Scanner Repair/Maintenance

[seekermeister]

I have rarely used the scanner portion of my HP 5510v, until ~ the last week, and I have been giving it a continous workout. Considering the age of this unit (~6 yrs), I'm not too surprised that it has begun to moan and groan. It even froze in the middle of one scan for a minute, so I'm thinking that if I don't do something for it, that it going to croak before I finish the project that I'm working on.

Is there anything user serviceable about this, or should I start shopping for another printer?

 

[Maguscreed]

If it's designed anything like mine is. and from the look of the model it is.
There isn't a whole lot you can do for the scanner. The paper feed and stuff you can do something for, but the scanner doesn't really have much you can do in the way of maintenance

 

[seekermeister]

I was hoping that there was a belt that could be replaced. With the rub/bump/squeak sounds that it makes, it reminded me of a loose/worn fanbelt. Oh well, now I have to start thinking about a new AIO printer. This HP hasn't been too bad, but the ink is not cheap. Is there a brand/model that is inexpensive on both the intial cost, and the ink also?

 

[Maguscreed]

Not that I am aware of, I'm still using my old hp even though the paper feed is half dead on it and needs to be constantly cleaned and maintained.

 

[seekermeister]

I would probably be the same way about it, except that I have a real need for a good scanner. I would get just a scanner alone, except that I'm out of desk space for another box to sit in.

 

[Maguscreed]

I don't know have you seen stand alone scanners lately?
They're not much thicker than the paper you put in them.
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=Q3112A-N

 

[seekermeister]

No, I hadn't looked at any of them lately. That scanner is very thin, but even so, I don't know where I would put it. Desktop real estate is scarce around here. It looks as though it interfaces the PC via USB, which is the way that my AIO interfaces also. I wonder if it matters if it uses USB 2 or USB 3? This does create a new sphere of thought for me, because now I remember seeing portable scanners, which are meant for laptops, but I would imagine that they would work on a PC also.

EDIT: Strike what I said about portable scanners, I don't think that they would work well for scanning thick objects (with precision).

 

[Maguscreed]

yeah I don't know how much punishment they can take int he way of constant use though.
Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100

...that's an extreme example obviously

 

[seekermeister]

I really hadn't paid much attention before, but if all of those portables are like that fujitsu, requiring the object to be scanned to pass through that little slot, then they definitely are not for me. I will either go for a thin scanner, like in your first link, or go the whole way with another AIO. I do have another table across from the desk, where I could park that scanner, but that is supposed to be reserved as my work table. Besides, it would not be convenient to use while sitting at the PC.

 

[Maguscreed]

Just google portable scanner, there's a variety.

 

[seekermeister]

It now appears that I may not need a new scanner after all, because I was using it in XP, but now in W7 it is purring like a kitten, albeit a bit sleepy one. Apparently, W7 doesn't work it as hard as XP does. However, the scanner interface is much easier to use in W7, because the preview is much larger, and it seems to automatically frame the object much better, plus when it does need adjustment, it is not so touchy to use.

Before using the program that is set to acquire scans, I thought that since the HP x32 software didn't work on x64 OSs, that I had to use the built-in camera and scanner wizard of XP, and I wasn't sure how to scan in W7. I noted that the program selects the scanner by setting it to WIA-HP OfficeJet 5500, but I haven't been able to find that directly via the OS, so that I could create a shortcut for using it elsewhere...anyone know how?