CGP-115 tandy printer -problem

[Iainjh]

Hi

whikle I'm model4- less (being fixed) I thought i'd try my old CGP-115 out on parallel on another computer. Ive had it for years and never used it. Pens seem to work...

anyway!

it doesnt seem to work, or respond to any of the buttons.

The pen carrier seems to be stuck in rotate, rotating antoclockwise an a small loop towards the far left. For better explanation, see here:

Any ideas? I read it can strip its gears but they look OK from outside, and doesnt make any really bad noises.. I'm hoping its fixable, not fit only for scrap..

TIA for any advice!

Iain

 

[MikeS]

Afraid it does look like it might be the notorious stripped gear problem; does it go through the pen-holder-rotate ritual forever or does it stop after five times? If it stops, does the paper feed work then?

 

[Iainjh]

cycles the pen rotate ritual 5 times, then buzzes (like its jammed.......) then restarts

hmm.

is it even worth opening it up?

 

[MikeS]

cycles the pen rotate ritual 5 times, then buzzes (like its jammed.......) then restarts

hmm.

is it even worth opening it up?

Sure, especially if you've got working pens! (Unless of course you really want to get rid of it, in which case just send it to me ;-) )

What have you got to lose; remove the 5 recessed screws, pry apart the two clips on each side with an old credit card, move the upper half towards the back a bit to clear the connectors, and lift up like opening a book. The gear in question would be the tiny gear driving the gear train on the right hand side.

I managed to glue both my gears but I doubt that it would last for very long; I'm still searching for a replacement...

 

[Iainjh]

Hi

Both gears, the tiny ones at the left and right back of the mechanism are cracked, the left jamming the movement and I assume causing it to stutter back and forth.

And now I can't find the pens

Btw I find that atari spares in California have pens.. He also has spare gears but in my case being over in uk it seems much cheaper to try find another printer or butcher an atari or cbm equiv model ( but I read most also have cracked gears. Rats!

Thanks for the help. What's really needed I think is an alternative gear ie hopefully one that won't crack so readily!

Thanks again

 

[MikeS]

Hi

Both gears, the tiny ones at the left and right back of the mechanism are cracked, the left jamming the movement and I assume causing it to stutter back and forth.

Odd; you'd think that it wouldn't be able to rotate the turret with a cracked gear.

And now I can't find the pens

I know how that is, believe me...

Btw I find that atari spares in California have pens.. He also has spare gears but in my case being over in uk it seems much cheaper to try find another printer or butcher an atari or cbm equiv model ( but I read most also have cracked gears. Rats!

Yeah, it really needs a pair of metal gears; as you say, robbing another equivalent one would be a shame and it'd probably have the same problem, later if not already. Good to know they still have pens though; I've tried kludging some out of ordinary ball point pens with less than spectacular results.

Thanks for the help. What's really needed I think is an alternative gear ie hopefully one that won't crack so readily!

I'll let you know if I find any. You could try gluing it...

Thanks again

Thank you for the tip.