HP OfficeJet 7130xi: Bad Motherboard Causes "Scanner Failure"

[jescott3]

Despite what I had been led to believe by HP, this forum's posts, and information gleaned from the Internet, my HP OfficeJet 7130xi's sudden "scanner failure" after 32 trouble-free months wasn't caused by an "internal scanner hardware failure," as a local HP repair technician informed me.

No, it was caused by a bad motherboard. I replaced my motherboard with one from a 99-cent eBay 7130xi with printhead alignment issues. After replacement, my 7130xi's scanning, copying and otherwise working perfectly.

What pointed me to the motherboard? After one of many 9 # full resets, I couldn't set the time from the front panel. After setting the date, the front panel lights began flashing. I should have automatically gone to the reset time display. Since both the scanner assembly and the date/time function are connected to and controlled by the motherboard, that's where the problem lay.

So, if your 7130 or similar HP AIO's showing "scanner failure," try resetting the date/time. If that fails, then your trouble's the motherboard, not the scanner assembly or dirty glass or electronic heebie jeebies.

-- Jim Scott

[Whyzman]

Welcome tohttp://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif Forums!

Thanks for the heads up...

[sdidde]

I also had a disappointing session with an HP technician online. Apparently I bought one of the very early all-in-ones and it does not accept any patches posted on the HP web site.
When I turn on the printer, the front panel comes up with the message, "Press Enter to Align Printheads" and as soon as I press Enter, the lights begin to flash! The Printhead patch on their web is supposed to fix it, but when I run it, it "does not detect any HP Printer that can benefit from the Patch."

They offered a trade-in for a newer model, but did not comment on replacing my existing model with a later version of the same model. Apparently they can't fix my printer now!!
I was going to replace the motherboard by going to eBay, but can't find any seller.
Any other suggestions?

[jescott3]

It sounds as if your HP OfficeJet 7130xi's motherboard is bad. I just bought a spare on eBay for $21.90. The seller's still got one left on a "Buy It Now" basis. Go to this url:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSAA:US:41&item=6881169545

Good luck. You'll have to practically strip your 7130xi down to the bare chassis to get at the motherboard. A Torx T-10 screwdriver and a lot of patience will do the job. Tip: The only screws you'll have to remove are plainly visible as you take off stuff from the top. Once you get down to the base, the only screws you'll encounter hold in the modem in the back. All of the plastic side pieces are held on with plastic tabs (two on the rear are hidden inside the duplexer opening on either side). Take it slow and easy -- there's no need to break anything -- and you'll wonder later why you thought it was so hard.

-- Jim

[sdidde]

Hello Jim,
Thank you for the heads up! I managed to order probably the last motherboard they had. Now that I have the unit, I am trying to disassemble the printer. How do I take off the cover and inner cover? I saw two tabs at the back that seem like snap-on connections, but I'm afraid I will break them if I press too hard.
Really appreciate the help!
-Stephen

[jescott3]

Stephen,

It's not that difficult to disassemble the 7130xi. Begin by placing it on a towel or piece of newspaper so you can manipulate it without scratching your work surface.

First, raise the automatic document feeder 90 degrees. Pull up the two little black tabs near the hinges, then pull the ADF straight up. You may have to wiggle it a bit but it will come off without pulling too hard.

Next, lift the scanner assembly until the two folding support legs in front are locked into position. At the bottom of both legs on both sides of the legs you'll see round projections trapped by a plastic clip. Hold the scanner assembly up with your head or shoulder while you use a flat blade screwdriver to carefully pry back the plastic clips to free the support legs. Keep upward pressure on the scanner assembly while you're doing this.

Once the front legs are free, raise the scanner assembly 90 degrees and lean it against the wall or something sturdy. Then, using a T-15 Torx screwdriver, remove the three screws that hold the chrome metal plate in the rear left corner. Remove the plate and carefully disconnect all the cables that are plugged into the motherboard. Finally, lift the scanner assembly straight up and set it aside.

Now, remove all the screws around the perimeter of the base unit. Then remove the left and right front covers by pulling on the side inside the base unit. These covers pivot out and come off easily.

