what to do with scanner that isnt' working?
 

I was given a flatbed scanner that had been working, won’t run on Vista, had been put aside. I am running XP on my laptop and started to install the scanner. When I plugged the scanner into electricity, a green ‘console’ light went on for a split second, then off and I think I smelled a very slight smell of what I thought was dust. Or maybe burning? The laptop is fine, it doesn’t recognize the scanner. Did I blow a fuse, fry a chip, ... ?

I don’t imagine this is worth repairing or even taking somewhere for diagnosis. I found drivers, but don’t find online answers about no lights. And the scanning project was optional, family records, certificates, ...

Do I just throw away the scanner? (HP scanjet 4470c)

Sylvia

So bascially it doesn't even turn on anymore when you plug it in? Do any of the lights come on when you plug the power on?

You also might want to try using a different USB cable. I've left drives and scanners in storage and when time comes to use it have found that dirty USB cables sometime mess up things.

If still a no go I would just dump it. Scanners are pretty affordable now a days.

[QUOTE=maven808;12045884]So bascially it doesn't even turn on anymore when you plug it in? Do any of the lights come on when you plug the power on?

No, no lights.

My printer lights go on just when it is plugged in (before the computer is on), so I assume the scanner is the same. Nothing happens, connected to the laptop or when the USB cable is unplugged from both, so I'm guessing it's not the cable. I suppose it could be the cord from the scanner to the electricity that shorted.

I'll just put it in the trash barrel.

Thanks,

Sylvia

i think you can get an excellent little epson scanner for under $100. it is about the same size as the hp.

[QUOTE=SylviaCaras;12049722I'll just put it in the trash barrel.

Thanks,

Sylvia[/QUOTE]

Check with your city to see if they have an electronics recycling program rather than just dumping it in the trash barrel. Better for the environment. Where I used to live in the LA area they had such a program. Where I've moved to, they don't even do the normal recycling properly. :rolleyes:

Cheers.

I would check first to make sure that it isn't something like a fuse. Open it up, look at the mother board. The fuse will be obvious: it's usually a glass cylinder with little metal caps on the end. It may be in a snap-in fitting, or it may be soldered to the motherboard. If it's a fuse, it's cheap and easy to replace.

For future reference, Vuescan is a program that supports thousands of "obsolete" scanners. I use it on my Vista laptop to use a venerable HP scanner that still works better than any of the newer ones I've seen on the market.

Ever seen Office Space?

Radio Shack: power supply is dead
 

I opened the scanner part way - I didn't see fuses on the two boards at the rear. There's another board under the front, where the console lights are, but I couldn't figure out how to open that up.

I took the power supply to Radio Shack to have it tested. They said it was dead. I new one is about $25. I'm surprised I can't find a suitable one at home to test with the scanner, but I don't seem to have a 12v one.

Searching for fuses, I saw several discussions about this particular scanner that, after not being used for a while, wouldn't work, about bad power supplies, only one comment about fuses.

I have found all the HP products I bought myself, several laser printers, and my current desktop, to be excellent, but this scanner may just be a dud.

At this point, I think replacing the power supply is not a good investment.

Thanks for the general input. I've learned some about trouble-shooting.

Sylvia