• Updated 2023-07-12: Hello, Guest! Welcome back, and be sure to check out this follow-up post about our outage a week or so ago.

ImageWriter II alignment issues

Garrett

Well-known member
Lately I've been having an issue with my ImageWriter II printer. After loading paper between the red guides, the printer will start printing as if the center of the paper is the left edge of the paper. Centered text is on the right half of the page while the left half is blank. Some text is printed off the edge of the page.

Anyone know how I can correct this? Sometimes powering off and resetting it will move the carriage to the "proper" position and print normally. Other times, it continues to act up.

 

cruff

Well-known member
I wonder if S11, the home position sensor switch isn't working reliably, or if there is a problem with the print head cable. It appears from the schematic that S11 is a normally open switch, but it isn't explicitly notated that way. According to the Sams Computer Facts document on the ImageWriter II, it is located on the print head carriage assembly. There is a description of the self test mode and some troubleshooting information in it. When you power on does the print head move all the way to the left to find the home position? If you hold down the LF button while you power it on, the carriage should cycle from the left to the right side repeatedly. If you repeatedly cycle the power and enable this test, does it behave consistently?

 

Garrett

Well-known member
I'll have a look tomorrow and will try to post a video, but most times after powering on the printer the carriage moves to the left and then back to center. I'm not sure if it does that when it acts up.

 

cruff

Well-known member
The ImageWriter II that I received with my IIgs setup behaves that way at power up, it homes to the left side then moves to the center. I've not actually tried using it for printing yet, but if I have the right cables, I can give it a try Saturday. The self test for the carriage movement does work as described, hold the line feed button down as you power it up until the carriage starts moving back and forth. To stop, press the line feed button again or turn off the power.

 
Top