Panasonic dot matrix leaves ink smears on pages

  • Thread starter Thread starter Clueless in Seattle
  • Start date Start date
C

Clueless in Seattle

I've got an old Panasonic KX-P1123 24 pin dot matrix printer that used
to work satisfactorily.

I kept it stored in a locker for a couple of years while I grappled
with a bout of homelessness. Now that I'm newly ensconced in a tiny
public housing apartment, I dug out the printer and bought a new
(generic) ribbon for it (I failed to keep the packaging, and the
ribbon case has no identifying markings on it).

Since starting to use the printer again I've encountered two annoying
problems:

1. If I leave the printer idle for a few days with the pin feed paper
installed, the ribbon leaves an ink stain, like an ink blot on the top
edge of the paper.

2. When printing, it leaves a horizontal smudgy trail across each
line of text. This trail is exactly the height of the upper case
letters in the text.

I've tried increasing the printer head gap adjustment using the lever
on the left side of the printer. But all that does is make the text
less distinct, while the dark smudgy smear continues across the page.

I've removed and re-installed the ribbon many times but to no avail.

Any ideas on what could be causing this problem? I can't afford to
replace the printer because I'm on a miniscule disability pension that
doesn't even cover my basic living expenses, so I'm stuck trying to
make this printer work.
 
I've got an old Panasonic KX-P1123 24 pin dot matrix printer that used
to work satisfactorily.

I kept it stored in a locker for a couple of years while I grappled
with a bout of homelessness. Now that I'm newly ensconced in a tiny
public housing apartment, I dug out the printer and bought a new
(generic) ribbon for it (I failed to keep the packaging, and the
ribbon case has no identifying markings on it).

Since starting to use the printer again I've encountered two annoying
problems:

1. If I leave the printer idle for a few days with the pin feed paper
installed, the ribbon leaves an ink stain, like an ink blot on the top
edge of the paper.

2. When printing, it leaves a horizontal smudgy trail across each
line of text. This trail is exactly the height of the upper case
letters in the text.

I've tried increasing the printer head gap adjustment using the lever
on the left side of the printer. But all that does is make the text
less distinct, while the dark smudgy smear continues across the page.

I've removed and re-installed the ribbon many times but to no avail.

Any ideas on what could be causing this problem? I can't afford to
replace the printer because I'm on a miniscule disability pension that
doesn't even cover my basic living expenses, so I'm stuck trying to
make this printer work.
Click to expand...

Try a genuine Panasonic ribbon. The generic may be overinked or too
thick.
 
There "should" be a plastic shroud with a hole where the printhead hits the
ribbon.
The absense of this head could cause your issue.
 
Make sure the ribbon is running correctly within it's cartridge
(position relative to the plastic window) and that it is installed
correctly.

Most of these ribbons are crushed and folded up inside a chamber in the
cartridge, in a continuous loop. If the ribbon becomes rippled, so the
top or bottom edge gets wavy and as a result advances to close to the
paper, this will occur.

Usually, there isn't much to do but, as you have, increase the head gap,
or buy another ribbon that doesn't manifest the problem. I experienced
this with cheaper generics many years ago, and I imagine it might be
worse now. However, if the ribbon is heavily inked, it is more likely
for these problems you mention to occur.

If the ribbon is the type I'm think of, that has a little knob for
advancing the ribbon manually, the other thing you can do is gently pull
of the ribbon out of the holder from the front window using a clean rag,
so your hands don't get full of ink (on most of the Panasonics, the
ribbon will pull out of one side of the cartridge without any
resistance), do this with the ribbon going into a plastic shopping bag
to keep it clean and to avoid staining anything with the ink. Then,
using a lintfree clean cloth, gently wipe down the ribbon to remove some
of the ink. Once done, using the little knob, "reel" the ribbon back
in. This will shorten the printing life of the ribbon due to the ink
removal, but might lessen the excess ink from causing the two problems
you mention.

Of course, if you can return the ribbon for an exchange you might be
able to get one that isn't as distorted and that might eliminate the
problem as well.

