gray shaded areas suddenly appearing on scans

[originalmachead]

Suddenly there are light gray shaded areas on the bottom of scans. Could this be the bulb? OR something on the uderside of the scanbed?  I have cleaned the top of the glass and the backing. Appears on a white sheet of paper so IMO it's no somehting on the backing.

[sandytechy20]

@originalmachead

Welcome to the HP Forums, this is a great location to get assistance! I read your post and see that you are getting scan quality issues. I would like to help you resolve this issue. 

However, I will need a few details to provide an accurate solution,

Open the scanner lid, initiate scanning and check if the scanner light is lit up and moving across the scanner glass?

Meanwhile:

Reset the printer.

1. Remove any items from the scanner glass and automatic document feeder (ADF), then close the scanner lid.

2. With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the printer and from the wall outlet or power strip.

3. Wait at least 60 seconds.

4. Plug the power cord back into a wall outlet.

      NOTE:

   HP recommends connecting the printer power cord directly to a wall outlet.

5. Reconnect the power cord to the printer.

6. If you have an HP DeskJet 3700 series printer, calibrate the scanner after resetting the printer.

7. Load the original document or photo, then try to scan.

Change the scan settings.

1. Load the item on the scanner glass, in the document feeder slot, or in the automatic document feeder (ADF), depending on your printer type and features.

      NOTE:

   Do not load photos in the ADF to prevent damage to the photos and the printer.

2. Open Finder , click Go in the top menu bar, then click Applications.

3. Double-click the HP folder, then find HP Scan in the list.

4. In the HP Scan window, click Scan.

5. Select your printer name in the Scanner menu, then select a scan job type from the Presets menu.

6. Click the down arrow  in the upper right corner of the window to view and change scan color, orientation, and quality settings.

7. Click Continue.

   The printer scans the item.

8. Click Scan Next Item or Add to scan additional items, or click Done.

9. Click the thumbnail version of the scanned item in the left panel to display it in the main preview pane.

10. Click Edit to adjust colors, straighten the scan, or crop the size.

11. To save your scans to a folder on the Mac, click Send in the bottom right corner of the window, then click Folder.

12. In the window that displays, click the Where menu to browse to the folder you want to save the file to, then click Save.

Let me know it goes.

Cheers.

[originalmachead]

Sandytechy20 -

Thank you for taking time to reply to my question.

Non of you proposed solutions address my specific issue. The scaner is working fine excpt for the problem I described. MOST of the scan is fine, and if I'm scanning small images (under 5" in height) they are completely uneffected so I can work around the discolorations. But, if I have to scan full pages, the bottom of the pages are going to come out with areas shaded a different color.

Is there safe way for a customer who's out of warranty to remove the glass from the bed and clean the underside?

When a bulb starts to fail does it do so all at once, from the top of the scan, or, gradually with changes as I've described.

Thanks.

[sandytechy20]

@originalmachead

Thanks for the reply.

I appreciate your time and effort.

Update the printer firmware.

Click here and refer the document to update the printer firmware.

Clean the scanner lid with a lint free cloth and check if that works.

Let me know how it goes.

Cheers.

[originalmachead]

Sandytech20  The firmware was out of date; but updating it did not change the gray streak, splotch that runs down the middle of the lower 2/3rds of the scan.

[Riddle_Decipher]

@originalmachead

It looks like you were interacting with @sandytechy20, but he is out for the day & I'll be glad to help you out, 

I'm the Riddle_Decipher & I'm at your service. 

I reviewed your concern and the entire conversation, did some research and here's what I recommend:

Since you've done everything advised so far and yet the issue persists, we may need to get to the last resort,

Hence, I'm sending out a Private message with the reset instructions,

Please check your Private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Forums profile 

Next, to your profile Name, you should see a little blue envelope, please click on it or simply click on this link: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/notes/privatenotespage 

Please reply back on the public post as this Private message box is not monitored.

(The reason we are utilizing the private message is because the instructions are critical)

Keep me posted,

If the information I've provided was helpful, 

Give us some reinforcement by clicking the solution and kudos buttons, 

that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

Good Luck.