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Resolved Stylewriter II Issue

Maul485

Maul485

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 1, 2014
25
0
USA, CA
AFAIK, this is the proper place to post this; sorry if it isn't D:

So after getting my Color Classic to boot and upgrading its ram+Vram, I pulled out my Stylewriter II, plugged it in, smiled when it turned on, then spent an hour or so finding the extension/chooser to get it to work. After test "printing" (took the old ink cartridge out) a few pages, I happily shut down my mac and took the printer and cleaned the bejesus out of the exterior.
After it was nice and shiny, I ran the cartridge under hot water and it was weeping ink. So I hooked the Stylewriter back up, put the cartridge in to test it again, and hit the power button.

And it didn't turn on.

After trying for awhile with different power cables and such to get it to turn on, I gave up.

My only guess is that a fuse blew, or maybe the capacitors gave out after 'successfully' testing it. There's no way in heck me cleaning it ruined any electronics; they're all housed in the back/interior, as far as I can tell.

My next move is probably to take her apart and check/test/replace the fuses and re-cap it, but I figured I should check around in forums to see if someone knows something I don't.


TLDR; Pulled out my Stylewriter II; it turned on, I found proper extensions and successfully test printed a few pages without ink, cleaned it, it doesn't turn on anymore. I plan on replacing the fuses and recapping it, but figured it'd be a good idea to ask around first.
 
Have a look at the Black, Blue & White cable that comes from the right side of the power supply (viewed from the rear).

IIRC, the cable is kept in place by a long flat plastic clip that is actually part of the rounded paper feed tray cover. Check that when re-assembling that the Black, Blue & White cable has not been pulled askew, out of the socket on the logic board. Used to happen to me and was something I'd always check before final assembly.

Also, make sure the top of the front panel is latched into place, or the power button actuator isn't getting pressed. You should feel a nice, positive click when it's pressed.

If you still have trouble, a pic or two of the rear, with the front and rear panel off, may help.
 
MacTech68 said:
Have a look at the Black, Blue & White cable that comes from the right side of the power supply (viewed from the rear).

IIRC, the cable is kept in place by a long flat plastic clip that is actually part of the rounded paper feed tray cover. Check that when re-assembling that the Black, Blue & White cable has not been pulled askew, out of the socket on the logic board. Used to happen to me and was something I'd always check before final assembly.

Also, make sure the top of the front panel is latched into place, or the power button actuator isn't getting pressed. You should feel a nice, positive click when it's pressed.

If you still have trouble, a pic or two of the rear, with the front and rear panel off, may help.
Click to expand...

Will do; and thanks for the reply. I'll likely get to taking it apart after work tomorrow.
And if I remember properly, MacTech68, you helped me out with getting a zip drive working with my Mac Portable. I currently use that drive to boot my color classic, though I plan on getting either a 2GB hdd or sd2scsi to replace it at some point. Thanks for all the help.
I think I accidentally let that last thread die actually; kinda moved on and forgot.
 
Alright, first things first; after removing the front casing, I plugged it in and hit the power button; it turns on just fine. Seems like the case/button went all wonky when I cleaned it, I guess. But I continued to take it apart to fully clean out the interior.
After removing all the dust bunnies, and rinsing/drying the ink... mat? Pad? I ran into a snag durring reassembly.

I took note while dismantling it of how the pieces in the attached pics went together, but when the lever is reattached, it doesn't adjust the paper tray.
In the first pic you can see the white arm/lever/action connected to the paper tray's lever. In the second pic you can see the lever itself; in the center, there's a line (the thing that's casting the trapezoidal shadow) that I believe is supposed to go under the elbow of the white lever in pic 4.
Also, in pic 3, I lined up the notch in the gear with the line on the case (it's a bit off from trying to hold the spring loaded lever/arm in place.

As far as I know, not setting this up correctly will only result in me losing the functionality to print envelopes, so it's not the end of the world; but I would definitely like to get this lever functioning properly.
Any/all help will be vastly appreciated.



DSCF0772.JPG DSCF0781.JPG DSCF0778.JPG DSCF0774.JPG
 
If I can propose that this isn't a real problem area for re-assembly (provided the spring underneath the lever pivot and the return spring are fitted - which they appear to be in your photos), then the real issue is the alignment of the pickup roller shaft with the cam.

