, Large Format, photog, scanner

camera, VueScan. Bookmark the permalink. 9 Comments.

LEAVE A COMMENTLEAVE A COMMENTCOMMENTS 9COMMENTS 9

the little spring in the cover open/close mechnism loose with me. would you happen tohave a photo which shows how to reassemble this spring again?

thanks

twingo | 30 September 2011 at 00:22

Sorry, but I tossed the cover right at the start.

gatohausgatohaus | | 5 5 January 2012 at 00:38January 2012 at 00:38

Did you get anywhere with this project? I use a similar setup. I would like to discussscanner cameras with you. You can see my work at http://www.sederburns.com.

Seder | 30 December 2011 at 16:55

Hi. I did get the point of testing it a bit and capturing images last Fall, andpromptly got distracted. I should update this and wouldn’t mind working somemore on the camera.

Your gallery pics look great! Interesting use of time. Definitely things I’d neverconsidered before.I wouldn’t mind knowing more about your camera(s).It probably would be non-difficult to remove some of the sensor noise (thehorizontal streaks) but I like them as is.

gatohausgatohaus | | 5 5 January 2012 at 00:37January 2012 at 00:37

Thank u so much! got my scanner fixed in 20 minutes with this manual. You safed myass and made my day. TANKS a LOT!

Manfred | 3 August 2012 at 12:27

thanx buddy you have helped me in assembling it thank you very much for yourunintentional work for me

Vikalp Gupta | 7 November 2012 at 09:11

Hello and very interesting, looking at trying to make a x-ray scanner out of my Canonscanner. Have you gotten any further on the project, I wish to disable the light sourceand use the detector as the x-ray sensor and scan the image. Can you recommend thebest open source software to do this. Thank you for any help you might be able to

Cliff Schuring | 22 August 2013 at 19:03

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provide to make this easier

To remove the plate, NOT NEED UNSTICK SIDE BARS FROM THE GLASS!!!! Use ascrewdriver to lift them from the hinge cover side, releasing the 2 tabs from the slots,keep them raised above the rear frame and then push the glass forward with the 2sidebars glued. For subsequent interventions you can short the 2 tabs of half amillimeter. Rino

Rino | 20 September 2013 at 10:06

The black and white string of my canon canoscan lide 20 was broken.. Can I replace it?Where can I buy that string?

Aisa | 26 September 2013 at 06:23

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