dalegass@dalcsug.UUCP (Dale Gass) (02/18/88)
For a printer which is supposed to have a 'disposable' print head, I find it hard to believe that the replacement print head for my MX-80 costs well over half of the purchase price of a brand-new printer! I suppose I can't complain, having gotten 8 years of use out of a disposable print-head, but still... I find it pretty hard to shell out $158 for a new print head, when I can buy a new and faster printer with more features for $300. Would anybody out there have a dead MX-80 on their junk-pile with a live print-head? I'd be very grateful of finding some way of getting my printer working on a students budget. Anybody know of a cheap mail-order house that would have these at a reasonable price??? Any help would be sincerely appreciated... -dalegass@dalcsug.uucp
jhv@houxu.UUCP (James Van Ornum) (02/21/88)
> > For a printer which is supposed to have a 'disposable' print head, I find it > hard to believe that the replacement print head for my MX-80 costs well over > half of the purchase price of a brand-new printer! > ... I find it pretty hard to shell out $158 for a new > print head, when I can buy a new and faster printer with more features for > $300. > My recollection is that the replacement print head was to cost about $25. Has the dynamics of the market place been such that it has risen to $158, or is that the dealers price including installation? ----------------------- James Van Ornum, AT&T, houxu!jhv
mvolo@ecsvax.UUCP (Michael R. Volow) (02/21/88)
[deleted stuff about MX-80 print head costing $185] I would be interested in the experience of others as to what print heads cost in general. The print head for my Okidata 92 cost $115 from Okidata (unavailable anywhere else) and I convinced myself to replace it once. I'll bet (but I don't know) printheads for 24-pin printers cost even more, at a time in the printer's life when its original $400-500 value has depreciated to $175-250. I know that other parts of the printer wear too. Is it worth replacing the printhead of a cheap, good printer, such as the Panasonic KX1092i, which has a new street price of about $200? What do other net members think about whether it's worthwhile to repair a printer? I repaired mine because I just didn't want to buy another printer at the time. Michael Volow, M.D. Dept of Psychiatry, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, N.C. 27705 919 286 0411 mvolo@ecsvax.UUCP
feg@clyde.ATT.COM (Forrest Gehrke) (02/23/88)
In article <4641@ecsvax.UUCP>, mvolo@ecsvax.UUCP (Michael R. Volow) writes: > > > I would be interested in the experience of others as to what print > heads cost in general. The print head for my Okidata 92 cost $115 > from Okidata (unavailable anywhere else) and I convinced myself to > replace it once. The head for my Okidata 192 cost $93.50. When ordering it, the fellow said "Ah hah! Ran it with a light ribbon, hey?" And, yes, that's what I had done. Printed an 80-odd page document with a ribbon that was light to begin with. The print head went sour in just minutes. Turns out that print head wires get their lubrication from oil in the ink of the ribbon. What burns me is that there is not a peep about this in the printer manual. Forrest Gehrke
david@geac.UUCP (David Haynes) (02/24/88)
In article <22216@clyde.ATT.COM: feg@clyde.ATT.COM (Forrest Gehrke) writes: :In article <4641@ecsvax.UUCP:, mvolo@ecsvax.UUCP (Michael R. Volow) writes: :: :: :: I would be interested in the experience of others as to what print :: heads cost in general. The print head for my Okidata 92 cost $115 :: from Okidata (unavailable anywhere else) and I convinced myself to :: replace it once. : :The head for my Okidata 192 cost $93.50. : :When ordering it, the fellow said "Ah hah! Ran it with a light :ribbon, hey?" : :And, yes, that's what I had done. Printed an 80-odd page document with :a ribbon that was light to begin with. The print head went sour in :just minutes. Turns out that print head wires get their lubrication :from oil in the ink of the ribbon. What burns me is that there is :not a peep about this in the printer manual. : :Forrest Gehrke A word from the trenches: Before replacing the head, try cleaning it with a squirt of Television Tuner Cleaner --- cleans the black gunk off the pins and lubricates the whole assembly. Saved my *ss a number of times! -david- -- David Haynes Geac Computers International Inc. UUCP: {uunet!mnetor | yunexus | utgpu}!geac!david
wnp@dcs.UUCP (Wolf N. Paul) (02/24/88)
In article <22216@clyde.ATT.COM> feg@clyde.ATT.COM (Forrest Gehrke) writes: >The head for my Okidata 192 cost $93.50. > >When ordering it, the fellow said "Ah hah! Ran it with a light >ribbon, hey?" > >And, yes, that's what I had done. Printed an 80-odd page document with >a ribbon that was light to begin with. The print head went sour in >just minutes. Turns out that print head wires get their lubrication >from oil in the ink of the ribbon. What burns me is that there is >not a peep about this in the printer manual. I used to have an old Okidata, and the manual explicitly warned against using non-Oki ribbons because their ink might not contain the lubricant (this was the old style Okidata with spool-ribbons almost like oldfashioned typewriter ribbons). By extension one could deduce from that that running the printer with a light ribbon or without a ribbon was not a good idea, either, but it did not expressly say so. I guess now when Oki has its own cartridge ribbon they feel that it's not important enough to mention it in the manual. -- Wolf N. Paul Phone: (214) 306-9101 (h) (214) 404-8077 (w) 3387 Sam Rayburn Run UUCP: ihnp4!killer!{dcs, doulos}!wnp Carrollton, TX 75007 INTERNET: wnp@dcs.UUCP ESL: 62832882 Pat Robertson does NOT speak for all evangelical Christians--not for me, anyway!
mvolo@ecsvax.UUCP (Michael R. Volow) (02/25/88)
> When ordering it, the fellow said "Ah hah! Ran it with a light > ribbon, hey?" > And, yes, that's what I had done. Printed an 80-odd page document with > a ribbon that was light to begin with. The print head went sour in > just minutes. Turns out that print head wires get their lubrication > from oil in the ink of the ribbon. What burns me is that there is > not a peep about this in the printer manual. I have never seen any printer manual warn against print head damage with light ribbons. But using fresh ribbons sounds like good advice for prolonging dot matrix print head life. I have seen comments that OEM ribbons were longer lasting than bulk computer equipment supply company ribbons. Michael Volow, M.D. Dept of Psychiatry, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, N.C. 27705 919 286 0411 mvolo@ecsvax.UUCP
ges@pyr.gatech.EDU (GERALD E. SULLIVAN) (02/25/88)
I read somewhere that wd-40 will revive a weak (light) ribbon. It does work and it should lube the head. I have had the same ribbon for almost a year in an Oki 192 and it has been revived twice. The print quality is not very good but it doesn't matter because I have a new ribbon I use when print quality is important.