HP-97 thermal head movement

[davorin]

Hello

I replaced finally the printer gear with a new one from Greg :-)

Now the printer head doesn't move that far when printing...seems to have some resistance....

Anyone had this problem besides the paper movement?

thanks in advance
richard

[Paul Berger (Canada)]

With power off manually turn the gears to move the printhead does it move smoothly? Things I would look for are damaged teeth in the gears, contamination on the gears, leadscrew and support rods. I would also check to make sure the platen bar behind the paper is in place properly.

I have a 97 that I suspect has a defective PIK, when it is first turned on the printhead only moves about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch, not even far enough to advance the paper and it prints garbage, but after it has been on for 5-10 minutes the printer works normally. I have swapped the entire printer mechanism with another 97 and the problem stays with the main circuit board.

[davorin]

Yes it does move smoothly...and all gears are okay...

Not sure if it has anything to do that I power the HP-97 with an USB 5V power supply now...

That normal that the LEDs go out when the printer is working?

[Paul Berger (Canada)]

Yes but if the low battery light comes on when you print then your power supply is marginal.

[davorin]

Just taking apart the printer now following this discussion:

http://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hpmuseum/archv015.cgi?read=78799

Just wonder how this should work:

"Slide the carriage and leadscrew towards the right, Push the LH leadscrew bearing to the right (into the frame) and remove that too. Then 'unscrew' the leadscrew from the carriage and remove it through the left side of the printer frame."

To remove the RHS bearing it is okay...but the left side bearing?
Can push it into the frame but not remove it....

[davorin]

Got it removed, cleaned and all put back together (o;

Much better paper feed and thermal head movement...

Just seems the lowest pixel is dead, either printhead or connection....

[davorin]

What I forgot....I'm using following thermo paper which fits nicely into the printer:

Epson TR 5725 M

It's available in Switzerland for around US$ 3.80 (CHF 3.65)