I've been after a dumb terminal with built in printer for ages. The really old terminal printers like the Dec Writer's are very hard to find these days, but every now and again a Texas Instruments Silient 700 (various models) pops up on Ebay, and they usually go for a reasonable sum. They are usually bargins because the people in the know, know that the retched things probably don't work (despite the seller stating something different).
Over the last 12 months or so, I've bought two of these things, both were faulty. One had clearly been worked on by some ham fisted ape who has insterted some of the connectors back in the wrong ports.
A couple of days ago I saw another one on Ebay, but this was a model 702 which is rather compact and would do me quite nicely... if it worked. The seller assured us that it worked but again, they state the "I don't know how this works so sold as seen"... even though they also state it works perfectly.
It arrived yesterday and what a supprise, it didn't work. The print out from the unit was patchy and unreadable even after I experimented with the contrast control (these units print on thermal fax type paper).
I dismantled the unit, which I have to say, is a MUCH better design than the earlier models that are a complete nightmare inside, cleaned off the dust, re-seated all the connectors and put it back together, but still no joy.
It then occured to me to clean the print head; I suspected that it probably hand'nt been cleaned in years.
I have some small alcohol wipes impregnated with isopropyl alcohol (they are used as pre-injection swabs in medical applications). I carfully moved the print-head backwards and forwards over the wipe and you could see the dirt comming off. Once no more gunk was comming off, I re-loaded the paper and hey presto, it works.
So, now back to Ebay to try and find a source of fax paper... do people still use thermal fax paper ???
Over the last 12 months or so, I've bought two of these things, both were faulty. One had clearly been worked on by some ham fisted ape who has insterted some of the connectors back in the wrong ports.
A couple of days ago I saw another one on Ebay, but this was a model 702 which is rather compact and would do me quite nicely... if it worked. The seller assured us that it worked but again, they state the "I don't know how this works so sold as seen"... even though they also state it works perfectly.
It arrived yesterday and what a supprise, it didn't work. The print out from the unit was patchy and unreadable even after I experimented with the contrast control (these units print on thermal fax type paper).
I dismantled the unit, which I have to say, is a MUCH better design than the earlier models that are a complete nightmare inside, cleaned off the dust, re-seated all the connectors and put it back together, but still no joy.
It then occured to me to clean the print head; I suspected that it probably hand'nt been cleaned in years.
I have some small alcohol wipes impregnated with isopropyl alcohol (they are used as pre-injection swabs in medical applications). I carfully moved the print-head backwards and forwards over the wipe and you could see the dirt comming off. Once no more gunk was comming off, I re-loaded the paper and hey presto, it works.
So, now back to Ebay to try and find a source of fax paper... do people still use thermal fax paper ???
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