Re: Imagewriter I ribbon

[et472@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Michael Black)]

Mitchell Spector (mitch2gs@hotmail.com) writes:
> Jeff Blakeney <CUTjblakeney@sympatico.ca> wrote:
> 
>>On Tue, 10 May 2005 08:35:58 -0400, "Bill Garber"
>><willy46pa@comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>>>I just left www.123Inkjets.com and they have them for $3.95,
>>>with better prices if you buy quantities of 2-9 at $3.45, and
>>>for 10+ they are $2.95 each. Man, how can you beat that?
>>
>>Several years ago I picked up aproximately 360 black ImageWriter
>>ribbons at a Radio Shack warehouse sale.  I only wanted to pick some
>>up for myself but when the guy saw me looking at them and found out I
>>had a use for them, he ended up pulling a bunch of boxes out and he
>>made me a deal.
> 
>     What's the shelf life for unused printer ribbons? This thread reminded me
> that I have about a half-dozen black ImageWriter ribbons from the early 90's 
> and even a color ribbon from 1988. They're still new and wrapped in plastic,
> but is it possible they could have dried out from age?
> 
>     Still have a pair of ImageWriter II's (which out lasted the StyleWriter 1
> which mysteriously stopped working after a year) and a beige ImageWriter 1.
> 
> Mitchell Spector
> 
> 
> 
I don't think it's particularly relevant.  Back in the days of teletype
machines and typewriters, people would rejuvenate ribbons by adding
some oil, specifically WD-40 in more recent years.  (I have no idea
if there was anything special about WD-40, or simply that it was handy.)

When computer printers came along, the same tip would appear.  I've
done it, you add a drop, wind the ribbon a bit, and add another drop
and so on.  Then you let it sit for a while, so the oil spreads throughout
the ribbon.  My recollection is that if the ink was fairly gone, this
didn't help too much, but if it was simply a matter of being dried out,
it would help a lot.

I suppose one could use ink in a similar scheme.

The good thing about never used ribbons is that the ribbon itself
has seen no use.  That seems a bigger issue than a dried out ribbon.

  Michael