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From: csg@pyramid.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.terminals,comp.periphs
Subject: Re: Helpful Hint to Extend Useful Life of Printer Ribbons
Message-ID: <1623@pyramid.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 22-Feb-87 01:37:46 EST
Article-I.D.: pyramid.1623
Posted: Sun Feb 22 01:37:46 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 22-Feb-87 15:44:14 EST
References: <1609@kitty.UUCP> <3128@gitpyr.gatech.EDU>
Reply-To: csg@pyramid.UUCP (Carl S. Gutekunst)
Organization: Pyramid Technology Corp., Mountain View, CA
Lines: 18
Keywords: printer ribbons, extending life
Xref: watmath comp.terminals:187 comp.periphs:223

Larry Lippman writes:
>These sprays are absurdly overpriced.  All one needs is some 95% isopropyl
>alcohol, which can readily be obtained from drugstores, hardware stores, etc.

Scott Dorsey writes:
>I always had great luck with WD-40 from the local hardware store. This is a
>lubricant which contains lots of unidentified, light petroleum distillates,

For dot-matrix printers, WD-40 would also be better for the printer. Besides
ink, depleted ribbons are short on the oils that lubricate the print wires. It
does need to be a *very* light oil; WD-40 should be about right.

It also helps to simply turn the ribbon over, since worn cloth can be as much
of a problem as the uneven distribution of ink. Obviously this isn't always
possible, and many cartridge ribbons don't need it since they wind the ribbon
in a mobius strip.

<csg>