HP Forum Archive 14

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Weak printing HP97 printer Message #1 Posted by Ronald on 30 Nov 2004, 4:13 p.m. Hello, I have a HP 97 who is printing quite dim. The printed characters are evenly dim, so not there is not one element of the head defective as far as my logic goes. I have cleaned the printer, cleaned and checked the presure plate, clened the printing head and still it stays quite dim. I tried paper from the same roll in another 97 I have but there the letters are full and bright, so it is not old paper. The circuit board is the second revision (where also the connections are for the external pod of the HP97 I/O model) Any suggestion for further exploration/repairing ? Thanks Ronald

Re: Weak printing HP97 printer Message #2 Posted by Randy on 30 Nov 2004, 7:52 p.m., in response to message #1 by Ronald Start with the sometimes not so obvious: a new battery and fresh paper. Chances are it's one or both at fault.

Re: Weak printing HP97 printer Message #3 Posted by Ronald on 1 Dec 2004, 11:43 a.m., in response to message #2 by Randy Hi Randy, That is what I did, I used the paper from my other HP97 and his battery. It prints on that machine very dark blue, then I switch to the other HP 97 the battery and the paper and then it is very light. Ronald

Re: Weak printing HP97 printer Message #4 Posted by Katie on 1 Dec 2004, 12:25 p.m., in response to message #3 by Ronald There's a fixed resistor (R8) on the printer driver board that governs the current sent to the print head. You can change it to a higher value and the print will darken. See the note in the 97 service manual page 4-19/20. I've done this a few times to different 97's and it works fine.

Re: Weak printing HP97 printer Message #5 Posted by Ronald on 1 Dec 2004, 4:55 p.m., in response to message #4 by Katie Hi Katie, I will give it a try tomorrow evening. To be honest I did not know I had the service manual. I have the DVD, but I missed this guide. Ronald

Re: Weak printing HP97 printer Message #6 Posted by Ronald on 2 Dec 2004, 4:43 p.m., in response to message #4 by Katie Hi Katie, I changed R8 and now it is printing like new ! Thank you Ronald

Re: Weak printing HP97 printer Message #7 Posted by Katie on 2 Dec 2004, 5:45 p.m., in response to message #6 by Ronald Ronald, Glad I could help. I suspect that the printhead loses efficiency over time and requires more current to print well. No doubt that this was the reason for the note in the service manual as well as both your experience and mine. -Katie

Re: Weak printing HP97 printer Message #8 Posted by David Smith on 1 Dec 2004, 4:26 p.m., in response to message #3 by Ronald Go to your local office supply store and buy some modern paper. It may save you some resistor surgery on your machine. Pretty much ALL the old HP paper has gone stale by now. It may work in some machines, but not all of them.

Re: Weak printing HP97 printer Message #9 Posted by Ronald on 1 Dec 2004, 4:58 p.m., in response to message #8 by David Smith Hi David, The printer is at this moment lying in 25 pieces on my desk for final assembly after cleaning/lubricating so accesing the resistor is not a problem. I will however also try some new paper to see how it compares to what I have from the old days. Thank you Ronald

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