HP-2673A printer

[dramsey]

I just acquired one of these from TAS for a song. The printer works perfectly-- well, almost.

It's a thermal printer that uses standard 8.5" thermal paper. The printhead moves across the paper to print-- that is, it's not a line-at-once printer like some of the other old HPs.

There are two problems:

1. Every time I power the printer up, it beeps and ejects a good foot of paper. That's annoying.

2. The print head doesn't seem to be making good contact with the platen. The platen is a plastic bar that serves as the back surface for the paper-- the thermal paper moves between this platen and the print head. But print is sketchy and broken because the head isn't making firm contact with the paper, because the platen isn't pressing against it from the back.

I can improve the print output by pressing on the platen, so I know this is the problem. But the platen is a "loose piece" that's lightly held by metal clips; there's no spring or foam or anything to provide any kind of light pressure. Right now the platen is very loose and can be easily moved with a fingertip.

The platen is part of a pivoting assembly that includes the tear bar and some idler rollers. It's easy to disassemble (which I have) but there doesn't appear to be any way to get better pressure (the print head doesn't seem to be adjustable). The pivoting assembly shows signs of having been taken apart before so it's possible there's something missing.

Hopefully someone here has some experience with this printer and can offer some advice...