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rcurl
Printers Mark Unseen   Nov 23 06:55 UTC 1995

About printers.
31 responses total.
rcurl
response 1 of 31: Mark Unseen   Nov 23 06:58 UTC 1995

What are the differences between the HP 310, 320 and 340 printers? I'm
looking for a portable Mac inkjet printer, so both technical info and
"portability" - and maybe other candidates - are of interest.
rcurl
response 2 of 31: Mark Unseen   Jul 13 05:44 UTC 1997

I have an Apple Color Stylewriter 1500. I use it mostly for B&W printing,
but also a little color. I was minding my own business when it produced
the message "The waste ink container in the printer is full".  What I am
supposed to do about that is "take the printer to an Apple-authorized
service provider". Good grief - that is something that the owner should be
able to service! So, can I do it myself and, if so, how? 

n8nxf
response 3 of 31: Mark Unseen   Jul 14 11:56 UTC 1997

I'm sure you can do it yourself but I'm not sure how.  (Never had one ;-)
Perhaps you can get some info off of Usenet?
rcurl
response 4 of 31: Mark Unseen   Jul 14 16:34 UTC 1997

I've lost track of how to search usenet for keywords/topics. Joining a
newsgroup and hunting isn't my idea of fun. How would I search?
n8nxf
response 5 of 31: Mark Unseen   Jul 15 16:48 UTC 1997

I go through http:\\www.altavista.digital.com and select "Search Usenet"
and type in my keywords.  I have no idea how you would do it through
Usenet.
rcurl
response 6 of 31: Mark Unseen   Jul 15 17:51 UTC 1997

Will wonders never cease: I didn't know I could do that. THANKS. What I
found is that someone else has the same question, but no answers. Here is
what tbetz asked: 

"When a new Stylewriter 2500 is available for $250, I am NOT going to pay
$125 to replace the bloody Waste Ink Container. 

"Where can I buy the Waste Ink Absorber (Apple PN 076-0470) itself, so I
can replace it myself?" 

I would think it would be possible to flush the Waste Ink Container. 
Klaus, get a junk SW 1500 and ask your kids to disassemble it and look for
the WIC... ;->

I have not had a repeat of the dialog when again using the Stylewriter,
so of course I'm not doing anything about it immediately. Maybe it is just
a salesgimmick, and there *isn't* any WIC? 8^{

scg
response 7 of 31: Mark Unseen   Jul 16 07:50 UTC 1997

http://www.dejanews.com is extremely useful.
n8nxf
response 8 of 31: Mark Unseen   Jul 16 12:59 UTC 1997

Ok, YOU find the junk 2500 and I'll have MY kids find the WIC.  Deal? ;-)
 
Better yet, they'll disassemble your printer, remove the WIC, let "someone"
clean it out and give you back the parts... They are not good at putting
things back together and tend to disassemble way more than necessary.
 
If those costs are for real, I say Apple put another bullet through what
remains of their foot.

I also wonder if a folded-up paper towel would make a decent WIC?
rcurl
response 9 of 31: Mark Unseen   Jul 16 18:48 UTC 1997

I think the WIC is a little receptacle upon which the jet board sits at
rest. The inner surface is depressed, so does not press against the jets.
There is a chamber below and part of the receptacle, but I can't see how
big it is. It is apparent that disassembly is necessary to access the WIC. 
It is not apparent how the WIC detects that it is full, to give a dialog. 

UM no longer services what it sells, and refers clients to The Learning
Center. I called them, and the first technician I got did not know what a
WIC is. The second only said I'd have to bring it in - no cost estimate. I
would think there would be more hullabaloo about this on usenet if it is a
real problem.

tsty
response 10 of 31: Mark Unseen   Nov 11 03:53 UTC 1997

technology partners has an *excellent* printer fix-it facility, imo.
  
i thought i had entered the above some time much earlier .../sigh
rcurl
response 11 of 31: Mark Unseen   May 9 05:21 UTC 1998

My Stylewriter went into a seemingly permanent catatonic Waste Ink Container
Full state. I was(n't) looking forward to dissassembling it to find the
dratted WIC and clean it out...but tried once more on Usenet. This time
I found an explanation and cure! It was ostensibly from the Apple Tech Info
Library but reprinted in a usenet response (and I could not then find it
on ATIO, even given the search string). ANYWAY - they say the WIC should
be OK for ca. 80,000 printed sheets, and the error is *bogus*, "caused
by software incompatibility". What one has to do is reset the printer
EEPROM, for which instructions were given. It is a crazy sequence of
unplugging the power, pushing the on/off button, plugging back in the power,
and pushing the on/off button again in just the right way....and one gets
a diagnostic printout I'd never seen before and LO, the EEPROM is happy again.
Now, why isn't this in the Manual, rather than "take..printer to..service"?
rcurl
response 12 of 31: Mark Unseen   Oct 31 22:19 UTC 1999

I left a cartridge in a DeskJet 500 and of course the ink seeped out and
gummed up everything in its vicinity. On the far right there is a chamber
over which a carriage slides, which can be slid back and forth, and upon
which I guess the cartridge sits when not in use (it has a rubber surround
upon which the jet plate sits). It *almost* comes out for cleaning, but
not quite.  Is there a trick to getting it out?

