July 1987; Volume 5, No. 9; Whole No. 57

CFOG's PIP, July 1987, Volume 5 No. 9, Whole No. 57, page 2

Printer Maintenance Tip

by Carson Wilson

[The following message was found on the Lillipute Z-Node, 312-649-1730. -- bhc]

Msg #6343 posted 06/26/87

   by Carson Wilson
          To ALLUSERS
       About Printer Maintenance

I have had some experiences with my Okidata ML-182 printer which may apply to other makes/models. The new Okidatas take small, lightweight ribbon cartridges with only a few yards of ribbon in them, and have (believe it or not) their own internal reinker. When the ribbon that came with my printer began to fade, I rebelled at buying replacements at $10.00 apiece, and so decided to re-ink my ribbons.

This worked well for about a year. Then I noticed that letters were coming out illformed, and that the pins in the printhead had gone out of horizontal alignment. This is known as "printhead wear." Okidata claims a printhead life of 200 million characters for my model. I had printed about 1/20 of this. I became incensed.

I explained my situation to an Okidata technician, and he said that although Okidata's figures are probably exaggerated, my printhead had suffered an untimely death. He suggested the following:

1)
Check the clearance between the print head and the platen with a feeler gauge. An improper gap can cause premature printhead wear. Figures should be available from service centers.

2)
Lubricate the print head regularly with 10w-30 oil. On Okidata models, there is a small oil wick on the printhead just beneath the pins. The technician said he would lubricate once every couple of months. This information does NOT appear in Okidata's owner's manuals.

3)
If the ribbon shows ANY signs of fraying, replace it immediately.This, I believe, was my pitfall. I looked at the ribbons I had re-inked many times and noticed fraying and lots of dust given off by the nylon ribbon near the printhead pins. Evidently the dust acted as an abrasive, causing premature printhead wear.

I have replaced my printhead (at about $90), but now regularly inspect my ribbons for signs of wear and check the printhead for lubrication. I've had the new printhead for over three months now with no signs of wear. Also, since I've been oiling the printhead, ribbons seem to last longer. Apparently, the ribbon draws oil from the printhead, giving it longer life.

The ribbons I'm now using are called "One Up," and cost about half as much as Okidata ribbons but seem to be of equal or better quality.

Lessons:

a)
If you have a dot-matrix printer with a short ribbon, think twice before re-inking, and check often for fraying.

b)
Look for an oil wick which feeds oil to the printhead pins. If you find one, press your finger against it. You should be able to see oil on your finger afterwards. If not, lube the wick with a few drops of 10w-30 motor oil.

c) You may also want to check the printhead clearance, but this was not off by much in my case.