What kind of maintenance is needed for a dot-matrix printer?

Answer 1

Dot matrix maintenanceDot matrix printers are still popular with skinflints and those who need something that can print on multi-part forms. Many of these business printers are old warhorses with a lot of miles on them.

If your dot matrix is an essential component of your business, check how it moves its print head side-to-side. It's probably a belt drive. If so, get a spare belt now. That way you can just swap the new belt in yourself, or have it ready for the serviceman, if the old one snaps. There are many different belt sizes, and belts for older printers can be hard to find.

Dot matrix print heads run hot. Most of them have an impressive array of cooling fins. They most commonly fail when overheated - they're meant to shut down when they're too hot, but they don't always do it in time. So a borderline printer may be fine for any number of small documents, but die after 50 pages of your invaluable thesis.

Accordingly, dot matrix printers like a bit of air flow, and shouldn't be surrounded by stuff and/or positioned in direct sunlight.

"Refreshing" dot matrix printer ribbons with spray-on oil, canonically WD-40, is a fairly popular practice. It may or may not be a good idea, depending on who you ask. Dot matrix ink contains lubricants designed to grease up the print head and keep it working properly. WD-40 is a lousy lubricant, generally speaking - it's good at stopping squeaks, and it will make your ribbon print black again, but it may or may not be an adequate replacement for the original oil. Again, this is a problem which may only manifest when the printer's working hard - which is probably the exact time when you least want a print head to die.

The simple way to deal with a worn out dot matrix ribbon is to buy another one. The per-page print cost of dot matrixes is far below that of other printers, so you've got to be a pretty severe pennypincher not to want to replace the ribbon.

This would be a good point to mention that I am a pretty severe pennypincher - I must be, because I own a dot matrix ribbon re-inking machine, and several bottles of the greasy, evil ink. The re-inker paid for itself. After about five years. If I were you, I wouldn't bother.