snyder@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Scott Snyder) (02/11/88)
Hi,
I am running 4.2/6.0 on my Mac SE. For the past couple of months I have
had a problem with my IW II that seems to be getting worse. As soon as printing
starts (or sometimes in the middle of printing) I'll hear a loud sound from the
print head (my wife says it sounds like BRRRRRHH) and then the print head uses
that position as the new left margin reference. This can happen in the middle
of a line so that text sometimes wanders all over the place. I have noticed
that using manual paper feed it seems to happen much less often. The self test
seems to be all right so that I suspect either a cable or software problem, but
I am at a loss for what to do. I'm using ImageWriter driver 2.6.
Has anyone else had problems like this? Any ideas? HELP!!
Please e-mail me any ideas, or post if of interest to enough people.
Scott snyder@tcgould.tn.cornell.edudean@aoa.UUCP (Dean Wormell) (02/12/88)
In article <3681@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> snyder@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (Scott Snyder) writes: >Hi, > > I am running 4.2/6.0 on my Mac SE. For the past couple of months I have >had a problem with my IW II that seems to be getting worse. As soon as printing >starts (or sometimes in the middle of printing) I'll hear a loud sound from the >print head (my wife says it sounds like BRRRRRHH) and then the print head uses >that position as the new left margin reference. This can happen in the middle >of a line so that text sometimes wanders all over the place. I have noticed >that using manual paper feed it seems to happen much less often. The self test >seems to be all right so that I suspect either a cable or software problem, but >I am at a loss for what to do. I'm using ImageWriter driver 2.6. > Has anyone else had problems like this? Any ideas? HELP!! >Please e-mail me any ideas, or post if of interest to enough people. > > Scott snyder@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu Just as an intro, I've been using Macs and their Apple peripherals since their introduction in 1984. This includes all flavors of the Mac (128, 512, and SE) and the Imagewriter I & II. Overall, I'm a very satisfied customer. As far as the Imagewriters are concerned, I've have seen very little reliability problems with these printers, untill the advent of System Software 5.0. To deal more specifically with the original poster, I'm running with the current System/Finder/Drivers, as above, on my SE at home. Last week I was printing a Hypercard card on the IW II when the same problem, described above, occured. In my case, the outcome was more fatal. The card being printed had a solid (black) background and a third of the way through the print job, the IW head slammed hard against the right side of its' travel. It stayed there for a second and I could here the belt, which controls the head travel, slipping (as if the head wanted to move outside of the printer). When it resumed printing the card, the left margin was shifted right about an inch and the solid background now had white stripes for every printed line. At the end of the print job, I could smell burnt electrical circuitry. The printer is 3 months out of warranty, and it has been estimated by the authorized dealer that it would cost ~ $150 dollars to replace a board in the IW II (the print head was not a fault). I'm am truly concerned with your problem (and now mine) and hope someone (Apple??) can shead some light on this issue. -- Dean Wormell ...!{harvard,ima}!bbn!aoa!dean
dean@aoa.UUCP (Dean Wormell) (02/13/88)
I would like to add some more details about IW II hardware failure. >>I am at a loss for what to do. I'm using ImageWriter driver 2.6. >> Has anyone else had problems like this? Any ideas? HELP!! >>Please e-mail me any ideas, or post if of interest to enough people. >> >> Scott snyder@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu > > As far as the Imagewriters are concerned, I've have seen very >little reliability problems with these printers, untill the advent of >System Software 5.0. > >The card being printed had a solid (black) background and a third of the >way through the print job, the IW head slammed hard against the right side >of its' travel. It stayed there for a second and I could here the belt, >which controls the head travel, slipping (as if the head wanted to move >outside of the printer). When it resumed printing the card, the left >margin was shifted right about an inch and the solid background now had >white stripes for every printed line. At the end of the print job, I could >smell burnt electrical circuitry. > >The printer is 3 months out of warranty, and it has been estimated by the >authorized dealer that it would cost ~ $150 dollars to replace a board in >the IW II (the print head was not a fault). > > Dean Wormell > Well, I just talked with the "authorized" service technician, who was attempting to fix my IW II, and the estimated $150 repair job is now up to $400. He suspected that the driver board had failed, so it was replaced and the printer was tested. In his words upon running the self-test, "sparks and smoke came off the driver board"; and, the missing line was still present as the printer continued to print. More specifically, a surface mounted device at location HIC3 on the driver board was the part that smoked. He called Apple Tech Support and they told him that replacing the driver board, the CPU board, and the print motor should solve the problem. Needless to say, I'm not to thrilled at paying the price to have the guts of the IW II replaced now that the repair cost is approaching that of a new printer. Since this does'nt seem to be a common problem (like loud fans, jittery screens, and flyback transformers -- two of which I experience with my work and home SEs); I suspect I have a "lemon". I plan to talk w/ Apple about this; but, from previous posters, I'm not over confident about a positive outcome. In short off buying a new IW II (and AppleCare :-(), could someone point me to third-party printers and/or schematics of the IW II boards so I can try to fix the printer myself. Thank you for bearing with this long poster. Flames, solutions, comments, related experience, etc. ... are welcome. -- Dean Wormell ...!{harvard,ima}!bbn!aoa!dean
thompson@uxf.cso.uiuc.edu (02/15/88)
I have a problem very similar to this (the Imagewriter II print head going crazy and ramming into the side of the printer), but in my case it is the opposite -- the print head rams LEFT. The printer then stops (with the red error light blinking) until I start it up again. Then, the margins are *fine*, but the line with the problem is shifted a good inch and a half to the left. Any suggestions? It's a real pain -- it even happens when I hook my Imagewriter II up to my Apple //e!