Fujitsu ScanSnap 300m refuses to feed paper.

August 20, 2011 8:38 PM

Why won't my Fujitsu ScanSnap S300M pull in sheets of paper anymore?

Six months ago, it was fine. Now, when I put a regular letter-size sheet of paper in the document feeder and hit scan, I get a "Paper remains in the scanner" message from ScanSnap Manager, and it fails to move the paper. If I move the paper out a little bit, I get a "no paper in the scanner" message.

We've tried opening it up and cleaning the various parts as the manual suggests. There are no bits of paper stuck in the scanner. It's fairly new and hasn't been used much, so nothing should need to be replaced yet.

Thanks for your help!

posted by Metroid Baby to computers & internet (7 answers total)

If it's humid where you live, the paper may be moist and heavy, fooling the sensors. Have you tried a fresh ream?
posted by carmicha at 8:57 PM on August 20, 2011

Hmm. The roller that grabs the paper is a consumable — it's supposed to have a 100 thousand page/one-year life. Does it turn and try to grab the paper, but spin in place? Or just sit there? I'm wondering if the surface of your pick roller has deteriorated over time, even if it hasn't been used.

Also, have you tried several different types of paper, to see if it'll suck-in something of a different weight/finish?
posted by mumkin at 9:33 PM on August 20, 2011

mumkin is right. In addition, over time, paper fibers can get stuck to the rollers, causing them to become slick. If you are lucky, you can clean them off an get some more life out of your printer.
posted by B(oYo)BIES at 1:01 AM on August 21, 2011

Try cleaning the rollers (first) with alcohol. Then try cleaning them with fine sandpaper.
posted by tomswift at 3:33 AM on August 21, 2011

Hey, Metroid Baby's husband here. I'm taking a shot at this today, and the feeder roller seems fine materially - it's not slick. However, it doesn't even try to move when we hit scan.

Paper weight doesn't seem to matter, however, if unplug the scanner, open it up, insert the paper deep enough that it sits beyond the feeder rollers, shut the scanner, then plug it back in, the scanner will roll the paper through as it starts up. So, the other, non-feeder rollers don't seem to be broken, for what that's worth.
posted by ignignokt at 10:39 AM on August 21, 2011

Wish I had more to offer. I use a 1500 for book scanning and so far it's been bulletproof. It's the hail-mary pass of tech support, I know, but if you haven't yet, maybe you need to get the new ScanSnap Manager software, updated for Lion compatability. Looks like Lion doesn't play well with the older drivers.
posted by mumkin at 5:03 PM on August 21, 2011

No specific experience with scanners, but I've dealt with paper handling faults in a lot of laser printers. The most common cause for feed refusals, in my experience, is tiny shreds of paper stuck in optical sensors somewhere deep in the paper path where you can't get directly at them without extensive disassembly. My standard fix for that is to load up a sheet of light cardboard (manila folder thickness or a little thicker) that's slightly too stiff for the mechanism to deal with on its own, and force-feed it. I've avoided a lot of printer disassembly with this method, and only once has it made things worse.
posted by flabdablet at 6:51 PM on August 21, 2011