Epson RX-80 Dot Matrix Printer Refurb

[@jaycee1980]

BBC micro's with Epson FX-80's were the thing when I was in school! We used to have them on trolleys and you could hear one printing all over the school :)

[@cbmeeks]

Finally! It's rare to see dot matrix printer restorations. I thought I was the only one that liked dot matrix printers.

[@Hounddoggy33]

I had the VIC 1525. Loved making banners, posters and cards using Print Shop and PrintMaster.

[@darknessnightfall]

I forgot about this one. It was my first printer. My dad bought it at his work. Good memories.

[@vwestlife]

Graphics printing is unidirectional so that way the lines will match up better. Bidirectional printing causes slight shifts in the positioning of each pass that is unnoticeable with text, but may cause the lines in a graphical image to become ragged.

[@cnvogel]

Great Video, I still have my Star LC 10 from Amiga days 🥰 so I can share the sentiments of still running these old beasts.

[@psteier]

One of the greatest printers ever. I felt like a king with the colour option...

[@persimonsen7504]

Memories... Star 10 was my first as well. Used with a Sharp MZ 721. No support for Norwegian characters at the time, so "modded" the printout with a black Bic pen...

[@FredrikRambris]

We had a huge NEC Pinwriter P7 dot matrix printer that could print landscape A3 papers. You could switch the feeder from friction and tractor feeder.

[@nigelbarrett4936]

I wonder if you could make a small hole in the plastic and then feed the end of the spring through ? That would eliminate the need for the broken bit of plastic.

[@simontay4851]

33:05 My idea for tensioning the paper retaining flaps: Computer cases usually have steel blanking plates in the 5.25in bays that you have to remove when installing an optical drive. If you have one of of those, use this or if not, use an empty can of pop. 1. With sheet metal cutters (tin snips), cut out 2 small pieces (1 for each flap) the same size as the top of the flaps (same place as the rubber band is at 33:05 but extend the metal over the larger part as well for extra strength). 2.With the metal held in place with tape, drill four small holes, 1 in each corner through the metal and the plastic for screws, making sure you line up the holes correctly. It should look like a skin over the curved part of the flap with a small self tapping screw in each corner. 3. In the same place as where the rubber band is at 33:05, shape the metal so it folds over like how the rubber band does and make a little hook in the same place as where the little plastic bit broke off. Use that to attach the spring to. Imagine a J and an up-side-down U next to each other. The U folds over the top and the J is the hook for the spring. That will definitely be strong enough. Hope you understand. Thats how i would do it if i was going to do it properly.

[@simontay4851]

If the flaps are too thin for screws, use strong double sided tape to stick the metal to the plastic.

[@muhammaddaffasuhandi7914]

thanks, it actually let me through so i could download it.

[@Phenomz75]

there are still drivers and support, because it's one of the many "instruments" in the original "soundtrack/symphony" of every German doctor's office ... add 3 constantly ringing phones (intentionally ignored by the staff) and someone screaming "do we alread have a urine sample from Herr Schultz?" and the illusion is perfect

[@gertsy2000]

Well done again Jan.

[@PaulinesPastimes]

Congratulations. Great nostalgia. For the paper retainer, what about drilling a small hole and glueing in a metal pin with super glue. It would be better than forcing in a screw which could crack the plastic. Maybe?

[@VernesMisadventures]

Dog gone it Jan Beta! After watching this, I bought one off of eBay. . . Great video! Very nostalgic indeed.

[@TheGreatAtario]

My first instinct regarding the broken sprocket covers was: maybe 3D-print replacements? Dunno if something like that would be sturdy enough, though. Would be kind of poetic if it worked :3c

[@timballam3675]

You need to find a dfx-5000 used to service them quite often...

[@rawberg_se]

Hmm I think I had one of those as well, looks very similar at least. I totally forgot about it until I saw your video. I think I actually still have the parallel cable it came with. :)

[@X1092-d4t]

You can enforce your glue repair with a 1 mm steel nail. After gluing bore a 1mm hole and glue in a 1mm steel needle/nail.

[@Vanders456]

This brings back memories. I could load a new ream of paper & tension it with my eyes closed.