There is also a hole in the bottom of the aforementioned chamber. Is that
a closed sump, or does it open out into the body of the printer? The
main waste ink receptacle appears to be the narrow shallow V-profile
chamber in front.

HInts for cleaning up the mess would be much appreciated.

gull
response 13 of 31: Mark Unseen   Oct 31 22:23 UTC 1999

I think most inkjet inks are water soluable to some extent or another, so
ordinary water may be your best bet for cleaning it up.  Your biggest worry
will be getting it out of moving parts, especially metal ones.  It tends to
encourage corrosion.
wlevak
response 14 of 31: Mark Unseen   Nov 1 04:16 UTC 1999

Ispropyl alcohol cleans it up very nicely.  If you're going to be tinkering
with electronic stuff, get youself some Isopropyl alcohol at your local drug
store.  It cleans up most messes in electronic equipment.  It is the active
ingrediant in most commercil computer and electronic component cleaners and
it is far cheaper at the drug store.

rcurl
response 15 of 31: Mark Unseen   Nov 1 05:23 UTC 1999

Yes, I am familiar with solvents, etc. I would like to get that carriage
out, however. It is gunky, and needs to be washed, but that isn't possible
(without making a *real* mess) while it is in the machine. (I fill the
cartridges myself and also clean their jets, etc. I also get inky fingers
doing all this - and bleach out the dye with Clorox later - nice slippery
stuff! :). 

I have now removed the rubber wiper on the left, and the rubber insert
that comes up through two holds in the carriage, so I can swab off the
carriage, but still haven't figured out if it is removeable (simply). 

n8nxf
response 16 of 31: Mark Unseen   Nov 1 12:08 UTC 1999

I took one apart years ago.  I don't recall the specifics of doing so but
I usually take the entire unit apart and clean stuff as I go.  Most
inkjets I've worked on seem to like getting ink all over their innards
so this approach makes sense to me.
rcurl
response 17 of 31: Mark Unseen   Nov 1 15:15 UTC 1999

Please think back, Klaus! The little carriage looks like it might
dissassemble, or there is some twist that will release it from the grooves
in which the little side lugs run. It doesn't look that it would be any
more obvious even if I disassembled the whole printer - the little
carriage will still be retained in the grooves in which it slides. There
are two "bumbps" on the left end that look like they could be screws,
which would hold the lugs from underneeath, but they also seems molded as
part of the carriage.

gull
response 18 of 31: Mark Unseen   Nov 2 02:33 UTC 1999

Have you checked the sci.electronics.repair FAQs?  I think they have one on
inkjet printers.
rcurl
response 19 of 31: Mark Unseen   Nov 2 06:29 UTC 1999

No, I haven't. I haven't used usenet for quite a while. I'll have a look.
gull
response 20 of 31: Mark Unseen   Nov 2 15:32 UTC 1999

Go to http://plop.phys.cwru.edu/repairfaq/REPAIR/F_printfaq.html and search
for the word "DeskJet".  Lots of info.
rcurl
response 21 of 31: Mark Unseen   Nov 2 16:11 UTC 1999

Good suggestion - I learned that one of the rubber thingies is the "nose
wiper". The problem I have is mentioned, but they just say to use a
cloth to clean up the slider, and don't describe how to get it out,
which would make cleaning a lot easier and less messy. Apparently the
slider is originally lubricated - good hint. Thanks for the site!
rcurl
response 22 of 31: Mark Unseen   Nov 28 22:57 UTC 1999

(No progress on HP 500 gunked up with ink...awaiting further treatment, which
will be lots of cotton swabs and mucking about.)

It seems that HP Deskwriters have been discontinued, and they now make
only DeskJets with both (and only) parallel and USB ports. When did this
happen? It makes it a little more difficult to use one of their new
printers on a PowerMac. The only options to print from a PowerMac to one
of the new ones seem to be a) a PCI USB card, or b) a Mac-Parallel print
driver. The former seems simpler and of greater general utility. 

If I upgraded to a HP DeskJet 812 or some such, I'd like to print from
Ethernet, but it doesn't have an Ethernet port. Currently I print to a HP
DeskWriter 540 via Ethernet from both a PowerMac and an iMac, using the
printer's AppleTalk port and an AsanteTalk adapter (this allows both the
PowerMac and i-Mac to print, the latter even with the former off). But
Asante doesn't make a Ethernet-USB adatper. Does anyone? 

Finally, there are other printers than HP (!). My purpose would be to get
much better color rendition than I have from an Apple Stylewriter 1500.
Which (of the cheaper) printers are favored, and would any simplify the
networking I want? 

gull
response 23 of 31: Mark Unseen   Nov 28 23:40 UTC 1999

I've seen ethernet-to-USB adapters, but so far they're all intended for use
on the computer end, and need special drivers.  I suspect it won't be long
before stand-alone ethernet print servers with USB connectors are available;
we used ones with parallel and serial ports all the time at the bank I
worked at.  They aren't all that cheap, though, as I recall...HP makes one
called a 'JetDirect server.'
rcurl
response 24 of 31: Mark Unseen   Nov 29 05:49 UTC 1999

You may have meant from computer USB to ethernet cable? I've seen those
in catalogs. I'll keep an eye out for ethernet to parallel/serial, as
an option.
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