Refurbished V700 - Don't bother

[dfatty]

So I've had a V700 for a couple of years and it's worked pretty well. I didn't use it heavily at first but in the last few months I started using it more regularly for 120 and 35mm film. Worked fine for my purposes, and I liked that I could scan multiple strips at a time. As a result of a couple of years of use, I am very familiar with the scanner and both the Epson and Silverfast software.

Recently it stopped scanning film, giving me all black frames instead. So I looked for a replacement.

I am now on my second V700 refurb. Out of the box, the first V700 refurb wouldn't scan film. Just gave me all-black scans (I suspect that was why it was returned). I returned it and got a second replacement V700 refurb hoping the problems with the first were just an anomaly.

I just tested the second refurb and it doesn't work with film either. It makes a godawful grinding noise when trying to scan film, and then it ultimately gives an error message. (Yes, I made sure the locks are in the unlocked position.) It scans reflective stuff fine.

Maybe I'm being unreasonable but is it too much to expect that refurbs are not broken right out of the box? It's as if they test them for reflective function and don't test them for film at all (both worked for reflective).

I've had fantastic experiences buying refurb Canon lenses and bodies (both dslr and p&s), never a problem. So I figured the experience would be the same with Epson. Boy was I wrong. Now I have the pleasure of getting on the phone with the customer service rep and having him/her run me through useless steps for a broken machine before issuing a return authorization. What a waste of time this has all been, it's really making it a drag to keep using film.

Okay, I just really needed to rant, hopefully others have gotten V700 refurbs that work.

 

[imokruok]

Sorry about your crummy experience. My conjecture would be that the previous owner of the scanner was also a film person, used the scanner, and it didn't work properly. He/she sent it back, the refurb company scanned a test sheet of paper, said "it's fine," and packaged it back up again.

 

[250swb]

I couldn't work out why mine started giving black film scans. Until I remembered I'd forgotten to remove the document mat! ...doh!

Steve

 

[photokalia]

Hi Dean, sorry to hear about your problem.

I had similar symptoms with my V700 recently, and I couldn't figure out what was going on. It would refuse to scan negs or else the scanner would make weird grinding noises and the scans would come out black. Like you, normal flatbed scanning worked fine. Just as I was about to give up and send the scanner back to Epson for a look, I realised that my film holder wasn't seated fully in the scanner. After a quick adjustment, everything went back to normal.

While your issue is probably not due to user error, I think that the scanner has a sensor somewhere to detect if the film holder is on or off the scanner. Perhaps there is some obstruction somewhere (e.g. dirt, piece of paper, etc) that is throwing the scanner off?

 

[oftheherd]

I couldn't work out why mine started giving black film scans. Until I remembered I'd forgotten to remove the document mat! ...doh!

Steve

Yes, I did that with my Epson 4870. Felt rather silly when I figured that out.

The 4870 looks for the frame, and determines what to do, what size of film, based on the frame.

 

[dfatty]

Thanks for the kind thoughts everyone. And thanks for the ideas photokalia, I actually thought the same things but I'm glad you mentioned them so future users who search for v700 problems will see them. On every scan I made sure that the film holder was seated, and I was using the stock holder which has the "pegs" that make it easy to tell if the holder is seated. It's weird because the scan would start out fine for the first inch or so giving me hope, then the grinding/knocking would invariably start. And, yes, the scanner does have a calibration area at the top that, if blocked, causes black scans and weird noises - I found that out the hard way while using (incorrectly) the betterscanning holder, lol. Anyway, that wasn't blocked. Steve, I had the document mat removed, lol.

Another annoying part I forgot about is that I already paid for the Silverfast AI upgrade a few months ago, so I'm locked in with a v700 unless I want to lose the $100+ I paid for that. (Silverfast is machine specific and they don't allow the license to be transfered to different models.) So I guess I'm going to buy a new V700. There aren't many other good options anyway and I liked the V700 when it worked, but it would've been nice to save a good chunk of money buying refurb. I guess I just got unlucky, I'm glad yours is working aperture64.

 

[dyao]

My Epson Scan V700 was bought new but also does the weird grinding noise/scanning about one inch. I thought it might be a problem with my computer but it looks like you guys have the same problem. I guess I'll have to take it back soon while it's still under warranty.

 

[sper]

I'm hoping they update the V series scanners soon. I would LOVE to see true 4000dpi scans, with a DMAX that can compete with the Nikon coolscan. I mean aren't the people buying the V700 and V750 primarily film scanners?

 

[dyao]

Just curious - for those having problems, are you using OSX or Windows?