[@SeaJay_Oceans]

Epson Classic ! To think of the millions of school assignments printed out on EPSON printers in all the classrooms of the world !

[@spacedock873]

Brings back so many memories! Never had a real Epson back in the day - they were very expensive because they were bullet-proof and really designed for heavy duty office/industrial use. Lovely to see one of these old girls back in action. Amazing it still had the protective films on! 👍😁

[@TSteffi]

I just recently revived my Star LC24-10. A bit more advanced than this one, but just like for the Epson, the ribbons are still available and the printer works perfectly fine after 35 years. Todays crappy inkjet printers just stop working after the predefined lifetime set by the manufacturer, because they want to force you to get new printers all the time. Yet these old ones last forever.

[@zero0ryn]

You shouldn't use grease on the print head rails. The new paper dust will stick to it and gum up the print head sleeve barings. The best way is to remove the print head assy from it's rails then clean the inside of the sleeve barings and clean the rails with IPA.

[@holleholl3057]

Recently I went through my C64 box-stash and actually found my old C64-Centronics-Adapter which I used with my Star-Dot Matrix back in the day which I used to print out the listings of my self-written basic programs for fault-finding. 😆Its for the Userport and gets 5V via the Datasette-port. I think the printer must be somewhere around still, just can´t find it...

[@DeputatKaktus]

Those might still be in use in some doctors offices, for actual carbon copies. And yes, those are still a thing in some places in Germany. Or at least u til very recently. In the car rental place I used to work at, they were still using a dot matrix printer with tractor feed paper as late as 2010.

[@michaelcarey]

Excellent work Jan! Right not I'm going through the same process with a Star NX-1000 Dot Matrix Printer, well used but with the original box & manual along with two Centronics cables. This printer can also emulate an Epson LX-800 and IBM Proprinter II. This printer will need some serious retrobriting 🙂

[@terranceclark3479]

This is the same printer that came out for the TI 99 4/A!

[@VincentGroenewold]

Again a perfect job for a little 3D design and a 3D printer. :)

[@the_leathermushroom]

This is ace! I was pleasantly surprised to see I can still get stuff for my Star printer! Maybe these matrix units are still being used in industry somewhere?

[@wizpin]

Our pharmacy printed labels with a matrix untill a year or two ago

[@MacMelmac]

Epson and Star was very common in Sweden.

[@dougjohnson4266]

Nice and get out your ear plugs. I still have my Epson 24 pin and it still works.

[@Gerd_Mueller]

mein erster drucker am c64 war ein commodore mps 801. darauf folgten star lc 10 und lc 24

[@KAPTKipper]

I had an LX-80 for my C64 and Atari ST. They are tanks. These printers are used heavily where multi-layered forms are used. Epson printer commands were the defacto standard for most printers. Probably why drivers are still available.

[@Liofa73]

Drill a hole into the plastic and then get a lego "antenna" piece and glue it into the hole. That's what a lot of toy repair guys do for fixes on retro toy parts like that.

[@atamiga2491]

Nice, i had a mx 80

[@perinoid]

Dot printers are very robust. I have Atari printers from the 8-bit era and they work as new. 33:00 It looks like there's enough material to drill a small hole in both parts and put a metal shaft to strengten this connection. Or use a small screw instead of this plastic mount.

[@tenminutetokyo2643]

Oh yeah. Now do an Okimate 10 or 20.

[@kingforaday8725]

Another old timer here that had one of these.

[@EgoChip]

The noise these things make is horrendous!

[@garthhowe297]

This was the first printer I purchased in the mid eighties. They lasted forever on dirty shipping docks. Such a great example of a well designed, well built device.

[@mcd3379]

"I love the sound of dot matrix printing in the morning" :) Back in the day, Epson was the "go to" company for printers for 8 bit computers. Had a GX-80 myself. The LX-80 was also very popular.

[@MichaelEhling]

31:52 When one of these little tabs broke on my Epson MX80 (this would have been 30 years ago), I used the top off of a sewing pin. It was the type with a plastic head. I cut the pin a mm or so from the top, drilled a small, shallow hole in the bracket, set the stub of the pin into that hole, and fixed it with epoxy. This fix held the spring well for many years.

