| MCS-810 (Okimate 10) Print Head [message #42143] |
Sun, 10 March 2013 19:12  |
Computer Nerd Kev
Messages: 79
Registered: February 2012
Karma: 0
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Hello,
I have a Commodore MCS-810 printer which I understand is a
rebadged Okimate 10 that Commodore sold in Australia. I don't
have any ribbons for it, so I always used plain thermal paper.
Problem is, it slowly stopped printing dots in certain places
and no amount of attempted head cleaning with methylated
spirits would make any difference.
I decided to have a close look at the thing. My scanner didn't
work very well, but then I remembered that I had an old
microscope. After a bit of cleaning and tinkering, it showed
me what I wanted.
It seems the right side of the brown area towards the top is
where the heating is done. Under the microscope, one can see
incredibly small, snaking, silver coloured traces that I
figure are the heating elements. I also noticed that some of
these traces had obvious breaks while others looked as if they
had been chewed at the edges. So now I know the problem, and
that I'll never have the technology to fix it. I'm actually
amazed, well at least impressed, that they had the technology
to make it like this in the first place.
Looking online, I found "FastPrinters.com" who claimed to sell
Okimate 10 print heads for around $22.00 plus $5.00 handling
and then postage to Australia. Then I discovered
"CodeMicro.com" who figure they have "refurbished" ones and
want me to request a quote. Chances are that both of these,
especially "CodeMicro.com" are just old records of stock they
had years ago. However I was considering "FastPrinters.com",
even though the print head would cost as much another printer,
but now the listing has been taken off their website anyway.
So do I have any hope of getting this printer going again?
Does anyone want to sell a print head, or know where to get
one? Was there some magical process to bring Okimate print
heads back from the dead?
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| Re: MCS-810 (Okimate 10) Print Head [message #42276 is a reply to message #42143] |
Mon, 11 March 2013 13:58  |
Jim Brain
Messages: 962
Registered: August 2012
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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On 3/10/2013 6:12 PM, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I have a Commodore MCS-810 printer which I understand is a
> rebadged Okimate 10 that Commodore sold in Australia. I don't
> have any ribbons for it, so I always used plain thermal paper.
> Problem is, it slowly stopped printing dots in certain places
> and no amount of attempted head cleaning with methylated
> spirits would make any difference.
Are you looking to restore for a collection, or just get the unit going?
If the latter, any chance I could interest you in a MPS803 or something
that is a bit easier to keep in repair?
Jim
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| Re: MCS-810 (Okimate 10) Print Head [message #42339 is a reply to message #42276] |
Mon, 11 March 2013 21:20 |
Clocky
Messages: 1212
Registered: December 2011
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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Jim Brain wrote:
> On 3/10/2013 6:12 PM, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I have a Commodore MCS-810 printer which I understand is a
>> rebadged Okimate 10 that Commodore sold in Australia. I don't
>> have any ribbons for it, so I always used plain thermal paper.
>> Problem is, it slowly stopped printing dots in certain places
>> and no amount of attempted head cleaning with methylated
>> spirits would make any difference.
> Are you looking to restore for a collection, or just get the unit going?
>
> If the latter, any chance I could interest you in a MPS803 or something
> that is a bit easier to keep in repair?
>
> Jim
>
>
Bare in mind that postage will likey be expensive to Australia.
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| Re: MCS-810 (Okimate 10) Print Head [message #42369 is a reply to message #42276] |
Tue, 12 March 2013 05:11 |
Computer Nerd Kev
Messages: 79
Registered: February 2012
Karma: 0
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Member |
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On 12 Mar 2013, Jim Brain wrote:
> Are you looking to restore for a collection, or just get
> the unit going?
I'm mainly just interested in getting the thing working. On
the other hand I hate abandoning equipment, though I suppose
the print head is probably one thing I'll never be able to
fix.
> If the latter, any chance I could interest you in a MPS803
> or something that is a bit easier to keep in repair?
Thanks, but as Clocky said, I expect the postage cost would
far exceed the value of the printer. Plus I'd need to convert
Australian 240V to 110V to power the thing.
The other point is that I would like to use a printer that
works with thermal paper (of which I have a huge supply) so
that I don't have to chase an already dwindling dry supply of
ribbons. Or is the 803 thermal? I can't seem to find out
anywhere. Ohh, I love its test patterns though!
On the other hand, I don't know if using thermal paper might
have been a reason for the print head's death in the first
place.
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