I have an HP Officejet Pro 8600 and the touchscreen display panel is very light and cannot see icons

[skipper_bob]

w-j-l

Can you please explain a little more. Not all of the people reading this are techies.

If this is really the problem you will be helping a raft of people, believe me.

I assume the condenser is actually a part of the LCD screen assembly, please correct me if I'm wrong.

It does make sense though I have to wonder if what is causing the problem is another part going bad, but this beats having to buy a complete screen just to find out.

Can you tell us the part number of the item you got?

Thanks a million.

[quickrescue]

could you post a picture or photo? and give us more details about the condenser?

thanks a lot

[LizBirch]

Thank you Bob.. And to everyone working on this it does seem we may be getting close

I think this is so appalling that we all have to go throught this while HP provides no assistance for us when clearly this is not a random issue. It seems a recall is in order for this printer.

I will be printing out this entire message stream and sending it to Meg Whitman, whether we get this resolved or not. I encourage others to do the same.

Thanks again to everyone who's working on a solution.

Liz

[DD1969]

Hello to all of us having the same blank or blinking screen on our HP 8600. Mine is 6 months over warranty and after speaking to tech support all he wanted to do was give me a discount on another printer. Tried all the fi xes they suggested but still the same.Will never buy HP again ! NO WAY HP till you resolve our\my problem will I ever buy HP again. My printer will print but have no idea when it will stop. My think on next printer will be cheapest one and cheapest ink cartridges, as they are all overseas throw-aways !!!

[skipper_bob]

Hello DD1969 and Everybody Else

Some of what I will say will probably be edited out by the moderators, but if you really want to see the complete post email me privately. 

If you check back in this thread you will see earlier posts on this. I have done a lot of research on this because I had exactly the same problem withe the screen being white and unreadable. It still functions but you don't know what you are actually pressing. You can stillprint and scan from your computer, but there are some functions for which you need the screen. So I know it is a real pain, and of course it happens mainly just when the unit goes out of warranty. It is almost like it is made that way.

Anyway the problem is caused by an over-voltage from the main printer board to the touch screen circuit board (due to defective Chinese hardware). You will notice that HP changed the screen model on later versions of this printer series (because they know what is the problem!!). All the so called solutions they offer - firmware upgrade, recycle printer, blah-blah-blah, etc. are NOT going to work because it's a hardware fault.

But they won't tell you that, it would cost them too much. All they will do is offer you a refurbished printer for some ridiculous price, or discounted ink cartidges and try to get your credit card info, so don't even bother. HP technical support is a poor joke from top to bottom.

I have emailed the CEO of HP over a month ago, and to date all I got back was an automated email which included "  We will be documenting your comments which will be reviewed by HP management". Yeah, right! HP, sorry, your customer support ain't no good.

But have heart. There is a solution to the problem, but you will have to get an electronics repair shop to do it for uou unless you know somebody who is technically capable. It is very similar to what happens sometimes to televisions.

On the screen circuit board (or LCD backplane) there will be one or more capacitors that have been fried due to an overvoltage. Earlier posts showed a picture and also described how to remove the screen.

You will have to replace the damaged caps with new capacitors, making sure that the rating (microfarads) is the same, BUT use replacements with a reasonably HIGHER voltage rating. The voltage rating of a capacitor only indicates the maximum voltage before it will blow. A good TV repair guy can advise you what to do.

Now there's no guarantee that this will work in all cases, but it has worked for me and some others. You don't have much to lose in any case, since the day will come when you need the touchscreen for something you cannot do from the computer.

Hope this helps you and all the others with the same problem.

[Ingie]

What "electronics" repair shop do you suggest one might use? The only HP repair shop is in California and the cost of shipping the printer (for me, from the midwest) would be more than what the **bleep** thing is worth! 

[madcracker]

Said it once, ill say it again. HP wears too many hats to actually care about quality printers. This printer (Zion their eyes) is absolutely disposable. Don't but HP again. It's always a hard and expensive lesson to learn. Ever since HP made all repair shops sell over 40k worth of new printers yearly just to keep your repair certs it's not financially viable to repair HP. Epson and brother are the way to go. Both companies are Asian but based in the US and their tech support speaks better ENGLISH than the morons living here...

[skipper_bob]

It doesn't have to be an HP repair shop. Anybody who can repair TV sets can do it. There are probably loads of people in your neighbourhood. And you don't have to send the whole printer, just the screen, which comes off by unscrewing three screws. Read the earlier posts for that.

[skipper_bob]

It cost me less than 10 USD to fix it myself.

[LizBirch]

Thanks for all the updated information.

I wrote to the CEO and received a form letter with no solution or advice. A basic Thanks.

My husband opened up the screen part. Cleaned the wires and connectors and it's working better. Not at 100% but manageable. This has been a nightmare and my last HP

Liz Birch