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I've noticed over the last few days that my Photosmart C4680 is continuoulsy cycling itself on and off.  Is anyone else having this same issue?

 

Does anybody know why its doing it?  Is there a fix??

 

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
HP Recommended

Just did the repair. It was a bad capacitor on the logic board (brand TEAPO). There is only one to replace on this printer, and it will probably look curved on the top (indicating it is blown).  It's 330uF 6.3V, but I pu in a slightly bigger one (16V, all they had in 330uF) and it works perfect now. It's an easy fix, if you're not afraid to solder one component. It will cost you all of 60c worth of components. (and a soldering kit if you don't already have one)

 

Open the scanner lid and the ink replacement door. Reach behind the control panel and gently push a clip to release the panel. It will reveal a hidden torx screw. There are four screws total to remove the top, and you can use a torx bit, or if none handy, the right size allen key. 

 

Once you get the top part lifted from the rest of the printer, you must carefully pull out the few connectors that attach to the logic board from their sockets. Some are just ribbon connectors, and some wire connectors. Put the top part aside. 

 

Identify the bad capacitor on the logic board by checking the top surface. It's a thin one, green in color that says TEAPO on it and if it is indeed the defective component it should feel curved on the top. 

 

Remove all the other connectors to the board, and unscrew the 3 torx screws to extract the board from the printer. 

 

To unsolder the bad capacitor, it may be easier to first snap it off so you can extract each lead with pliers one at a time while applying heat on the soldering side. 

 

Observe the polarity, negative side (identified by the minus signs on the new capacitor) on the shaded side on the board. 

 

Solder the new capacitor, clip off excess leads, put everything back together. Your'e done!   Good luck!

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69 REPLIES 69
HP Recommended

I am also having ths problem with my Photosmart C4680. It started about a week ago. The printer is less than a year old and suddenly stopped working properly.

 

When I turn the printer on, it cycles on and off for a few minutes, then goes into a screen that says "copying" or "scanning" or "scan error, try scanning from PC" when I am not trying to scan/print anything at all.

 

I tried calling HP for assistance, however, the tech support had me on hold for a while, then abruptly asked when I purchased the printer.  When I said January, he hung up on me (no surprise).

 

I tried downloading different drivers for the printer, however, I have not yet found a solution.

HP Recommended

Same thing going on with my C4680. Absolute cycling back and forth between functions, on and off. Something ain't right. Sure could use some help  from HP but found nothing in the knowledge base about this problem, except lots of references to it.

HP Recommended

I've been having this problem for a month or more.  It is going crazy!  Every time it is turned on it continuously scans and copies on its own, printing a faint box on the paper.  I now have to keep it turned off until I'm ready to use it.  It is such a pain.  It still prints, scans, and copies correctly.  I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers, but it does not work.  Has anyone found a solution to this problem besides tossing this in the trash??

HP Recommended

I have had the same thing happening to printer plus the touchscreen will not work.  the last time it worked was the first time i used the chat support.  it worked for five minutes after the call ended and it has been going crazy ever since.  When I called the chat support they were not any help at all.  i can't install the driver software...it gets all the way to end and hangs up.

 

I checked the warranty a couple of weeks ago and it was still under warranty checked back to take action now it says it is not under warranty since 9-2010.  Somthing shady is going on.  i have had this printer right at a year.  I purchased online from amazon.com.  I am sure they are not going to take it back.

HP Recommended

Hi folks

Have you tried using the HP Scan Diagnostic Utility?

 

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/documentSubCategory?tmp_rule=31346&tmp_task=solveCategory&lc=en&d...

 

- Ciara

I am speaking for myself and not for HP. Twitter: @Ciara_B_27
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I ran the scan utility and results said everything was ok.   As stated in earlier posts the printer cycles between functions as if something is the matter with the touchscreen buttons.  Pretty BAD when you have a printer for less that a year with minimal use and this kind of thing happens and no support can be issued.   I have had my P1000 photosmart printer from over 10 years that still works fine.

 

Not sure if there is a way to flash the printer internal memory or programming code?  Pretty expesive paper weight especially when you have extra print cartridges not used.  Aparrently the 1050 model uses a 61 instead of a 60 print cartridge.  It figures.  I really expect more out of an HP printer.  At this point VERY dissapointed!

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I also have the same problem, the printer is only a year old, does anyone have a fix? ciara can u help?

HP Recommended

I'm having the same problem as well. It just started today. It's clearly something with the touch panel. Sometimes mine scans and writes the file to my computer, other times it trys to scan to a memory card that I don't have.

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Mine does this too.  When I first turn it on, it will start to power up, (with the HP logo coming on the touchscreen) then it beeps, shuts off, and starts to power up again.  This will happen fir anywhere from a few minutes to a half hour.  Then when it finally powers up, it might print normally, or it might pause for a few to 30 minutes before printing.  If it's left on, it cycles off and on as well.  I've tried all the diagnostics tools, updated all the software, etc.  HP needs to address this, as clearly it's a common problem on this model.  I expect that for every post on this forum, there are a hundred (or hundreds) of similar cases.

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