HELP!! The sky has just fallen (not really, but I just broke the ribbon flexible cable in Nikon Coolscan 9000ED!!!)

Paul Ozzello · Feb 28, 2023

brbo said:
Can you point me to Stephan Scharf's contact info. I don't have a Coolscan but I'd like to ask him if he'd be able to make holders for other scanners, too...

The best place to find him is on the Nikon Coolscan FB forums. He also has a YouTube channel : “Cool!”

jbf · Mar 1, 2023

Any competent person with EagleCAD or KiCad could make you a replacement flex cable and have it manufactured by PCBWay.

If your halfway savvy with computers you could learn KiCad or EagleCAD (PCB Design Software) in a week or less enogh to and make your own just via youtube.
The hardest part would be that you want to measure your trace sizes (or) just scan the ribbon with a flatbed scanner, adjust the scale in illustrator or other free vector program and then you can trace the original traces and use that image in KiCAD to replicate it, etc.

Sounds way more complicated than it is but its just
1. Scan your ribbon
2. Make sure its to scale
3. Make a black / white vector mask of it.
4. Use that image mask or measurements to create your traces in PCB design software.

Hell you might even be able to find someone on Fivr or other freelance site to do it for you for a small fee if you provide them with a scanned image of the ribbon to scale (or include a ruler so they can scale themselves).

koraks · Mar 2, 2023

jbf said:
Any competent person with EagleCAD or KiCad could make you a replacement flex cable and have it manufactured by PCBWay.

You're right, I missed that: https://www.pcbway.com/flexible.aspx

jbf said:
The hardest part would be that you want to measure your trace sizes

That's actually not so critical for the thin traces; only for the wider ones, and there it's perfectly OK to err on the wide side. Connector pitch is the critical parameter.

Good suggestion; this approach should work at relatively low cost.

Kino · Mar 2, 2023

koraks said:
That'll be flaky at best, but anything is worth a try.

Odds of the machine working with no intervention / repair: 0%
Any solution that increases this percentage is an improvement over what he's got.

Gee. I thought it would be flaky at best.

koraks · Mar 2, 2023

Kino said:
Gee. I thought it would be flaky at best.

I'm sorry, the meaning of your suggestion didn't sink in earlier. You're right.

tahomaphoto · Mar 2, 2023

Radost said:
There is a new 120 scanner being released this year. Apart from speed it will be very good scanning quality close if not better than 9000

Ohh, who is slated to release this new scanner? Nikon?

Thanks,

Erik

Radost · Mar 2, 2023

tahomaphoto said:
Ohh, who is slated to release this new scanner? Nikon?

Thanks,

Erik

Pacific Image is supposed to release a 120 scanner.
Their XAS 135 scanner is wonderful. Gives me sharper results than lab scanners.

tahomaphoto · Mar 2, 2023

Radost said:
Pacific Image is supposed to release a 120 scanner.
Their XAS 135 scanner is wonderful. Gives me sharper results than lab scanners.

Thank you!

Erik

yossi · Mar 5, 2023

Update: my Coolscan 9000 sad story has just ended, in the most unexpected but happy way!

Out of sheer kindness, someone made an exception and sent me an original replacement FPC for the Coolscan I carefully (but quite nervously) installed it and only after the second attempt, the Coolscan sprang to life!! What can I say. I am overjoyed and really very grateful !

There are still beautiful things in this troubled world, such as this act of kindness.

By the way, a member of fb Nikon Scanner Users group has recommended a generic FPC that is said to be compatible with this Coolscan FPC. I have ordered it through Digi-Key but have not tried nor verified it to be working personally. I shall list the info. here just in case anyone who might need to find such a replacement part: Molex part number 0151660429

Thanks everyone here for all the great advice/suggestions. Much appreciated.

yossi

koraks · Mar 5, 2023

That's great! I'm happy to hear your Coolscan is working again

yossi said:
a member of fb Nikon Scanner Users group has recommended a generic FPC that is said to be compatible with this Coolscan FPC.

The original cable will be superior in terms of noise performance. Firstly, it has a ferrite core around it to quench some HF noise. Secondly, the power supply traces on the original cable are wider, which reduces their impedance and this is also beneficial to s/n ratios. The Molex cable might work OK, but it's conceivable that the visible noise in the scans is increased. The cable you were kindly gifted is the best solution!

yossi · Mar 5, 2023

koraks said:
That's great! I'm happy to hear your Coolscan is working again

The original cable will be superior in terms of noise performance. Firstly, it has a ferrite core around it to quench some HF noise. Secondly, the power supply traces on the original cable are wider, which reduces their impedance and this is also beneficial to s/n ratios. The Molex cable might work OK, but it's conceivable that the visible noise in the scans is increased. The cable you were kindly gifted is the best solution!

Thank you so much!

photoyoda · Mar 9, 2023

Radost said:
Pacific Image is supposed to release a 120 scanner.
Their XAS 135 scanner is wonderful. Gives me sharper results than lab scanners.

Is there any info on this online? They currently have the PF120 which is not very well regarded and years old.

outrbrij · May 30, 2023

brbo said:
Can you point me to Stephan Scharf's contact info. I don't have a Coolscan but I'd like to ask him if he'd be able to make holders for other scanners, too...

Hi Brbo - you can email Stephan Scharf at stephan-scharf@gmx.de. Paul is absolutely correct about how extraordinary his film holders are. They are engineered with the same human tactile excellence that Viktor Hasselblad had in designing the Hasselblad camera. There are no drawbacks, ifs, ands, or buts. I paid more, but I asked for more. Worth every penny/euro. Cannot recommend his work highly enough.

Les Sarile · May 31, 2023

yossi said:
Update: my Coolscan 9000 sad story has just ended, in the most unexpected but happy way!

Out of sheer kindness, someone made an exception and sent me an original replacement FPC for the Coolscan I carefully (but quite nervously) installed it and only after the second attempt, the Coolscan sprang to life!! What can I say. I am overjoyed and really very grateful !

There are still beautiful things in this troubled world, such as this act of kindness.

View attachment 331438

By the way, a member of fb Nikon Scanner Users group has recommended a generic FPC that is said to be compatible with this Coolscan FPC. I have ordered it through Digi-Key but have not tried nor verified it to be working personally. I shall list the info. here just in case anyone who might need to find such a replacement part: Molex part number 0151660429

Thanks everyone here for all the great advice/suggestions. Much appreciated.

yossi

Love hearing that!

All's well that ends well!

Radost · May 31, 2023

The reason why i use scanners that are still manufactured and work great. Pacific Image

HELP!! The sky has just fallen (not really, but I just broke the ribbon flexible cable in Nikon Coolscan 9000ED!!!)

Paul Ozzello

jbf

koraks

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Kino

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tahomaphoto

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yossi

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photoyoda

outrbrij

Les Sarile

Radost

HELP!! The sky has just fallen (not really, but I just broke the ribbon flexible cable in Nikon Coolscan 9000ED!!!)

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