[@ScottLahteine]

What a great printer for its time! As I recall, something like 144 dots per inch in graphics mode. Back in the day I took advantage of that graphics mode to write an Atari 8-bit driver for the MX-80 just so I could print my AtariBASIC code in the actual Atari font. It would probably have been fully compatible with the RX-80 too. As a retro enthusiast, I wouldn't mind picking up one of these babies for the collecfion. Apparently there's even an open source project to make these into AirPlay / WiFi printers so we can use them with all our modern devices.

[@twocvbloke]

It's no suprise that these pritners are still supported as people still use DM printers with carbon copy paper to make duplicate prints for reciepts or reports, one print job for multiple copies... :) As an aside, I have a video of my Oki Microline ML-280 Elite (USB-equipped!) on my other channel, and the comments it gets now and then from the noise it makes are hilarious... :P

[@yeoldestuff]

Those small spring-loaded flaps over the tractor feed gears are not the best design in terms of durability. I prefer Star Micronics dot matrix printers that use a spring-loaded metal bar to hold the paper in place, they are truly indestructible.

[@ran2wild370]

Awww, never had dot printer :-( Started straight from HP desk jet 420 in 1998 and it was pretty shiттy printer, barely limped till graduation in 2000.

[@R.Daneel]

@33:10 A magnet countersunk into each half near the little "finger tab". Look for the weakest workable magnets, or position so that there is still a gap when 'closed', to prevent excessive drag. If a convenient position can't be found, don't forget that you could increase your options if you set them up to repel instead.

[@oleurgast730]

Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum 256. Video. Jetzt kann man Deine Videos nicht mehr an einem Byte abzählen 😉

[@JanBeta]

Huch, das hatte ich bis jetzt noch nicht bemerkt. Dann kaufe ich mal ein zusätzliches Byte! 😅

[@Ramdileo_sys]

@@JanBeta 30:35 .. Oohh the good old trusted Dental Pick🙂​....... Hey Jan !! .. What does the electronic technician use the Dental Pick for??? ... to fix Bluetooth, of course🤣​​😂...

[@loughkb]

Epsons and Okidatas still get used in some retail businesses. Impact printers let you print receipts with carbon copies. I had one too, years ago. Epson was supported by just about everything, back when the printer support had to be built into the programs.

[@IanSlothieRolfe]

I think I would fix the spring clips by drilling a small hole with a pin drill through the part that you have glued together and glue in a steel pin (dressmaking pin cut down?). A glue joint is likely to break again unsupported as you have seen. You can use a pin drill to make holes as small as 0.2mm and they are really cheap on eBay. The sound of a matrix printer brings back so many fond memories......

[@IDPhotoMan]

That interface card is a computer in itself.

[@force4200]

Great my old printer was a StarLC 24 -200. Great channel as usual have a Nice weekend Jan. Love that you used a A600 ;)

[@rarbiart]

when you mention the GOERLITZ interface, i remember the magazine advertisements they put in HappyComputer etc.

[@ninaevans4501]

Sending our love and support to you, (not a vert nice thing going on on KZbin at present, please view gadgetuk164s last video posting). We support you just by subscription alone, Patreon IS NOT FORCED ONTO VIEWERS. Love and Warmest Reagards. Wayne & Nina (UK) 👍👍👍👍👍👍❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@dwbogardus]

I still have an MX-80F/T that I bought in about 1981 or 1982. Used it for years until I replaced it with a Panasonic KXP-2123 24-pin printer, which could also use a color ribbon. It also worked well, except the color was poor. Replaced years later with an Epson Stylus Color 600, which was great, even for color photos. It worked well for a few years, until the head clogged and couldn't be cleaned completely. Then had an Epson Stylus Photo R200 which worked very well for a few years until it's internal ink storage pad got full and it would no longer print; Same story with the following Epson Stylus Photo R260. Now using a very old (but reliable) Canon Pixma MP150. (I've done a lot of printing over the last ~40 years!)

[@Ramdileo_sys]

30:35 .. oohh the good old trusted Dental Pick🙂​....... Hey Jan !! .. What does the electronic technician use the Dental Pick for??? ... to fix Bluetooth, of course🤣​​😂...

