I just purchased an Imagewriter II printer to replace the non-working one I bought back in 1989, which I'll use for parts. It seems like it's in great condition and operating well, however after inserting a new/sealed cartridge I just bought (on eBay) too, it's printing very lightly or not at all on the left-side of the page, getting darker to the right-side of the page where it's normal. So from left to right, it's going from completely not readable to readable.
I'm not sure if that's an issue with the ribbon (which didn't print at all for the first half page or so), the print head, or something else. Has anyone seen this before or have any thoughts?If you think it might be the ribbon, can anyone suggest a reputable place to buy them? Thank you!
It sounds more like an alignment issue. Is there a way to loosen the platen to wiggle it around and perhaps fix its alignment?
It could also be that the platen is warped.
Thank you for the reply and ideas - sorry I didn't see them sooner (I'm not getting notified of responses).You were pretty close, the rail that the print head glides back and forth on (looks like a metal rod) had a broken plastic piece that holds it into place on the left side, so the rail and consequently the print head was angled father away from the paper on the left-side.I found the broken plastic piece floating around inside the printer and will try to glue it back. I also have a spare ImageWriter II for parts, so could take the plastic piece from that unit if the glue doesn't hold, if I can figure out how to remove that piece and the printer head & rail...I tested that should fix the printing issue by manually pushing on the left side of the rail while it was printing. I figured it out because the rail was able to be moved back and forth slightly, and it should be stationary.
I don't know how common an issue that might be, but maybe that info might be helpful to someone else.Thanks again for your help!
Mind you once you have a 3D printer, every problem looks like a job for the 3d printer.
Chesh