Swivel the unit around and remove the duplexer. Then remove the modem cover plate screw and pry out the cover plate. Be careful not to break it.

Now, flip the unit upside down. If I remember correctly (this is all from memory), there are two dark gray plastic tabs in the front of the unit, one on either side of the paper tray opening. There also are two plastic tabs on either side near the middle. If you loosen these tabs, you'll begin to feel the outer plastic come free of the inner assembly. Now turn the unit right side up, but make sure the 4 hold down tabs are still free and not latched.

The toughest tabs to release are inside the duplexer opening in the back. There's one on either side. about midway between the opening and the side of the case. I used a medium flatblade screwdrive to pry the tabs free while applying some upward pressure on the case. You should feel the outer case come free. Work the sides away from the inner assembly gently. The center cover above the duplexer can be worked free of one side or the other.

You should be looking at a naked inner assembly. The motherboard is on the left side. There are three bottom screws, a top screw inside and a couple of flat cables that need to be removed. You also need to remove the card reader and the modem card. They just pull out.

Check to make sure nothing else is connected and remove the motherboard by pulling up and out, gently and carefully. Be careful of the little plastic trip lever; you may have to remove the speaker in the left front corner to pull the speaker cable from the front portion of the motherboard assembly.

Assembly is the reverse of disassembly. Make sure the 2032 clock battery has at least 3 volts.

Plug in, turn on and keep your fingers crossed. You might want to do a master reset by holding # and 9 while turning it on, if I remember correctly.

Good luck!

Jim

[jvandersall]

Jim

I assume the dis-assembly for the 7130 would be the same. I have a MB on order.

Thanks
Jim

[jescott3]

Yes, they're the same unit. The 7130xi, I am told, was sold exclusively through Costco, thus it has the "xi" designation. It also may have included the duplexer as standard equipment. But the disassembly of both models is identical. Good luck!

-- Jim Scott

[jvandersall]

Jim

Great. Thanks. I'll give it a shot.

Jim

[dmullican]

does the hp 7130 use the same motherboard as the d135?? Are they interchageable???

[jescott3]

The two products look almost identical to me, but I'm no expert. I'm just an ambitious consumer user who figured out what was wrong and how to fix it with my own 7130xi and decided to share my findings with others in this forum.

I *think* the 7100 series was sold through consumer retail channels, and the D series was sold to businesses. They are linked throughout HP literature, and share a bunch of parts and accessories, so my educated guess is that the motherboards are identical and therefore interchangeable. But I can't tell you that authoritatively. The only D135 I've ever seen was in a stack of printers at a computer boneyard. Perhaps HP or an authorized HP service company can help you out there.

[Whyzman]

I believe the d135 also had a similar d135xi. Mine does not have the card reader slots but the xi version did...

[jescott3]

I believe the xi versions were special editions sold at Costco and similar stores. That's where I got mine, Costco, and the 7130xi was the only 7100 version sold there at the time. Lots of manufacturers name their products that way, so they can track sales, repairs, etc. easily.

[sburtchin]

:cool: :cool: :cool: This is a great thread!!!!!!!! :cool: :cool: :cool:

If everyone shared their solutions in detail as you have, we would have a manual to fix every possible problem. Thanks!


First, raise the automatic document feeder 90 degrees. Pull up the two little black tabs near the hinges, then pull the ADF straight up. You may have to wiggle it a bit but it will come off without pulling too hard.I have tried this on my 7130 following someone else's (vague) instructions without success. Maybe I just was'nt pulling hard enough, or not in the right direction. One question though, how do you disconnect the cable leading from the scanner to the document feeder?

[jescott3]

When you raise the ADF (automatic document feeder) 90 degrees, then pull up those two black tabs near the hinges (pull up firmly), then just wiggle the ADF until it comes loose. You may have to tilt the ADF toward you slightly to get it to come loose. But you don't have to force anything.

The cable you see goes into a plug with a male fitting that's built into the ADF. When you separate the ADF from the scanner, you'll see a female plug built into the scanner. Once you do this, you'll see how clever the design is.

