Cleaning the glass on Epson v700.

Today, as I was scanning some of my glass plates, the thin film of mould on the underside of the scanner glass which I had been trying to ignore for months has finally found its way into my scans.

Dirty scans from my V700 - Notice the blue streaks converging to my face?

I am not too sure if the humidity of tropics caused the film to form, but the problem seems to find its way back to my scanner every few months. When I first experienced this issue, I brought my scanner back to Epson and they quoted me an arm and a leg to disassemble and clean the glass. I decided against it and went home to see if I could fix it on my own.

To be honest, I was initially very nervous about dismantling the scanner for fear of damaging it, but this is easy enough that I do it every now and then when the streaks appear in my scans. To clean your V700:

1. Lock both the main and transparency units as per instruction manual.

2. Remove all connecting cables on the main scanner unit.

3. Lift and remove the top lid.

4. Using a sharp pin or screwdriver, pry open the 4 circular plugs around the scanner to reveal the screws.

5. Remove the screws using Phillips screwdriver.

6. Gently lift the top part of the main scanner unit, taking extra care not to break the hinge in the front.

7. To clean, dampen a piece of cotton ball with ethanol and wipe in a systematic manner to leave minimal residue.

Final scan after cleaning - with minor adjustments in Photoshop.

And there you have it, a clean surface for scanning on your V700.

Hope this helps!