 

[dfatty]

I've always used the V700 with Windows.

 

[imokruok]

Just as I was about to give up and send the scanner back to Epson for a look, I realised that my film holder wasn't seated fully in the scanner. After a quick adjustment, everything went back to normal.

While your issue is probably not due to user error, I think that the scanner has a sensor somewhere to detect if the film holder is on or off the scanner. Perhaps there is some obstruction somewhere (e.g. dirt, piece of paper, etc) that is throwing the scanner off?

This is a good suggestion. Indeed, if the film guides are not placed correctly (or there is a problem with the detection) the scanner has no idea what to do.

I use the aftermarket 120 guide from Better Scanning, and if you place it on the scanner bed backwards - which is very easy to do - you won't get much of anything. It frustrated me for an hour until I looked and realized I'd placed the wrong end towards the back.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Over the years I have purchased two refurbished flatbeds direct from Epson. One worked, one didn't.
They are attractively priced, but I'm not sure I'd do it again due to the 50% failure rate I experienced.

Chris

 

[Faintandfuzzy]

Wow....thanks for the heads up on refurbs

 

[Bob Michaels]

<snip> Maybe I'm being unreasonable but is it too much to expect that refurbs are not broken right out of the box? It's as if they test them for reflective function and don't test them for film at all (both worked for reflective).

I've had fantastic experiences buying refurb Canon lenses and bodies (both dslr and p&s), never a problem. So I figured the experience would be the same with Epson. Boy was I wrong. Now I have the pleasure of getting on the phone with the customer service rep and having him/her run me through useless steps for a broken machine before issuing a return authorization. <snip>

Bummer. My experience with Epson refurbs has been the opposite. I have purchased 9 Epson refurbished products (6 printers, 2 personal printers & one flatbed scanner) and all have been perfect. I only buy refurbished with Epson products.

The two in warranty failures I have had in 10 years have resulted in a replacement being delivered the following day.

Sorry that your experience with Epson refurbished products has not been good. Mine has been excellent.

 

[dfatty]

Bummer. My experience with Epson refurbs has been the opposite. I have purchased 9 Epson refurbished products (6 printers, 2 personal printers & one flatbed scanner) and all have been perfect. I only buy refurbished with Epson products.

The two in warranty failures I have had in 10 years have resulted in a replacement being delivered the following day.

Sorry that your experience with Epson refurbished products has not been good. Mine has been excellent.

I appreciate hearing about good experiences, Bob, I'm a big refurb fan in general and would like to think that this is just an anomaly.

 

[kuzano]

My friends heads up on refurbs......

My friends heads up on refurbs......

I have a friend who services printers/scanners. Here is his bottom line comment on why buying refurb merchandise is risky.

Some printers, copiers, scanners and such are returned for operator error or frustration, while some items actually need to be disassembled and problems sorted out. In fact, Chuck says the occurrence of returns for operator error usually exceed returns for defective merchandise.

The items that are returned due to operator error and have no problems, and which are not disassembled are usually repackaged. However, they cannot be resold as new after a return by customer, or retailer. They can only be sold as refurbished.

Additionally, items that are actually disassembled and repaired are not usually put back together as precisely as the original assembly line process process dictates in the area of alignment of parts.

There is no way when you buy a refurb to know whether the refurb in your box was simply tested and repackaged, or disassembled, repaired and repackaged/resold.

Hence, considerably more risk of getting a refurb that fails AGAIN as opposed to a good product when you buy the item as originally manufactured, New in the box.

I have never purchased any refurb products as a result of this explanation.

However, also let me disclose that this is not a suggestion aimed at Epson, but at the market in general. My Epson experience has been generally good, but I simply do not buy refurb merchandise. The savings are not that great and are eaten up by the first bad refurb experience, regardless of the manufacturer.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

I've had good success with refurb products from Epson and Canon. The only refurbs I've had problems with were Samsung monitors. Bought a 27 inch SyncMaster factory refurb which went permanently into sleep mode after a week. The replacement did the same thing.

I have no problem with buying refurbs, though.

 

[atlcruiser]

using my v700 refurb right now. IIRC i saved about $250 buying the refurb. I guees if it was that much of a worry for me I would have just bought new. Part of the price break on refurbs is that risk, I think small, that there will be a problem and it will need to get sorted out.

 

[---f]

isn't every Leica M that's been bought and sold after a CLA here on RFF a "refurb". Just sayin'

 

[rodneyAB]

I bought an Epson v750 new, it has been a source of frustration for several years. With this experience, Epson products will not be purchased in the future.