ImageWriter II Ribbons

[Anthony Ortiz]

Hello world!

I received an ImageWriter II printer as part of my IIgs purchase several months ago and I'm looking high and low for black/color ribbons but I can't find any of recent manufacture. I've read articles on major ribbon malfunctions due to a part of the ribbon failing after X number of years on the shelf. Anyone out there aware of where I can find ribbons of non-dubious quality? I'd like to get my son printing soon, hopefully in color.

Regards,

Anthony

[D Finnigan]

Someone on 68kmla.org had new color ribbons manufactured about 2-3 years
ago. I can't find the link, but I would seek those out first.


--
]DF$
Apple II 40th Anniversary User's Guide:
http://macgui.com/newa2guide/

[Anthony Ortiz]

Thanks DF, I was able to find the post you were referring to :

https://68kmla.org/forums/index.php?/topic/26424-new-imagewriter-ii-color-ribbons/?hl=imagewriter+ribbons#entry282799

However, seeing that he started a "For Sale" thread in a protected forum called
"Trading Post" that I don't have access to, I have to wait for them to approve my registration. I sure hope he has some left in stock!

[James Davis]

I just Googled "ImageWriter II Ribbons" and got a whole lot of sources for them. If you haven't already, try it yourself.

[Anthony Ortiz]

Yes I did the same; however, most (if not all) of these color ribbons are old and their felt rollers keel over and die a horrible death as soon as you try to use them. What I am looking for are color ribbons of recent manufacture, and it seems that the "Eraser" guy in the link I provided (thanks for DF$) had some recently made back in 2015 and might have some left for sale.

[D Finnigan]

https://68kmla.org/forums/index.php?/topic/26687-fs-newly-made-imagewriter-ii-color-ribbons/

Yep, that's it. I just signed in and the last post to that topic is from
April 2017 asking if they're still available and there was no reply. The
original poster was last active on the site about 2 months ago.

He says:
If you own an ImageWriter II and have ever tried to find a color ribbon you
probably know that it’s nearly impossible to find a working one. There is a
diminishing stock of new old stock (NOS) color ribbons but many of them no
longer work because even if they are sealed and even if the ink isn’t dried
out the foam rollers inside the cartridge breaks down over time. The
thought that these printers might never print in color again made me a bit
sad so I started a mission to find a way to bring color back to the
ImageWriter II.

I found a factory in China (Huzhou Fulihua Ribbon Co) that specializes in
the manufacture of printer ribbons. They’ve been making ribbons since 1991
and may have been an original source of some of the cartridges that were
repackaged and sold in office supply stores when the ImageWriter II was
still shipping. I contacted them and arranged for a custom batch of new
color ribbons to be produced. These might be the first ImageWriter II color
ribbons produced in more than a decade.

I cannot guarantee that there will be additional runs of these ribbons. I’m
busy and I don’t plan on starting another career selling consumables for a
30 year old printer. Having said that, if there is enough interest and I
sell out then I may continue to have the ribbons produced.

I am selling these as a benefit to the vintage Apple/Mac community and I’ve
aimed to set a fair and affordable price based on what it cost to have these
manufactured and imported. The price is (US)$7.10/ea + shipping. PayPal is
preferred. PM me if you are interested.

[James Davis]

OK!

Are you Handy? Is it possible to repair old ribbon cartridges by opening them up and replacing bad parts and ribbons with new/better parts and ribbons? Back in the days of Typewriters, you could just buy the ribbons (without spools) in a sealed plastic wrapper. Maybe you could find some of those and use your old cartridges.

Also, although it is probably not possible to re-ink multi-colored ribbons, or if you just want to use a black ribbon, you might want to consider getting a re-inking kit.

[Michael Black]

WD-40 can rejuvenate ribbons to some extent. It's a trick from the days
of Teletype machines and typewriters, but works on cloth dot matrix
ribbons. I know I did it, spray some on, advance the ribbon a bit, spray
some more, then stick in a bag and let sit. So alternating ribbons was a
good thing. The problem was the ink was still there, but the ribbon got
too dry. Of course, used ribbons may be in worse state, and maybe after
all this time something more is needed.

I can't even picture an imagewriter ribbon right now. I once found a nice
24pin dot matrix printer, but the ribbon was dried out. I went to look
for a replacement (this was about 20 years ago, when the stores had
endless ribbon types) but didn't see a match. So I bought one about the
same size (the outside, I dont' know if the ribbon length was the same.
But the ribbon inside (in either case) wasn't on a takeup wheel. It
rolled past the print head and was loose in the cartridge, kind of folded
back on itself. So transferring the ribbon was a bit messy, and I worried
that i'd not get it all to the other cartridge without introducing
unwanted folds. I think it worked okay afterwards, but I'm blank. I did
the transplant, then can't remember afterwards.

Michael

[Matthew Power]

Anyone out there aware of where I can find ribbons of non-dubious quality? I'd like to get my son printing soon, hopefully in color.
>
> Regards,
>
> Anthony

I have brand new COLOR Image Writer II ribbons available, manufactured this year. Shoot me an email matthewmpower at gmail.com

[Anthony Ortiz]

Just got me a 5-year supply, already have a tracking number... get 'em while supplies last!

[Matthew Power]

> Just got me a 5-year supply, already have a tracking number... get 'em while supplies last!

I'm happy that a few have contacted me to obtain some of these color ribbons for the ImageWriter II. They work really great. All orders go out in the mail right away. I have plenty more, but I will be away until August 15th on a nice vacation... ha! So if anyone else is interested, send me an email and I will respond as soon as I return. I have color ribbons for your ImageWriter II.

matthewmpower at gmail dot com

[Anthony Ortiz]

Hey Mathew, thanks for the ribbons, I received all five of them yesterday; I didn't think you'd ship them so quickly!