[GreenKeys] Teletype 33-ASR Paper Feed Issues

[Rick Bensene]

Greetings, all,

Some time ago, I acquired a very nice 33-ASR teletype that was in mostly
working condition.

With useful hints, and a few parts from generous donors on this list, I
was able to get it 100% functioning, and have been enjoying using this
wonderful old terminal on my Altair, PDP 8/e, and hooked up to a more
modern computer running an emulation of HP 2000/Access Timeshared BASIC.

Recently, the machine has been not feeding paper reliably.  I thought at
first that the problem might be in the linefeed mechanism, but as it
turns out, it is working perfectly.  The platen advances one position
reliably every time a linefeed is received (in LINE mode), or when the
LINE FEED key is pressed in LOCAL mode.

It turns out that the paper is actually slipping...like the platen and
roller's grip on the paper is not good enough to pull/push the paper
through the paper path when a linefeed occurs.   I've also been able to
observe this when manually advancing the paper with the knob. 

The platen itself is in nice shape...however, it seems kind of
"polished".  It has a somewhat dense surface.  I seem to remember that
the 33's I used in school had platens that seemed softer, and had a more
textured surface.   The rollers also seem to be somewhat hardened.

I suspect that this probably means that I have to send the platen off
and have it redone.  I have seen reports here from a number of folks who
have sent their platens off for rebuilding, with very good results.  

However, I'm wondering if there is any kind of temporary thing that I
can do to make the platen grip the paper more reliably until I can get a
time when I can tear the thing down and send the platen off for rework.

Also, I foolishly didn't stash the postings to the forum that had
information about the places that folks have sent their platens off to
for rework that have had good results.

Any suggestions on any of this would be most appreciated.

Best to all,
Rick Bensene
The Old Calculator Museum
http://oldcalculatormuseum.com