WD-40 used to be a way of extending the life of typewriter ribbons. Spray it
on, wrap it in foil, and let it sit for a while. However, I tried this with
a printer ribbon and the result was a mess.
Bear in mind that I am not criticizing anyone's use of English (I know that
I would not do half as well if I was writing in someone else's native
language), but, I am wondering if "paraffin" is a correct translation.
"Paraffin" as I know it is a hard, wax-like substance at room temperature,
melts when heated, and the use that I am familiar with is to seal jars of
home preserved fruits and vegetables.
Likewise, "petrol" would be "gasoline" in American English, as used in
automobiles.
Roger Turk
Tucson, Arizona USA
Bastiaan wrote:
>>Sorry, I planned to send this to the list but it actualy was send reply
to Kali... so now to the list for many react on the subject of reinking
ribbons.
On Tue, 01 Jan 1980 04:29:27 +0000, Kali McLaughlin wrote:
> On Thu, 15 Jun 2000 03:01:32 +0000, Bastiaan Edelman wrote:
>> Hello List,
>> Two years ago I bought a new printer: Xerox J5 and paid just over a 100
>> dollars.
>> Last year the ink cartridge was empty and the special cartridge was not
>> in the shops... HP, Cannon, all kinds but no Xerox.
>> Well the shopowner ordered a cartridge and I had to pay just under a 100
>> dollars. (Just black ink, no color)
> Dear Bastiaan:
> This sort of thing makes me so mad..... congratulations on your win!
> I still run a dot matrix printer, and its ribbons are only $10 and very
> reliable. New ones are actually good enough for most purposes, and I
> even have a 4 colour ribbon for a 24 pin Epson! (Cant find any DOS
> drivers though after lots of good leads from this list)
> I tried reinking a dot matrix printer ribbon with far worse result than
> you describe... first it made a gigantic mess, then worked badly for a
> little while and then dried out and seized up. That was with stamp pad
> ink. Perhaps biro refill ink?
Well Kali I have a receipe for inking ribbons as well... a bit messy but
well worth the trouble.
For two reasons 'stamp' ink is not the right choice:
1- this water based ink dries out fast
2- the printing needles ought to be lubricated and the lubrication
'grease' is in the ink.
I use endorsing ink "for dating and numbering machines" also known as
"numberators"... METAL stamps that change the number after pressing
them. These stamps are often used at the postoffice.
The ink is very thick and must be diluted with 'paraffin' (not petrol).
I mean the stuff that is like 'diesel' and 'lampoil'.
20% ink , 80% paraffin and a few drups of fine machine oil to lubricate
the needles.
After inking the ribbon it is best not to use it for about two weeks and
therefore I have always two ribbons in use : one in the printer and one
just resting for a few weeks.
Printer is a NEC P2200, in use for over 10 years now, and she does 70%
of the printing. And I print a lot being an author and an editor of a
monthly magazine.
> By the way, I dropped my widebed Epson over a cliff (accidentally) and
> it actually worked after reassembly - it fell a clear 30 metres and we
> had to collect bits of it with a rope.<<
