825 printer ribbon keeps jamming. Fix?

[electronizer]

I've been trying to use an 825 printer I acquired recently, but the ribbon keeps jamming. There is a wheel that drives the ribbon, but it seems to reverse direction when the print head moves backwards, which causes the ribbon to bunch up and eventually stop feeding properly (see picture). Does anyone have a solution for this?

 

[electronizer]

It seems the problem is worst when printing in 40 columns. For some reason, the feed roller reverses whenever there is a carriage return. When printing in 80 columns, the roller almost always feeds the ribbon in the right direction.

[+bob1200xl]

I don't have a printer to look at, but the ribbon drive wheel may have clutches to turn the shaft. Try cleaning them.

 

The rollers may soften with age and exposure to oil in the ink.

 

Good luck.

 

Bob

[Mechanicjay]

I know this is an older thread, but I just finished fixing this issue on mine.  The issue as follows:
The ribbon feed motor is an AC motor and runs whenever the print head moves off it's park position.  As it's an AC motor, it will spin in EITHER direction when power is applied.  To overcome this, there is a cam on the back of the motor, and nylon ring, which will prevent it from spinning in the wrong direction.  The nylon ring, after so many years basically just disintegrates.

I dissembled the ribbon feed motor and we 3-D printed a new backspin ring, and after some minor tweaks with file, I have mine working A-OK again.

This happened for 2 825's I have, I assume this part is just aging out in these printers at this time.  I'll try to post some pictures later of what we did and see if I can make the 3D printer file available.

--Jason

[electronizer]

Wow Jason, that’s a great find! Thanks for the update! Looking forward to pictures.

 

Now I just need to find that elusive 822 to complete my Atari 1st generation working printer collection.

[tep392]

On 10/23/2020 at 2:10 PM, Mechanicjay said:

I know this is an older thread, but I just finished fixing this issue on mine.  The issue as follows:
The ribbon feed motor is an AC motor and runs whenever the print head moves off it's park position.  As it's an AC motor, it will spin in EITHER direction when power is applied.  To overcome this, there is a cam on the back of the motor, and nylon ring, which will prevent it from spinning in the wrong direction.  The nylon ring, after so many years basically just disintegrates.

I dissembled the ribbon feed motor and we 3-D printed a new backspin ring, and after some minor tweaks with file, I have mine working A-OK again.

This happened for 2 825's I have, I assume this part is just aging out in these printers at this time.  I'll try to post some pictures later of what we did and see if I can make the 3D printer file available.

--Jason

It's been a while and it doesn't look like you have been around lately, but I'll ask anyway.  Please post the 3D print file if you have one.  I need to repair my otherwise perfect 825.  The plastic direction ring just crumbles in my hand.  Thank you!

[BillC]

2 hours ago, tep392 said:

It's been a while and it doesn't look like you have been around lately, but I'll ask anyway.  Please post the 3D print file if you have one.  I need to repair my otherwise perfect 825.  The plastic direction ring just crumbles in my hand.  Thank you!

You may not get a response, @Mechanicjay lasted visited AA on January 28 2022. Hopefully he has notifications turned on and still uses the same email address.

Edited October 30, 2023 by BillC

[tep392]

1 hour ago, BillC said:

You may not get a response, @Mechanicjay lasted visited AA on January 28 2022. Hopefully he has notifications turned on and still uses the same email address.

I going to try to fabricate the part from a sheet of nylon 6/6 that I have.  This is the broken part, pieced together for the photo.  It was originally in two pieces but continued to break as I was wiping oil off of it.  It's about as strong as a cracker.