Dot Matrix Printer Head Breakdown

I recently came upon about 20 older dot matrix printers. They had an easy to get mainboard and a decent transformer, and these heads, which were put up until winter weather got me inside for a bit.

These were from various dot matrix printers
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...97ee6_9220.jpg

You can see a couple of the little boards peeking out of there
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...5bc94_4976.jpg

These little rascals are encased in some very strong magnets, possibly rare earth
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...62284_4808.jpg

This is the dot matrix. Electrical impulses force the pins rapidly through an alignment tip, onto a ribbon cartridge, and into the paper (like a type writer)
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...6740b_9768.jpg

Signals are sent through this tiny board on the matrix, activating an electrical magnetic charge, forcing the pins to strike a dot onto the page. Some of these tiny boards were gold, although most were silver
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...07b57_8701.jpg

The boards pry right off of the matrix head with a small flat screwdriver
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...2ff16_4066.jpg

Once I got to the main bunch, and began an assembly line process, it moved along rather quickly
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...5918b_6712.jpg

Well, this is what I got out of the bunch, a couple tiny piles of small boards, and some aluminum
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...086fe_6430.jpg

This is the pile of larger boards from in the heads, the whole bunch weighs 2 ounces
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...1a9fb_2865.jpg

Plus these smaller ones(which I didn't even bother to weigh ; )
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...4b8b6_9678.jpg

I'll conclude this in a following post

i see high grade boards, and mylar

stuff i dream about

There were some decent pins and such in these, but not a great many
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...4a7fa_6936.jpg

I broke one of the brown ones open easily, but this black one was a bit tougher to separate the pins from
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...b1930_2079.jpg

This is top side of the larger board on the heads, a little over 2 inches square
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...c2809_1448.jpg

This is the bottom side, I believe it's all gold tracers
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...2c1f8_4735.jpg

And these I suppose go in electric motors(although the rare earth magnet guess could be correct) about 3 pounds maybe
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...87621_8434.jpg

All in all, a bit of an education, but, not much of a payday ; )

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jghilino

i see high grade boards, and mylar

stuff i dream about

---

I'm collecting it, but my collection could probly still be weighed in ounces, and fractions of an ounce ; )

"these are a few of my favorite things"

i have about 6 ounces of gold mylar stockpiled

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jghilino

"these are a few of my favorite things"

i have about 6 ounces of gold mylar stockpiled

---

got a photo of some of it ?

some dot matrix printers carry a good resale. they are still used in places that print forms.

Eric

It was actually a fairly ragged pile of old printers. I kept the ribbon cartridges, but doubt Office Max will want them in the trade in proggie ; )

And I just realized there wasn't any ink, it was like a typewriter, using ribbon cartridges

Good info...thanks Bear.

Found in a patent from Suzuki made in 1984, "The magnet 2 is located with its peripheral edge surface radially spaced a predetermined distance l from the inner wall surface of the cylindrical casing 1. Further, the magnet 2, preferably a rare-earth magnet,"
Dot matrix printer head - Nippon Electric Co., Ltd.
click "download PDF" for images
The rare earth magnets are labeled 2
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...a082a_9148.jpg
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...01aca_7343.jpg