Black areas and lines on one scan side of Scanjet Pro 4500 fn1

[naskew]

The scanner is about three years old and can be used as a document scanner or flatbed. The scanner for the odd pages or those on the flatbed have lines and dark areas while the even pages are fine. My guess would be that as this is the sensor that moves, the cable to the motherboard has become lose. Do you think this is the problem and if so how easy is this to solve because this was not a cheap scanner and three years of life is not long.

The picture below is from a PDF that was generated and the top of the picture shows the bottom first page (with the black are on the left and the blue line on the right) while the bottom half is the top of the second page which has no problems.

[naskew]

Hi HP. Do you have an opinion on this? I'd appreciate a reply.

[naskew]

I really have absolutely no interest in your ranking system. I just want to know if my very expensive scanner has just become a useless paperweight three years after purchase or if this can be fixed. Come one HP you must have someone who can reply to this.

[naskew]

So, HP, I take it that you have absolutely no intention of bothering to help me. Surely you are not so under resourced that you cannot take the time to look at the scan and give your opinion. I've paid my money and your product has failed but that's OK because you have my money right? 

[naskew]

So, HP, I take it that you have absolutely no intention of bothering to help me. Surely you are not so under resourced that you cannot take the time to look at the scan and give your opinion. I've paid my money and your product has failed but that's OK because you have my money right? 

[naskew]

Now I see other victims with exactly the same problem and you have not bothered to reply to them either. What an absolute scam. Shoddy defective products clearly and yet we are left to carry the costs for your design mistakes.

[naskew]

I asked a polite message which turns out to be a polite message that others have asked and you are right, nobody at HP ever got back to them either suggesting that this HP site is perhaps not the best place to ask for help about HP products.

I am indeed frustrated that my product life expectancy is lower than perhaps I had expected for a premium supplier, it is a lesson learned. Respect to those of you that volunteer but it is a shame that you are unable to assist.

[mattrg_2000]

I have the same problem.

[naskew]

Sorry to hear that. Clearly the same problem is occurring in various HP scanner products and yet bizarrely nobody seems to have seen it before. I hope you find a solution, and if you do please do come back and post it here as you might be helping others. Sadly, for me, time is up and I need to purchase a new scanner and consign the old one to the bin. 

[Franct]

We have exactly the same issue. After three years, and after upgrading to the last firmware available, the scanner starts reporting the infamous thick black area on one side of the scan.

Searching on HP forum we found several other people have the same issue.

We found this post marked as solved even if *there is NO real solution*.

Can someone clear the status of "solved" and have some *real* feedbacks and hints on how is possible to get rid of this issue?

Thanks