Scanner powers on but will not scan

A scanner that lights up but will not read is almost always one of four things: a failed scan engine, a scratched or fogged exit window, a loose or broken flex cable, or a corrupted configuration.

Start with the configuration, because it is free. Most scanners can be returned to factory defaults by scanning a reset barcode from the manufacturer's configuration guide. If the device reads that barcode, the optics are working and you have a settings problem, not a hardware problem.

If it will not read the reset barcode either, look at the exit window under a light. Years of abrasion in a warehouse will fog it enough to stop a read. Beyond that, a scan engine or a flex cable is a bench repair. Those are among the most common jobs we do, and on most models they are straightforward.

Scanner or mobile computer will not hold a charge

Nine times out of ten this is the battery, not the device, and it is the cheapest thing on this page to fix.

Enterprise batteries are consumables. Under heavy multi-shift use they wear out well before the device does, and manufacturers themselves list battery failure as a leading cause of device failure in the field.

Before replacing anything, try a known-good battery from another unit and clean the charging contacts on both the device and the cradle. Warehouse dust builds up on contacts and mimics a dead battery convincingly. If a fresh battery and clean contacts do not fix it, the charging port or the charging circuit has failed, and that is a bench repair.

Cracked screen or unresponsive touch

A cracked screen does not mean the device is finished, and a device with an unresponsive screen is often not cracked at all.

The display and the digitizer are two separate layers. The display shows the image, the digitizer registers the touch, and they fail independently. A device that shows a perfect picture but ignores your finger has a digitizer fault. A device that responds to touch in the right places but shows a broken or blank image has a display fault. Either can be replaced without the other on most models.

Send us the model and tell us which of those two it is doing. It changes the repair and it changes the cost.

Ring scanner or Bluetooth device will not pair

Pairing failures are usually configuration, not hardware, and configuration is the free fix.

Ring scanners and cordless imagers pair by scanning a pairing barcode, which is normally printed on the cradle or in the quick-start guide. If the device has been paired to a different host, it will keep trying to reach that host until it is re-paired. Re-scan the pairing barcode and confirm the battery has real charge, because a low battery will connect and then drop repeatedly in a way that looks like a pairing fault.

If it still will not pair with a charged battery and a fresh pairing barcode, the radio module or the antenna connection has failed and it needs a bench.

Printer prints faded, streaked, blank or garbled labels

Print quality faults split into three groups, and only one of them needs a technician.

Faded print across the whole label is usually media or settings: the wrong label stock for the printer, a ribbon in backwards on a thermal transfer unit, or darkness and speed set wrong for the media. Check those first.

A consistent white line or streak in the same place on every label is a burnt-out printhead element. That does not recover and the printhead needs replacing. It is one of the most common printer repairs we do.

Blank labels, garbled characters or random symbols point at the data path rather than the print mechanism: a driver mismatch, a corrupted firmware state, or a failing communication board. Reinstalling the correct driver and power-cycling clears a good share of these. What is left is a bench repair.