Hello friends of HP calculators,
recently I have tried to repair my HP-19C printers. I own two of the calculators of which one was printing only the top half of each row, the other not at all.
While trying to find out why the one not printing wasn't I did some cleaning and dismantling (according to the instructions I found on this site - thanks Michael) and suddenly a piece fell out of the printer without me noticing where it came from. As I did not find an obvious place I put everything else together and was amazed that the printer now printed. Still poor but at least all rows and dots.
Now I checked my other 19C to find where the left over part went but to my astonishment I could not find it in that printer either. I admit, I did not completely dismantle the printer because I thought I had gone far enough, so maybe it is hidden somewhere but due to the size I doubt it.
I have not attached pictures of the calculator, but will send one to someone willing to give it some thought. The left over "bar" has a pointed tip, similar like a guillotine knife and on one side a groove. It has the exact width of the printer (between the side walls). The non grooved side very faintly shows signs of a serial number (possibly etched), which could on the other hand also be some trace of the actual print - I just could not see how it would fit behind the print head. It seems to be made of either some special plastic or even some light alloy. It is dark gray, similar to the other plastic mold pieces.
Anyone with ideas? Thanks for your comments.
Regards,
Alexander