Amstrad User Group
Amstrad User Group
Re-inking of printer ribbons
The re-inking of nylon printer ribbons is a very lucrative business. You can, with a little bit of searching, still obtain the ribbon tape for the matrix printer of the PCW 8256/8512, PcW 9256 and PcW 16 for Euro 10. But the model type (Seikosha SP 800/1000) is getting scarce: an office supply store will not be able to supply you with one... Re-inking will set you back Euro 1.75 and can be done up to approximately 20 times, depending on the quality of the ribbon tape. When the ribbon becomes more or less transparent or otherwise shows signs of wear and tear, re-inking it is no longer useful. The ribbon type Olympia Carrera II, used in the daisy wheel printers of the PCW 9512 and PcW 9512+ can be treated as well, for Euro 1.50 because the ribbon is both shorter and smaller than the Seikosha ribbon.
Other types of dot matrix printer ribbons can be re-inked as well, see the table to the right. Each ribbon is sealed in plastic, after re-inking, to prevent it from running dry. Prices vary, according to the length and width of the ribbon. Re-inking can be done on club evenings (exchanging them for ready re-inked ribbons) the HCC!dagen or through mail. When sending through mail you will have to consider carefully whether it is still worth you while, you will either have to send a large shipment or create a parcel that still fits the common red mailbox. Only nylon ribbons can be re-inked: carbon ribbons can only be used once (one-run only). Colour is not possible either. It is possible to replace the ribbon by new fabric but as the available stock is still considerable this often is not lucrative either.
To the main PCW-page.
