thin horizontal black line at BOTTOM of page when scan on HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus

[KenAlker]

I owned an HP Officejet Pro 8500 and scanning was perfect.  I recently purchased an HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus.

When I scan from the HP 8600 auto document feeder, I get a thin (several pixel wide) black line along the bottom edge of the resulting scan.  This line will sometimes be slighly crooked or only appear across half the page, in which case it tends to get thicker toward the edge of the page).  I believe this line is an artifact from scanning the very bottom edge of the oroginal document.  I think it is showing where the bottom edge of the page was when scanned.  If the document is a little skewed, then the black line at the bottom will be a little crooked, probably following the edge of the page.  This problem is consistent, and repeatable.  It happens in both "Scan To E-mail" mode and "Scan To Network Folder" mode.

When I scan from the flat bed, I get a very narrow black line along the very top edge of the resulting scan, but the bottom appears fine (although I've not tested this extensively).

These thin black lines did not occur when scanning from the HP 8500.

I am wondering if there is a setting to adjust this, or if it is a firmware difference between printers that needs debugging.

[jason_h · Accepted solution]

Hey KenAlker,

There are a few things I would check if you are getting lines while scanning using the 8600. I see you mention that the lines show up both through ADF and through flatbed glass. There may be something on both of the glass sections used by this printer, but more often than not this is not the case.

I would check if this printer is plugged into a surge protector. If it is, then try plugging the 8600 into a direct wall outlet. Often the surge protector can cause this issue to show up as the printer has one built in.

Also, try performing a hard reset:
* Unplug unit while on
* Unplug other end from direct wall outlet
* Wait 30-60 seconds
* Plug unit back up

Also, try take a look at the steps in the document found here.

Hope this helps.

[globalist]

I encountered the same problem on two new HP Officejet 8600 Pro Plus N911g (CN579A) units that were installed on a new Samsung Series 7 Ultra running Windows 8 64-bit. The units were updated to the latest firmware (CLP1CN1304AR).

Any PDF scan will show a horizontal black line at the bottom of the page regardless of whether the scan is performed from the PC or the printer and regardless of whether the units were plugged to a surge protector or to a wall outlet.

Running HP Print and Scan Doctor 3.1 did not detect any problems. And performing the hard reset described in this thread did not solve the problem. Who declared the problem solved?

[jason_h]

Hey globalist,

I am guessing you have followed through the information in the document linked previously.  That would mean that you have cleaned the scanner flatbed glass and ADF glass.  As well, you have updated the firmware, hard reset the printer, and ensured the printer was plugged into a direct wall outlet.

One thing I would like to ask:  Do you get a black link the same location if you perform a standalone Copy with the printer or does the line only show up with PDF scans?

[globalist]

Jason,

Thank you for your reply. The copy function does not produce a horizontal black line at the bottom of the page.

[jason_h]

This would indicate that the issue isn't coming from the hardware of the 8600(s).  Is your Adobe Reader/Acrobat software up-to-date?

Also, did you install the full software for the printer using a CD or from a download off the HP website?

I would also try performing a scan using the Microsoft Fax and Scan software built into the Windows OS.  Does this also produce a black line in a PDF scan or does it only happen when using the HP Scan?

[globalist]

The HP Officejet Pro Full Feature Software and Driver was downloaded from the HP website and installed. The Adober Reader X was updated to the current version (10.1.6).

Using Windows Fax and Scan resulted in the same kind of black line at the bottom of the page in .jpg and .png formats. I suspect that I would get a black line in the .bmp and .tif formats as well. PDF scanning is not available in Windows Fax and Scan.

I have a question: Can the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus be reset to its factory condition so that screen shows the choice of language question when the printer is turned on?

[jason_h]

Hey,

I do have the information for performing a factory reset on this model printer.  I will send these steps to you in a private message on these forums.  Please check your inbox messages.

Please read Bob_Headrick's thread on printer resets prior to performing these steps.  This will provide you with information about the resets and why it is important to follow the instructions to the letter.  You can find Bob's thread by clicking here.

Let me know how it goes.

[globalist]

Thank you for the information. I was asking as a matter of curiosity. Since I have already performed installations on two factory-fresh printers I do not anticipate that a factory reset will provide a cure. I will likely return the printer to Costco and get something else --perhaps a Laserjet Pro 200.

[jason_h]

I find it interesting that the issue happens across both printers.  This is what leads me to believe this is something with the software/connection with the PC.  One thing I will note is that you mentioned above using Adobe Reader 10.1.6.  The latest version of Adobe Reader is 11.0.02.  I would advise removing your current version of Adobe Reader and install the latest version. 

I am not sure if this will fix the issue as you mentioned the line comes across in jpeg and other scanning styles.  Do you possibly have another PC you could try setting up a connection with quickly and attempting a scan?  This would be another way to ensure if the issue is coming from the printer or a connection/software issue.

I would like to make sure the issue is coming from the scanners on these printers before returning the printers as I would hate for you to get another model printer and the issue remain with this printer as well.  However, I will note that the Laserjet Pro 200 is a nice series printer from my experience.  I have used the Laserjet Pro 200 black and white only edition, the MFP, and the TopShot edition where I am located.