[GreenKeys] Teletype 43 ribbons?

[charlesmorris at hughes.net]

The recent discussion of old TTY ribbons reminded me of a problem I had 
with ribbons for my model 43.

I bought a box of five ribbons from an online source and quickly 
discovered that the ribbon was not advancing during carriage return as 
designed, so the print faded within a few lines. After some 
investigation (and disassembly of a cartridge) I found that the "loop" 
had to be too long, so there was more slack than the 43's spring 
mechanism could compensate for.

I was referred to the manufacturer (I believe it was Dataproducts?) 
and after discussion with a product engineer, and mailing him my 
ribbon, he examined it and confirmed the problem, and sent me a new 
box. Those did have the correct loop length - but they were so weakly 
inked (or had dried out), they didn't work any better.  So I shelved 
the 43 for a while. sigh...

The next step, I suppose, is to drill a small hole over the ink roller 
and inject fresh ink with a syringe. Rather irritating after spending 
nearly $50 for ribbons! I'd rather just "plug and play"... Can anyone 
recommend a reliable source for 43 ribbons that actually work?? 

thanks
Charles