EEVblog 1421 - Epson Dumpster Hack

Dave hacks a dumpster find to power it up because of a PITA power connector. Then does some bonus PCB imaging.

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#ElectronicsCreators #DumpsterDiving

[danielberghout]

The discoloring on the top of the page via the document feeder is caused by the distance between the paper and the glass varying while it should pass directly on the glass., this could be caused by the hinge not properly adjusted and the paper flapping around a bit or buckling on something. hope that helps :)

[gregclare]

When I saw "Dumpster Hack", I though maybe Dave was adding a remote bin opening alert to the Dumpster, to alert him whenever someone puts something new in the dumpster. LOL

[vnceigz]

24V isn't that unusual for a scanner (especially older ones); it's because of the fluorescent tube.

[billr]

I bet it was thrown out because of that particle on the underside of the glass. It must have always given a blemish on the final output. The user probably thought it was broken pixels - not understanding that the sensors are in a line and scanned across.

[BloodAsp]

My favorite scanner feature is to rapid scan, it shows you the low res picture, you can put a box around what you actually want scanned in super high definition, and it rapids to that location, scans it in high quality, and then homes the head. It was a beauty!

[beefchicken]

If the scanner has a contact image sensor (CIS) as most do these days, it will have terrible depth of field, something in the range of a couple millimetres. If you want to scan things like PCBs you will want a scanner based on a CCD.

After further watching, this appears to be a CCD unit. Nice.

[flapjackboy]

When I was working for a PCB assembler, they had an AOI system that was essentially just an Epson flatbed scanner in a custom enclosure.

[TheIanrobot]

It’s amazing the amount of complex design and manufacturing work in printers that eventually ends up in the bin and considered useless.

Like every little random bit of injection molded plastic once consumed a part of an engineers life. Even old ultra high end enterprise electronics, an absolute huge amount of work done on those boards and now considered junk.

[OneBiOzZ]

I thought this video was about cutting a hole in the bottom of the dumpster and just letting everything feed down in to your bunker

[OldCurmudgeonDP]

It sucks when the local recycling attendant busts you for trying to unrecycle items from an "e-waste" bin. 🤷🏼‍♂️🤬

[Birdman_in_CLE]

I have one and lost the power supply when I moved. 4 months later I ended up on Amazon buying a new one. Two days after getting it in the mail, I found the original.

[faddict]

The Power Pack for my Epson V600 Photo Scanner died after only a year and I found like you, 'NONE' of my collection of plugs would fit it. I ended up buying a cheap 24v laptop charger and cut off the original epson plug and spliced it in. Works like a charm and has not given me any trouble in 10 years since.

[rupertkingsley]

Thought to myself ‘he’s added mains power to a dumpster!!’

[mingiasi]

that powerbrick it needs is probably the reason why it got binned

[neverson]

Just strip down a piece of coax cable and jam it in the hole. I bet the center conductor is about the right size to fit in there... then you just twist up the shielding to make the other conductor. Done deal! What could go wrong?! LOL

[MendItAussie]

Dave says most of the stuff he finds in the dumpster is working and probably surplus to requirements. We agree. When we rescue e-products from the recycling bins most of it is working or can be easily repaired. Do you know that under the current National Television Recycling Scheme or NTCRS all e-waste must be downcycled [shredded]? Reuse and repair is not an option as many would think is the case.

In a submission, Mend It, Australia bought this issue to the attention of the Australian Productivity Commission [APC] in February this year. As a result the APC has made a recommendation to the Federal Govt in its draft report in July to legislate and include reuse and repair as part of the NTCRS. The final report form the APC is due in October this year.

In the meantime we recommend that before discarding e-waste into recycling bins for shredding offer it up to others to reuse, repair, harvest parts etc. Either sell it or offer it up for free on Marketplace. Like Dave's example someone may be searching for that elusive power connector/adaptor. #AURightToRepair

[motionsick]

Watching this on a 50" TV I pulled out of the dumpster. Have to hit it every now and then like granny's old wooden tv. The power relay will start to cycle on its own. 😆 Other than that its works like new. 😆

[YodaWhat]

Pro Tip: Sometimes when scanning 2-sided pages, the opposite side will show through. In that case it is best to put a *flat black backing* between the page and the scanner lid.

[SeanBZA]

Same connector ahows up in a lot of places now, including digital decoders, and of course Lenovo Laptops of the more modern generations. Printers as well use them, mostly HP/Canon and Epson, though the printers tend to use a 32 to 36V supply rail.

[stevek]

Hi Dave, some rubber rejuvenator cleaner on those pickup rollers and pads on the doc pickup assy will bring up all the rubber components like new again, as for the guide rail under the glass, some silicone oil lightly placed on that rail will make glide smoothly.
Good video
Steve K