Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Frankenprinter

   Back after major surgery and a glimpse of hardware heaven, the big printer is back and ready to print to the best of it's ability. He's been transplanted with a few custom fitted parts especially designed to replace flawed engineering. 
   Amazingly enough, I managed to guess the correct specs on a gear that had melted away due to a leaky hose union. Who would think to use a plastic that's adversely effected by the actual ink that the machine uses? I, in turn decided to replace it with an aluminium gear that will not deteriorate under those conditions. Although, the new pump I installed has an updated connection designed not to leak. Thankfully that shouldn't ever be an issue again. Oddly though, the new pump did cause another unfortunate problem. The gear that I replaced still had the original hub with a plastic nipple that seated into a plastic dimple. I noticed that the connection was a bit snug so I sanded it down a smidge and added a bit of lube to attempt to remedy the issue. As it turned out, it didn't work. It melted the nipple clean off, welding itself into the female recipient, while spinning the gear loose. The whole lot was then replaced with an aluminium rivit, ground down to fit the socket. Dr. Frankenstein- eat your heart out!
   Once I made the decision to resurrect the anaemic beast, I through all of my McGyver skills at it. Thank goodness my new friend Tony was there to lend a helping hand and some good ideas. His knowledge about printers makes me look like a caveman.
  To wrap this laborious story up:
The monster has awakened from it's slumber, to slave and encumber. Ink flows through it's veins, no more will it strain, to decipher the binary numbers.

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