HP41 Card Reader

[Howard]

I have a card reader which doesn't work. Of course it could be the motor or the circuitry. (Although when I do the Cat 2 test it tells me that the programmes for the card reader are all there. Can anybody give me a clue as to how I can test the motor separately. For example can I put the motor wires onto the battery pack. If so which connection is which. Black +ve or -ve.
Thank you in advance.

[Vieira, Luiz C. (Brazil)]

Hi;

the best and safest test you can perform with the reader's motor is to connect it to a 1.5V cell. If yoou can remove the card-pulling gear, it's even better. You can briefly connect the 1.5V cell (any battery, but the smaller it is, the easiest will be to touch the motor wires) at any pollarity. The motor should revolve smoothly, noiseless. If it has no mechanical charge (no gear connected to it), you'll have a good idea of its working condition. If you decide to keep the gear in place, you'll be able to test the complete set, and I suggest checking for motor conditions prior to the complete set test. Just be sure the wires are not connected to the PCB when doing this.

Hope this helps.

[David Smith]

Red is +, black is -. Connect 1.5 - 3.0V to the motor and see if it spins... I have never seen a bad motor... HP radically overspecified the specs on this item.

[Howard]

Thank you. I'll try that.