ImageWriter II ribbon

[chris]

Does anyone know where to get a replacement ribbon for the ImageWriter II printer? I got one with my IIgs and I'm going to need a new ribbon.

 

[Patrickool93]

My OfficeMax has them, if you want to be sure that they are new and good. I'd bet yours has them too.

 

[luddite]

Staples has them here, and I believe Office Depot... they're a special order item, but not that expensive (I think I paid about $6 each).

 

[Quadraman]

Apple's printers are usually based on some other famous makers printers. I would google it and find out what your printer is. Sometimes the prices can vary widely even though it is the same part.

 

[Maccess]

I think it's an NEC. Lots of them around in Office supply shops, however, don't expect them to know that they have an "Apple Imagewriter" ribbon. Just bring a sample or a picture of the cartrridge (downloaded off the net).

I just love cellphone cameras, you can photograph this stuff and take it with you to show salespeople what you're looking for.

 

[Twilight_Rodent]

I have some new never used (old ones) that you can have for the shipping.

Are we talking about the black or multi colored ones? The ones Ihave are Black. Email if interested.

Take Care

 

[Patrickool93]

Buying (or getting) old ribbons is risky. The ink tends to stay ok, but the foam rollers that move the ribbon along tend to break down, making the ribbon useless :/

 

[Big Bird]

It's the same ribbon as the C. Itoh 8510. You can find them at almost any office supply store, where they are usually labeled as such.

 

[iMac600]

A local market store around here just got in about 6 crates of the things, complete in the Apple packaging. I need to pick up a 6-pack I think (yes, they comes in packs of 6).

 

[Scott Baret]

It's the same ribbon as the C. Itoh 8510. You can find them at almost any office supply store, where they are usually labeled as such.

C. Itoh actually produced the ImageWriter internals.

Black ribbons are seemingly everywhere. I've seen them anywhere between $5 and $15 around here. Shop around for the best deal.

You'll have to try the net for the colour ribbons. Mac Warehouse used to have them in their catalog as recently as a few years ago, not sure if they are still made anymore...I know NCR used to make them.

 

[trag]

I was searching around and found the black and color ribbons in six packs here:

http://www.inkcloners.com/products/details/1208/Apple-A2M0077-Ribbon-.html

I have no idea if these are good though. Probably depends on how long since manufacture.

These are getting old enough, it would be nice to find a source for those old re-inking machines.

 

[Concorde1993]

I have no idea if these are good though. Probably depends on how long since manufacture.

I have about 30 OEM Apple IW II colour ribbons, which I picked up for cheap a couple of years back on Craigslist. After testing out several of them, I can honestly say it is not worth picking up any old/new stock colour ribbons (unless, of course, you want them for posterity, which is why I didn't throw out the rest of them).

The reason is the pressure pad inside the ribbon cartridge deteriorates over time, which causes the ribbon to get stuck, and eaten by the print heads (it's almost similar to some of those foam pressure pads that you can find in early Betamax tapes). They may be good for a couple of pages, but afterwards they become utterly useless (I can post some pics of my test pages, and of the pad if anyone is interested).

The big-box business stores no longer carry them (been there, done that), but the black ribbons are still available (and, AFAIK, are still being produced) as some of us have already indicated in this thread.

 

[krye]

You can get them on eBay for a few bucks. Pretty much a stock item there.

 

[Concorde1993]

You can get them on eBay for a few bucks. Pretty much a stock item there.

Yes, but the question is: are they old/new stock, or recently manufactured (as in this year)? Has anyone here purchased colour ribbons off of eBay before? What's the quality of the ribbon like?

 

[trag]

The link I posted was not for Apple brand ribbons. It was for "cloned Apple POS/Printer Ribbons". And if you scroll down, they have both black and color ribbons.

So the question remains in that case, whether they are new manufacture or old stock. I would guess it's worth contacting the seller to ask, although who know if they would respond in a meaningful way.

I agree that any Apple brand ribbons at this point are a very poor bet.

Any idea what that little pad is made of. It should be possible to find the stock material and replace it....

 

[Concorde1993]

Any idea what that little pad is made of. It should be possible to find the stock material and replace it....

I think the pad is made from the same materials found in furniture felts, but I could be wrong.

I doubt it would be worth disassembling the cartridge since the ribbon is tightly housed in the cartridge, and can easily spill out, rendering the ribbon useless.

 

[MacJunky]

In that case place the ribbon into the cartridge and manually wind the rest of it in? Or fold it up by hand into the cartridge just like it was originally.

Yes, I know manually winding takes a long time and folding it would also take ages. That being said, I never actually removed my Imagewriter I's ribbon from it's housing, only popped the top to look around and wound it manually while closed.(wound it completely around a few times even. was playing with re-inking but idk if it will last)

I am mostly speculating so YMMV. I did get a couple ribbons from other devices that were the same width in the hopes of transplanting them onto my typewriter spools and into Imagewriter cart, but have not gotten around to that yet due to re-inking experiments taking priority. Of course differing lengths are a concern, but we will see what happens with that later.

TLR

I have never removed a ribbon but I am confident that you could put it back without too much fuss.

 

[Concorde1993]

I have never removed a ribbon but I am confident that you could put it back without too much fuss.

I've opened up a couple of those junked OEM colour ribbons when I noticed the rapid deterioration of the print quality after a couple of prints. There's a lot of ribbon in there, and its very easy to throw everything out of alignment. I even remember an article in the 3rd edition of the Mac Bible that cautioned the reader not to have the ribbons re-inked because of the problems involved in reassembling the cartridge.

Then again, to each his own.