[@toddbeets]

Epson FX-80 crew here. Companion to Apple IIe. My heart more with it's Panasonic replacements: 9-pin 1091 with NLQ switch (!) And the big daddy 1124 24-pin which lasted through college.

[@simmo1024]

when I started working in IT in the mid 90s, the FX80s were ubiquitous (slowly being reoplaced by HP laserjets and Canon bubblejets). I even remember setting up a LQ-870 in a classroom. That puppy go some usage.

[@angrydove4067]

Ah, the good old dot matrix days, I stared with a Comrex CR-220 and then a Panasonic KX-P1180 which had Epson emulation, fine for C=64 and then Amiga. Love the sound of these.

[@Tinker_Box]

Hey, this was my first printer for me back in the 80s. Glad I found it again your channel.

[@cowasakiElectronics]

They sell some “adhesive remover” spray at CPC in the uk. It cleans off adhesive like cleaning dirt with IPA. It’s like magic. If you would like a can I will get one with my next order and send it to you to thank you for some great vids. It really is like magic but randomly smells like oranges!

[@ppdan]

My first was a MX80 which we upgraded to FX80. My second was a NEC P2+ (Think this one is still sitting somewhere in my parents garage).

[@thesolderman861]

I did the repair of the broken spring holders on the tractor feeds like 25 Jears ago... drilled a 3,2mm hole (in small steps due to the brittle material) instead of the broken bolt and used a tread cutter toolset to make a 4mm (M4) Screw go in to it to hold the Springs. Had to file down the Screwhead a lot. We had a RS232 Interface card plugged inside, and therefore we could't use the parallel Centronics Port at the same printer, as some of the internal dip switches on the Mainboard were set to add, as far as I remember it correctly, to every Carriage return a Line feed, as required from the old computer on the serial port, but this prevented the usage of the parallelport with a DOS PC which sent them both by itself. So the stickytape on the Parallelport was no surprise for me.... ;-).

[@RobA500]

Ah what memories, my first printer was a Citizen Swift 24 with which I printed many full colour pictures from my Amiga.

[@imqqmi]

I used to own a 120 character wide epson printer, though not that I had wide paper to actually use it lol! It was hooked up to an msx2 computer with a diy cable. I typed in a hardcopy print program from a magazine and still have some prints from that. Later I got an epson like yours as well before I switched to inkjets on the pc. Never got into those star printers with color capability and 24 dots.

[@fnjesusfreak]

The first printer I personally owned was an IBM Graphics Printer, which looked very Epson-y and was partially compatible with the command set of the Epson RX and FX...turns out it was basically a rebadged Epson MX-80 with support for IBM's Codepage 437.

[@andrewclegg9501]

My first printer was a RX-80 F/T, those springs broke the clamps on mine too, put blu tack on them and the lid held them down.

[@philsbbs]

my dot matrix printers years ago mps-801 for my commodore and la75 for my dec stuff.. did have access to lg-31 at one point but glad to see the back of it as the tracking belts snapped to often.

[@cjh0751]

You certainly got your money's worth back in the 80s. Look at them caps and that meaty transformer. I always remember the print head having a "hot don't touch" sticker on it or near it. Makes a nostalgic noisy racket. Loverly

[@kg3358]

Have one sitting on a desk near me. Wayback the paper detect failed. I had to cut a pin on a TTL and piggyback a new TTL. Luckily the schematic was in the manual. It got me through college and beyond.

[@PileOfEmptyTapes]

I sort of doubt that recapping would be very necessary on one of these, unless it had previously been operated for years and years nonstop. Japanese capacitors from the early '80s should be quite high quality and reliable.

[@fawad.rashid]

I still have my LX-800 stashed somewhere.. haven't checked up on it for years... these EPSON's were super reliable and sturdy. I had mine hooked up to a IBM 8086 and CPC 6128... Awesome printers !

[@konstantinjirecek970]

There is 17 power transistors 4 for 1st stepper motor 4 for 2nd stepper motor and 9 for 9 pins in printhead. It is strange why are those arrange in groups of 4, 6 and 7 transistors ?? Maybe this has something to do with microcontroller pins?