Art
 
Make sure the ribbon is running correctly within it's cartridge
(position relative to the plastic window) and that it is installed
correctly.

Most of these ribbons are crushed and folded up inside a chamber in the
cartridge, in a continuous loop. If the ribbon becomes rippled, so the
top or bottom edge gets wavy and as a result advances to close to the
paper, this will occur.

Usually, there isn't much to do but, as you have, increase the head gap,
or buy another ribbon that doesn't manifest the problem. I experienced
this with cheaper generics many years ago, and I imagine it might be
worse now. However, if the ribbon is heavily inked, it is more likely
for these problems you mention to occur.

If the ribbon is the type I'm think of, that has a little knob for
advancing the ribbon manually, the other thing you can do is gently pull
of the ribbon out of the holder from the front window using a clean rag,
so your hands don't get full of ink (on most of the Panasonics, the
ribbon will pull out of one side of the cartridge without any
resistance), do this with the ribbon going into a plastic shopping bag
to keep it clean and to avoid staining anything with the ink. Then,
using a lintfree clean cloth, gently wipe down the ribbon to remove some
of the ink. Once done, using the little knob, "reel" the ribbon back
in. This will shorten the printing life of the ribbon due to the ink
removal, but might lessen the excess ink from causing the two problems
you mention.
Click to expand...

Most Panasonic ribbons use a rather short ribbon with a re-inking wheel
inside. The knob that you (or the printer) turn is also squeezing the
ribbon against a foam wheel soaked with ink. Genuine ribbons also have a
little hole where you can cause a spring clip to snap in and put more
pressure on the wheel to squeeze out more ink.

Every generic ribbon I tried either shredded at the point where the
ribbon loop is glued together, or was so overinked everything came out
blobby, or shredded so fast it actually cost MORE than using the genuine
Panasonic.

Years ago, I used to open up the cartridge and load up the wheel with
ink. You could do this as long as the ribbon itself held up. Today, even
the genuine Panasonic cartridges are garbage. The ribbon usually starts to
shred before it's out of ink. At work I have an old KX-P1595 that saw
heavy use for nearly 15 years. It's still used occasionally.
 
Any ideas on what could be causing this problem? I can't afford to
replace the printer because I'm on a miniscule disability pension that
doesn't even cover my basic living expenses, so I'm stuck trying to
make this printer work.
Click to expand...

I've used similar printers. The clone ribbons are about $3, the
Panasonic ones $10. But there is considerable variation in the quality
of the clones, I found one brand, maybe a dollar more than the
cheapest, with good results and stuck with it. Didn't last as long as
the official ones, but still better value. (No point giving you the
brand name, as I'm not in the US.)

Otherwise, this kind of printer is literally being thrown away, I
found one (KXP-1124) a year, oiled the bar, bought a new ribbon, and
it was away, still have it as a backup. There are charities that
collect and distribute old computer equipment, contact them and they
may have something better, or be able to look at it. An old laser
might be good, but keep away from inkjets as the consumables are
hugely more expensive.
 
Most of these ribbons are crushed and folded up inside a chamber in the
cartridge, in a continuous loop. If the ribbon becomes rippled, so the
top or bottom edge gets wavy and as a result advances to close to the
paper, this will occur.
Click to expand...

It's also a symptom of a damaged or missing ribbon mask.

For the OP, the ribbon mask is the plastic thingummy attached to the head
carriage and is usually perspex with a gap directly in front of the print
head. This gap has a tinfoil sheet across it with a small hole through
which the printhead pins fire. This is to protect the paper from smudges
from the inky ribbon. If the metal foil is missing or damaged then
smusging or ribbon damage can occur. TBH I don't recall what the ribbon
mask looked like on this printer so the above may be incorrect in your
case.

One of the following might have one if it's required:

http://www.agson.com/index.cfm?fa=top100&manufacturer=Panasonic

http://www.kamcom.com/panasonic/panasonic2.htm

HTH

Dave
 
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