The pickup roller shaft protrudes through the side with a black twin-barb like clip. The cog that slips over the barbs can only go on one way around (ie, only one location out of all 360 degrees. However, what really matters is getting the TWO notches (on on the cam, the other on the pickup roller shaft cog) lined up with their notch marks on the side wall of the paper tray.

You have already marked the cam one in your third photo, but you must SIMULTANEOUSLY align the pickup-roller shaft cog as well. Usually, what I do is replace the envelope lever and the metal gear cover, then un-clip the pickup roller shaft enough to free it's cog, next align the cam notch with it's marking and hold it, then fit the pickup shaft cog so it's notch is aligned, then push the pickup shaft through until it clicks.

You could try aligning both by removing the second cog to the left of the cam, but then you may find the cam falls off or jumps alignment because the metal gear retainer is not fitted.

You'll also need to do this with the paper tray assembly removed from the chassis.

I should also note that the envelope lever may not appear to work, if the cam is not in it's home position. The printer will return the whole mechanism to it's home position when first powered on or asked to feed paper, by using the perpendicular flange about the middle of the pickup roller shaft as it passes through the photo-interrupter on the logicboard.

Canon did a really fantastic job designing this chassis. They kept it simple, using a minimum of parts. It was really a great printer in terms of reliability and ease of service.

Below is the marking for the pickup roller shaft cog notch.

SWII Notch.jpg
 
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MacTech68 said:
If I can propose that this isn't a real problem area for re-assembly (provided the spring underneath the lever pivot and the return spring are fitted - which they appear to be in your photos), then the real issue is the alignment of the pickup roller shaft with the cam.

The pickup roller shaft protrudes through the side with a black twin-barb like clip. The cog that slips over the barbs can only go on one way around (ie, only one location out of all 360 degrees. However, what really matters is getting the TWO notches (on on the cam, the other on the pickup roller shaft cog) lined up with their notch marks on the side wall of the paper tray.

You have already marked the cam one in your third photo, but you must SIMULTANEOUSLY align the pickup-roller shaft cog as well. Usually, what I do is replace the envelope lever and the metal gear cover, then un-clip the pickup roller shaft enough to free it's cog, next align the cam notch with it's marking and hold it, then fit the pickup shaft cog so it's notch is aligned, then push the pickup shaft through until it clicks.

You could try aligning both by removing the second cog to the left of the cam, but then you may find the cam falls off or jumps alignment because the metal gear retainer is not fitted.

You'll also need to do this with the paper tray assembly removed from the chassis.

I should also note that the envelope lever may not appear to work, if the cam is not in it's home position. The printer will return the whole mechanism to it's home position when first powered on or asked to feed paper, by using the perpendicular flange about the middle of the pickup roller shaft as it passes through the photo-interrupter on the logicboard.

Canon did a really fantastic job designing this chassis. They kept it simple, using a minimum of parts. It was really a great printer in terms of reliability and ease of service.

Below is the marking for the pickup roller shaft cog notch.

View attachment 615385
Click to expand...
I see, fantastic! It's been reassembled and appears to function properly. I plan on getting a replacement bc-o2 cartridge eventually and am looking forward to seeing it actually print some text instead of just eating and expelling blank pages. One slight annoyance, though; it seems to like eating multiple pieces of paper at once; I'm using standard printing paper, 8.5x11", which I think is LTR, and it's 20lb. According to the manual I found online, the paper should be supported. Any idea on how to correct that?
 
Hmmm. it doesn't have a 'paper separator' pad like a lot of other printers. Try 'fanning' the paper first - some cheaper paper reams may be cut with slightly blunt blades causing the edges to catch on each other.

Check that the paper is very dry. Paper that is slightly damp or has been subjected to high humidity can stick together appearing rippled if you look closely.

You may want to clean the pickup rollers. Those are the half-moon shaped grey rubber rings on the black shaft. Clean them with a lint free cloth, and a mild cleaning agent. They should feel rubbery with a little grip when you run your fingers over them.

Finally, make sure you're not over-loading the paper tray. I don't recall the official measure, but more than 8mm thick might be too much.

Is the paper coming thru smoothly? IE, not ripped or torn or skewed badly? If it's being skewed when it starts to feed, you may have dirty/dusty pickup rollers or a small piece of dust/debris/paper in the paper path.

For a bit of fun, try holding down the power button until it feeds paper when turning it on. If you have a printer cartridge installed, it should print out the Apple Stylewriter II test page.
 
