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I've rebuilt the battery pack for a NIB Thinkjet printer 2225B. The printer starts up, however when I attempt to feed paper into it, the attention light starts blinking and does not stop (even when I press the blue error clear button as described in the manual). Anyone have any advice where to start troubleshooting?
Thanks,
-Ray
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This is from memory so i may be wrong but: try feeding the paper by hand first, then turn it on. I think thats what i did with a new box of fan feed.
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Thanks, but it doesn't seem to work... Any other ideas? It seems to work perfectly, however the printerhead movement seems a bit noisy. Maybe it needs a cleaning? How would I go about cleaning something like this?
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A few obvious checks, if these don't find the problem I'll look in the service manual...
1) Are you sure your battery is giving enough voltage (7.2V) _on load_. Have you checked the voltage at the printer mainboard
2) Does the printer do the 'carriage shuffle' correctly. The carriage should not slam into either side of the printer.
3) Is the paper out sensor working (I think it must be, because IIRC you get a steady yellow light if it detects no paper, and that's done in hardware). Try unplugging the sensor (2 pin connector, 2 white wires normally) from the PCB. IIRC (again), it's closed when the printer is out of paper, so disconnecting it will fool the machine into thinking it has paper.
4) Does it make any attempt to feed paper?
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1.) That may be the culprit, I do not know. I will look into this.
2.) It originally did slam into the side of the printer, but I moved it to the side a little and it did not do it again. The printhead movement does seem a little noisy, but I assumed that was normal for a old printer.
3.) I don't believe anything could be wrong with the print sensor, as it does correctly identify when it is out and when paper is present.
4.) It makes no attempt to feed paper, however the paper feed control buttons do appear to work.
Thanks,
-Ray
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(4) has me puzzled. If it makes no attempt to feed paper (i.e. the paper feed stepper motor isn't turning) then what do the buttons do?
Try inserting a piece of paper (far enough to operate the paper sensor), or unplug the paper sensor from the logic board, and then turn the printer on (turn if off it's already on). What does the yellow LED do then? Do you get the carriage shuffle? What then happens if you press the blue button?
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When I press the blue button, the carriage moves arround a bit, but ultimately it just stops again on an error condition. The printer makes no attempt to feed paper, unless I press the line feed buttons, in which case it feeds the paper fine.
I checked the battery and it is giving off a steady 8.75 volts under no load. Is this correct?
Edited: 20 July 2004, 3:07 p.m.
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It should only feed paper when you press the buttons (or when it gets linefeed or formfeed characters from the host computer), so it sounds like that is working correctly. I think you have a problem with the carriage feed or home sensor. Try cleaning the slotted optoswitch at the left side of the print chassis (it can be removed from the rear of the chassis -- 1 screw). Also try removing the carriage stepper motor (on the rear of the chassis at the left side), inspect its pinion gear and try moving the carriage by hand with the motor out to check for mechanical problems.
You should check the battery voltage on load -- when it's operating the printer. Partially discharged batteries may be fine off-load but their voltage can drop significantly on-load
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I fear none of the things you have suggested work, everything seems to be moving fine in regard to the motor, and that removing that little optoswitch thing didn't really do anything. How would I go about cleaning it? It has a white tab in it, is that supposed to be there?
Thanks,
-Ray
Edited: 21 July 2004, 5:30 p.m.
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Are you sure that 'white tab' isn't a bit of scrap paper? I don't think it should be there, I don't remember one in any of the Thinkjets I've repaired. You want to clean all the dust out of the slot in the switch -- there's an IR LED on side and a phototransistor the other that detect a black plastic tab on the carriage.
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Well, since it was NIB, it was most likely some type of protective packaging. I'll try removing it and see what happens. That's probably my problem in a nutshell.
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The sensor works perfectly now, but I'm still getting a error signal. Any idea where to troubleshoot next?
PS: Sorry to bring this up again, but I have a lot of money invested in this printer. Thanks for your help.
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4.) It makes no attempt to feed paper, however the paper feed control buttons do appear to work.
I hope you realize that the ThinkJet does not use friction to pull the paper, it uses the sprocket (sp?) wheels on either side of the platten.
So you must use fan fold paper with guide holes on either side.
You feed the paper manually until it emerges between the printhead and the platten and then you ensure that the paper feed holes are centered over the sprocket pins.
Make sure that the scale bar is pushed towards the paper and
Now press the LINE FEED button to see if the printer pulls the paper further.
**vp
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