-- Jim

[sburtchin]

Thanks Jim. Beyond your instructions, the rest of the dissassembly looks pretty straightforward.


I *think* the 7100 series was sold through consumer retail channels, and the D series was sold to businesses.I remember that I decided to get a d145, but by then all the d-series were discontinued. A few months later I found the 7130 with pretty much the same features. I think the d-series could scan only letter size documents, whereas the 7100-series could scan up to legal size. That may be the only difference. Both were sold retail at Office Depot. Mine is the 7130 without the "xi". It has the card reader slots and the Duplexer standard. I think the correspondence was as follows (and the "xi" of no real significance):

d125 ---> 7110 (basic unit)
d135 ---> 7120 (ADF standard, etc.)
d145 ---> 7130 (duplexer & card readers standard, etc.)
d155 ---> 7140 (NIC standard, etc.)

Just my guess from memory, but it's been about four years ago. If any of this is wrong, someone please correct.

[sburtchin]

You might want to do a master reset by holding # and 9 while turning it on, if I remember correctly.This reset is done by holding # and 9 while plugging in the power. The resets I know about are as follows:

# and 7 (reprime the IDS)
# and 3 (partial reset)
# and 6 (semi-full reset)
# and 9 (full reset)
temporarily disconnect the battery (resets the cartrige expiration clock, & whatever else?????)

I have used the #6 to get past a carriage jam. If anyone knows any other resets, or can explain what these actually do, then please chime in.

[dmullican]

I purchased another motherboard off eBay and replaced it in my printer. When I turned the printer on the lights came on but blank screen! I may have just purchased a bad board. However, if the battery was bad would it also cause this. I was wondering if it would be worth a try to replace the battery and try the board again???? Anyone have any thoughts before I do this again????

[mjc]

Batteries are always a good place to start troubleshooting...they are pretty cheap and if they are bad, a lot of problems can be solved by replacing them.

[jescott3]

It may be the battery is failing or has failed. Or perhaps you didn't get all the cables properly inserted in their fittings. I'd recheck all connections and the battery voltage (should be 3 volts), then do a master reset (see above post for details). That should clear up your trouble. If it doesn't, then you may have a motherboard with a partial failure. In my case, even though my motherboard was faulty where the scan/copy/fax functions were concerned, it still lit up the display and allowed the printer to function.

[perholm]

Reply to Jescott:
Hi, I have difficulties with these parts. Could you please elaborate ? I need to repair/change the service station. I have two spare printers.

"Now, flip the unit upside down.........

......... The center cover above the duplexer can be worked free of one side or the other."

Rgds, Per

[jescott3]

Per,
I'm not quite sure what you want me to elaborate on. My instructions about how to remove the external plastics on the base of the 7130xi are as complete and as straightforward as I can make them.

Once the top two assemblies have been removed, and the paper tray has been removed, and the duplexer has been removed, you can remove the outside plastic covers by unlatching 6 plastic tabs. These 6 tabs can be seen and unclipped when the unit is upside down. There is one tab on either side of the front paper tray opening, there is a tab on the left side and another on the right side, and there are two tabs you can't see that are inside the duplexer opening. These last two tabs are directly opposite the two front tabs, but can be unclipped using a long flat-bladed screwdriver. Once either the left side or the right side plastic cover has been freed, then the plastic piece above the duplexer opening can be worked free.

Is that any clearer? None of this is rocket science. I managed to disassemble my 7130xi without benefit of any help whatsoever, other than my seemingly infinite patience in trial and error attempts to decipher the manner in which HP engineers assembled the machine. Ultimately, I discovered the machine was very easy to assemble and disassemble.

Hope this helps,

Jim

[jescott3]

One further clarification: The two tabs inside the duplexer opening cannot be seen when looking at the bottom of the upside-down assembly. However, they can be seen by shining a flashlight into the duplexer opening while you angle a flat-blade screwdriver in to push the plastic clip/latch loose on either side. The other four tabs can be seen very clearly. This may seem mysterious, but when you've removed either side panel it will be perfectly clear.

-- Jim