# Samsung CLX-3175FW Scan/Fax Problem



## youngdc (Mar 29, 2011)

I have an 18 month old CLX-3175 Color MFP from Samsung. Last week the scan and fax function will only produce a plain white sheet. Scan to PC, copy, fax all have same symptom. Print function works normal. Scanner bar lights up, traverses the glass. No image produced. Any other owners have similar issue or any advice from other would be appreciated. Checked all wiring harnesses and plugs. No error codes reported in tech mode.


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## masterjed (Jul 25, 2009)

Please try to plug it into another power source. Make sure to directly plug it to the wall and not using a power outlet or surge. Mostly likely printers that gives white scan results are caused by poor power.


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## youngdc (Mar 29, 2011)

Thanks for the tip. I did plug it into another outlet. It did not help. It was plugged directly into the wall outlet before and had worked there flawlessly for the last 18 months. Prior to giving a blank sheet, it was producing random stripped data patterns. Now it is not even producing any data/noise on the page. Supposedly there is some way in tech mode to reset the white balance. But the tech manual and menu are not in agreement. I bought another identical printer that was not working from Tech4Less for $10. The cartridges and imager had been removed. I replaced the whole scan mechanism and still had the same problem. So I am thinking a board issue or firmware issue.


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## rdmartin (May 30, 2011)

I too just experienced exactly this. The CLX-3175FW had hardly been used, but I suspect a controller board burned up while the printer was just sitting, unused, but powered on (the familiar smell of a burnt component lingered when I went over to use it. The previous day it had been all working fine.) I further suspect that Samsung has a defective part which is barely lasting beyond the warranty and others are destined to have this happen to them as well. I don't think this is up to what I had experienced from my previous (and continuing working) models of Samsung printers, and I think we should begin to press this with Samsung - this isn't right!


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## youngdc (Mar 29, 2011)

I agree but I would not put much hope in getting Samsung to admit a problem. I always thought Samsung had great quality but I have my doubts lately. I purchased 20 Samsung monitors 3 years ago at work. After about 6 months, the units started failing. One or two I could understand. But within the first year over half had failed and after two years only 3 of the 20 had not failed. I called Samsung and the adamantly insisted that I was the only person experiencing this problem. However the web indicated otherwise. Lot's of people were experiencing the same problem but I could never get Samsung to admit any issues. Luckily there was someone who diagnosed the problem to some faulty capacitors in the backlight display power supply. He posted instructions on who to replace the caps. Sure enough, when I disassembled the units, the capacitors had exploded. Many other were leaking. I ordered new caps from Japanese manufacturer rather than China. The units worked fine and are still working today. Samsung never admitted any problems. 
I suppose something similar on the printers. Too many people are experiencing the same issue. Samsung still does not admit any problems and refers me to an outside company who wanted more the just show up and diagnose the problem than the buy another printer. I am still using the printer until my ink toner runs out. Then I do not plan to purchase any future products from Samsung. Their customer support is probably the worst of any company I have ever dealt with. And they do not want to stand behind the quality of their products.

If you find and leads or get any satisfaction from Samsung, I would be glad to hear.

Best of luck.


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## ABYNK (Oct 25, 2011)

I am experiencing the same problem , my Total Page Count is only 451 / 308 Page(s) (Color/Mono). and I may have used the scanner 10-15 times only now it is only scanning blank. Any ideas appreciated

Aby


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## johnr7 (Feb 23, 2012)

I have the same problem and read on the net (not necessarily for this model, it was a general observation, and on more than one site, so there is something to it) that if you take out the scanner formatting board and warm it up in the oven (as absurd as it may sound), sometimes it can fix your/our problem. 
Some people have fixed the same problem we have with other laser printers, like HP, in this way.

I thought I might give it a go.... but I don't know where the scanner formatting board is in hte Samsung CLX-3170 and how to get it out in the first place. 

Does anyone know?

Thanks,
John


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