Sharp CE-150 printer/cassette interface questions

[robve]

(01-28-2023 01:51 AM)polbit Wrote:  Thanks Jeff, great information. I already have your awesome Backpack for Tandy 100, and just placed the order for the brass gears! Wish I had your DIY skills, but let's see what I can do

I replaced the pinion gears on my CE-150 not so long ago. It is not difficult to do. I didn't know for sure what C clamp Jeff used in his video, but it turned out to be a 2 inch (or 2 1/2 inch) C clamp with the clamp head sawed off that works best. With a bit of patience, the brass pinion gears slide on the axis snuggly by turning the C clamp slowly. I just cut the old gears off with a sharp utility cutter (actually a model kit "nipper"), instead of removing the larger gears to get the pinion gears off. Very satisfied with the result and the brass pinion gears work great. I used a tiny bit of gear lubricant from a slot car set. This specially-formulated lithium grease lubricant protects metal-on-plastic (nylon) gears, so I thought I can't hurt to use a tiny bit.

   

Next I have to open up my PC-2500, which has a larger Alps printer to do the same. The roller doesn't move as it should be, so I assume the pinion gears are cracked too and are slipping or blocking.

PS. I turned out that the PC-2500 has a higher quality Alps printer with larger motors and stronger gears. The gears appear to be fine, no cracks. I think I may have had an issue where the vertical movement of the paper was jammed, which has nothing to do with the roller but probably because the paper roll is in a tight space and got stuck. Using less paper works or taking the printer cover off.

- Rob