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Hi Chris,
> One of the pins isnt printing (most of the time).
I take this to mean that occasionally all 9 pins fire. If this is the
case, the fault MAY not be at the pin mechanism but further back.
One of the favorite places for interrmittency?? is a crack in the
flexable cable or printed loom that bends to and fro as the head moves
back and forth across the platen. Also poor connections at either end
of this cable. Some printers incorporate this cable in a new head
assbly, some treat it as a separate spare. Its not too hard a job to
check the cable with a continuity tester, if it is cracked you can
replace it, or the o/c track, temporarily with a thin flexable wire.
If there is nothing wrong with the cable, then you could either have a
defective pin solenoid, or a sticky pin, most unusual these days,
unless you have been cutting wax stencils?, or a dry joint in the head
driver chip connections.
I dont know the cost of Star heads, but I do know that some people have
had very nasty shocks at the price quoted for a replacement head,
especially when compared to the dicounted price of a new printer, (like
two thirds!!!!!), so it may be worth having a visual inspection before
you take it in!
Best of luck
Pat K.
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Well, I looked into this a little more. There's definately
an open circuit somewhere, unfortunately it's not in the cable
as it test open going right into the head. The head looks
scary to take apart - well, actually to put back together -
I may never get the print wires in the right place . . .
. . . so I called Star's part number. $72.32 for a new print
head! I guess I'll take the old one apart and see if there's
any hope. Then after I destroy it, I'll call up and order a
new one.
chris
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Well, I fixed it! I had to completely disassemble the print
head, including pulling out all the print wires and the springs,
to get to a bad solder joint connecting one of the solenoids to
the circuit board. I never thought I'd get it back together
but for 72 bucks it was worth a try. Took about 2 hours, but
it works! I'd hate to try it with a 24-pin head.
chris
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Hi Chris,
Congratulations, you are now the resident printer head fixing guru!!!!
I am absolutely amazed that you could get the thing apart let alone put
it together again!
But as you say, if you were sure that the head was o/c then you dont
lose anything, (except your eyesight and your sanity in trying).
$72 is stiff, but I have heard of other people being quoted a third of
printer cost for a head, ( I suppose 3 X 72 = $216 is not what a Star
retails for?).
Cheers
PAt K.
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| >
> I am absolutely amazed that you could get the thing apart let alone put
> it together again!
>
Taking it apart was easy!!
>
> $72 is stiff, but I have heard of other people being quoted a third of
> printer cost for a head, ( I suppose 3 X 72 = $216 is not what a Star
> retails for?).
>
That's just about what I paid for it, through some roundabout
connection via a computer club, 4 or 5 years ago.
chris
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