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The paper feeds through as smoothly as I can imagine it doing; no tearing or skewing. One page did go through skewed, but I accidentally put it through while it wasn't flush; the printer actually reversed and straightened it out quite a bit. I'll test some paper from my other printer; the paper I used has been in my desk for a few years now.
The very first thing I did after pulling it out of storage was try to print a test page; nothing actually printed, so I ran the cart's nozzle under warm/hot water to try to unclog it until it started weeping a tad of ink; it still didn't print anything, and when I tried repeating the process after reassembling it today, it wept a few drops and stopped. I'm thinking it's bone dry. My master plan is to order a 'new' (they seem to be commonly available online, but I've no clue if they're still being produced) cartridge and some pelikan 4001 black ink to refill it myself in the future.
 
MacTech68 said:
That sounds all good to me. I wait with baited breath for the final result, with fingers and everything else crossed. o_O ;) :)
Click to expand...


Well, I tested the printer again with the same paper, after fanning it like you suggested; it still took the entire 'stack' (about 3mm worth of paper) at once. Then, after fanning the paper again, I put the paper back in the printer. This time, though, instead of putting the paper all the way into the bottom, as far as it would go, I simply placed it in, in a way that I originally assumed the printer wouldn't be able to 'reach' it.
I "printed" (still no ink) numerous test pages without touching/replacing the paper, and each one went without a hitch, one sheet of paper at a time.

Turns out I was just putting the paper in wrong! HA!

Anyway, I need some dental work done, and although the BC-02 cartridge isn't nearly as expensive as modern carts, I'll be refraining from splurging more on my Macs/Mac accessories until after I get that over with. As soon as I do get more ink, though, I'll update with pics/scans of my Stylewriter II's test page :D

Then, after that, I've recently acquired two LC II's with bad power supplies, and I've some recapping to do ;)
 
Got an authentic, unopened StyleWriter M8041G/C ink cart from Ebay; 7:50, free shipping. Just printed a test page, and it's beautiful. I think any time I need to type in the future, I'll be doing so on my Color Classic; or Portable. At least until the luster of having my StyleWriter functional wears off.

Also included, for fun, are before and after images of the De-oxidation process of one of my LCII's. I'll likely end up doing both cases again to flush out the remaining splotches of yellow :D (Peroxide cream from a local salon store was FAR cheaper than I assumed it'd be; 10 bucks for a gallon.)
Scan_20160217.png DSCF0783.JPG DSCF0787.JPG
 
Maul485 said:
Got an authentic, unopened StyleWriter M8041G/C ink cart from Ebay; 7:50, free shipping. Just printed a test page, and it's beautiful. I think any time I need to type in the future, I'll be doing so on my Color Classic; or Portable. At least until the luster of having my StyleWriter functional wears off.

Also included, for fun, are before and after images of the De-oxidation process of one of my LCII's. I'll likely end up doing both cases again to flush out the remaining splotches of yellow :D (Peroxide cream from a local salon store was FAR cheaper than I assumed it'd be; 10 bucks for a gallon.)
View attachment 616985 View attachment 616986 View attachment 616987
Click to expand...

Neat results. Was the de-oxidation result of Peroxide cream and direct sunlight, or did you use a UV lamp?
 
CooperBox said:
Neat results. Was the de-oxidation result of Peroxide cream and direct sunlight, or did you use a UV lamp?
Click to expand...

Direct sunlight; I originally planned on buying some UV bulbs, but figured the peroxide would smell bad and fumigate the house. It didn't, so in the future I may end up using bulbs instead.
 
Maul485 said:
Direct sunlight; I originally planned on buying some UV bulbs, but figured the peroxide would smell bad and fumigate the house. It didn't, so in the future I may end up using bulbs instead.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Putting in outside in direct sunlight, did you cling wrap the panels to minimize evaporation of the peroxide?
I did when I performed a similar de-oxidation process on the case of a Mac 512k, but the results were average as air gets trapped underneath the cling film which results in yellow patches. Had to make several attempts before getting a reasonable result.
 
I thought about using cling wrap, but figured clear garbage bags would work too. After searching every dollar and grocery store in a ten mile radius and not finding any ANYWHERE, I ended up buying clear oven bags. They're 16x17 inches, or something like that, and the LC II cases barely fit; there was just enough bag left to fold over the case and I used clear packaging tape to seal it.
I left them out in the sun for about three and a half hours, rotating/flipping them around every half an hour to forty-five minutes.
 
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