Laserwriter II LED Error codes

[retro_bill]

Hi and Merry Christmas to everyone!

Do anyone have the flowchart that shows all the LED power on error codes?

My Laserwriter has been working perfectly last week. Now I power it on and get sold Green Power LED and Sold Red Paper.

What does that mean?

Thanks!

 

[volvo242gt]

It probably thinks that it's out of paper. My old IIg started randomly showing a paper jam error, even though there was no jam.

Here's a PDF file containing the service manual for the LWII printers.

https://www.applerepairmanuals.com/the_manuals_are_in_here/LaserWriter_II.pdf

 

[retro_bill]

Hi Volvo,

I have read that and cant find anything that talks about this error and how to fix it.

Thanks

 

[danda]

What model of LaserWriter II is this? If it's a IIf or a IIg, then this is likely caused by the capacitors on the logic/controller board going bad. You'll see a combination of this error, and another where the green, paper out and paper jam lights are all on.

Replacing the caps isn't tricky if you have a bit of soldering experience. Alternatively, the II NTX, NT and SC boards don't have the capacitors that go bad, so if you have one of those to swap in then it should be good (and is also a good way of checking that the capacitors are the fault).

 

[jajan547]

I have about three apple service repair guides on these I haven’t uploaded yet. I uploaded a much older service guide here (you'll want to look at pages (1.17-1.18). Other than that guide I have September 1993 - November of 1995 covered if you need that information like I said just haven't uploaded them yet.

 

[retro_bill]

It is a IIg board I have. I used it to replace the brand new NTX that came with the printer. I will swap boards and see what happens!

I can thank you enough for helping me figure this out.

I will have to look and see what caps are on the IIg board and see if I can replace them. I like being able to connect to my network which I cant do with the NTX.

Many thanks!

 

[danda]

Assuming it works when you swap the board with the NTX and it works, then yeah you'll want to replace the caps. It's the same as caps on mac boards - they leak and go out of range. There's plenty of threads on how best to do replacements, but I found the "twist" method worked well (I didn't pull off any pads), and then I cleaned with alcohol, before soldering the replacements on.

I have a note here from when I did the cap replacement of which ones you'll need, and digikey links of what I ordered. You should probably check though!
- x6 47uF 16v SMD (C53, C88, C46, C82, C14, C33) (https://www.digikey.co.uk/en/products/detail/kyocera-avx/TAJC476K016RNJ/563823)
- x1 2.2uF 50v SMD (C113) (https://www.digikey.co.uk/en/products/detail/kyocera-avx/TAJB225K050RNJ/2832813)
- x1 1000uF 16v thru-hole (C99)
- x1 220uF 16v thru-hole (C47)

I actually just replaced the 7 (6+1) SMD ones on my IIg board, not the thru-hole ones. They're usually the ones that go bad and leak.

 

[retro_bill]

Thanks! I may have to find someone to do the caps for me as I am not sure about SMD removal. Thru hole no problem,

Lets see if the NTX works first!