Trying to resurrect a LaserWriter IINTX

[superpantoufle]

Hi there,

I have a LaserWriter IINTX that I'd love to resurrect. It's been in storage for 13 years. I know it didn't work when I first got my hands on it, but I don't remember what the symptoms were. Today it powers on and makes some noise. The green Power led flashes slowly for a while as it's starting up. The green led stays on for a second, then immediately the two right leds with paper and paper jam icons flash red. There's definitely a smell of something heating up, but I assume it's the normal smell of 20+ years old dried up toner powder.

What are my options? I know absolutely nothing about laser printers… I found a couple old references online talking about either a bad power supply, or a bad fuser bulb, whatever that is, or a scanning motor malfunction. The Service Source manual doesn't tell anything about the meaning of the leds.

Does anyone have any suggestion? Thanks in advance!

 

[beachycove]

Bad power supply: capacitors obviously need replacing at this stage so that is very possible; bad fuser bulb: this is what heats up in a machine like yours, not toner, so if you can “smell heat,” the fuser is hopefully working; scanning motor failure: strip the machine down to get at said motor and oil the motor bearings with a light, high quality machine oil (sewing machine oil will do nicely — note that it is not cheap!). Typically, if a scanning motor cannot get up to x-000 specified RPMs in startup, you get pretty lights…. The old oil/ grease gums up.

To add to this, RAM might need cleaned/ re-seated, and there are drive belts in some LaserWriters, so that might be worth looking into.

That’s all I know. I’m not a tech, but have worked on several printers over the years to keep them in service. I’ve no experience with your LW, but have seen two later models fail because of motors, and one because of a belt. Usually fixes are simple enough once you get in there.

When disassembled, btw, give all rubber rollers in the paper path a good clean and apply a rubber dressing (automotive products are easily found). Your future printouts will go through much more smoothly, and your nerves will thank you. I’d also oil/ grease anything else obviously supposed to be lubricated, much as you would a floppy drive after 30–35-odd years.

 

[demik]

Mine does the same thing. Before the crash, they ware a similar thread that pointed to bad caps inside the PSU and maybe a triac

The NTX is kinda a dope printer, it even use RAM similar to the IIfx

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I stopped using mine when the pickup roller stopped working. Have two ways to fix it, but didn't get around to iit until a couple of years ago. Toner cartridges for that Canon engine were the problem. Apparently they've become unobtanium? Check that issue before you start. ATM I'm wondering If a modern printer engine dropped into it might be an option.

 

[AndyO]

At one point there were businesses that offered toner refurbishing services, so that may be an option to look into.

 

[volvo242gt]

It's definitely a bad cap in the power supply. If I remember correctly, it was a green electrolytic capacitor that failed on the one I had many years ago. Wound up upgrading mine from a NTX motherboard to a IIg motherboard, so I'd have ethernet connectivity. Used it a few years before it started developing the usual paper jam error related to the toner cartridge. At that time, sent it to RE-PC.

 

[ScutBoy]

You likely need a new "power block" (or repair the one you have). I just went through this with some LW IIs. Repair/replacement of this fixed the "flashing red LED" problem with mine.

The part is actually shared with HP Laserjet printers, which makes it vastly easier (and cheaper) to find than an Apple part. I see you are not in the US, but the US/110V part numbers that work are:


RG9-0205
HP SX-ACPM-B
maybe - RG9-0319

Perhaps you can cross-reference them to what you need voltage-wise on your side. These seem to run around $30-$40 on eBay.

Hope that helps! Once that's done, then you can deal with the dried up pickup rollers

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Thanks for that bit of info, haven't powered mine up in many years. Just in case info is always much appreciated.

At one point there were businesses that offered toner refurbishing services, so that may be an option to look into.

ISTR there being a topic on this? Likely it's a "thread" buried in the morass of the old eBay finds topic IIRC?

Definitely worth exploring in its own peripherals topic.

 

[superpantoufle]

Wow, thanks guys for all that info! That will definitely get me started! And I'll report back along my way. I print about a dozen pages per year nowadays, most of the through AirPrint to the Brother multifunction my wife uses in her home office. But it would be so cool to print to the LaserWriter from my M1 MacBook Pro just for the heck of it…