[@grotekleum]

A good squirt of WD40 will revive a dry ribbon. You can repeat this several times before the ribbon is fully spent.

[@wimwiddershins]

I have no idea what the printer was that I got with my first A500, I hardly used it. I remember it had membrane switches and was an Epson? I used it to print essays from Amiga in first year at Uni, it was a bit hit and miss. :)

[@rustynail6819]

My first printer, I had it attached to my Apple //e GREAT printer!!!

[@graealex]

Reglue the two parts to the cover. Remove the latch from the printer. Cast a negative in silicone, and then a positive/copy with black urethane, that will have the two nubbins in one part.

[@blackterminal]

Jan can I ask you a question? Some people are replacing all capacitors in all old computers or anything else. Do you agree with this practice?

[@BrixTalk]

hi, you could glue some hard core wire (normale Litze für Elektroinstallation) on the tractors to create a channel where the rings can live

[@arjanvanraaij8440]

I still have a commodore mps 803, witch only need a new ribbon but can't find one.

[@AlexanderWeurding]

I call this the pillow printer, because if you would print something @ Night you had to put a pillow on the printer or the rest of the house was awake.

[@Wyld1one]

Tip: unlock the right tractor feed so it 'floats' left and right as needed. It helps prevent jams on holed paper as it willl follow the holes in the paper.

[@RDJ134]

Like i said on Twitter reading Dot Matrix Printer making the sound play in my brain :)

[@VorpalGun]

I would CAD and 3D print replacement parts for those paper holddowns.

[@BilisNegra]

27:34 That sentence made you sound like Chis/Perifractic! 🤔

[@melanierhianna]

Dot matrix printers work with carbons which means that companies can still use them with three part invoice documentation etc.

[@netsurferx1]

Oh, this brings back memories. I had one of the back home (bought as new by my dad) in about 1985-6. We used it clear up until 1996, when it was just too slow & noisy for our use. It was replaced by an HP Deskjet 660C. I wound up trading it for an ImageWriter II circa 1999.

[@sjt66]

That was my first printer and I loved it! Yes, very reliable!

[@wildcat189]

Love this - it's helping me to refurb my LX-86!

[@marty9248]

You can drill a small hole on top where the rubber band is now positioned and use a longer spring hooked into the hole.

[@force4200]

Can you make hole in plastic and put the spring loop in the end in the hole ? Then you dont need any screw.

[@MrFixiit]

if you decide to try and fix those clips again you could use a Rivit coller take those clamps off completely and drill small hole and glue in the rivit collor from behind should work as long as when closed they dont obstruct the clamps.

[@StefanoBorini]

I could hear the noise of this printer just by reading the title.

[@BerndFelsche]

You could use o-rings perhaps instead of drive belts or rubber bands

[@rottmanthan]

i feel the old printers are just as important as the computers they were used with.

[@parjf]

Ah, 1980s Epson dot-matrix printers :) The one we had for our Apple IIe clone in the mid-80s was a LX-80 - worked like a champ.

[@IanSlothieRolfe]

I love the sound of matrix printers. I bought a Citizen MSP80 (i think) with my first paycheck which was a tractor feed 9 pin matrix printer. Printed thousands of pages on it (which kind of annoyed my parents as I was living at home at the time although they never complained) - I think I got through a box and a half of fanfold before I moved out which thinking of it was probably at least 5000 pages. I used to like to sit and read listings to work out where problems were in programs I was writing, and so the printer was pretty much on the go whenever I was at home!

[@SeaJay_Oceans]

39:10 Good Safety Record ! Love the sign... :-)

[@ThePoxun]

Back in school one of these printers had the same issue with the broken spring post. The school technician fixed it by drilling a small hole and installing a small bolt to hook the spring over. I'm not sure if the plastic will still support that at its current age but it might be worth a shot

[@nextnoir]

So pity you didn't have a problem with needles. Actually not. But I have Epson LQ-100 and there are couple needles are stuck. Would be interesting to see a way of fixing them

[@graealex]

Submerge print head in ultrasonic cleaner? Then relubricate with very light sewing machine oil?