[GreenKeys] Simple Fix for a Model 15 or 19 Ribbon Reversal Mechanism

[Jordan Spencer Cunningham]

For a long time, my Model 19's ribbon reversal mechanism was not reliable and would sometimes reverse, sometimes just get stuck trying to tug the rivet through the reversal lever, pounding a hole through the ribbon and causing messages/pix to not print due to no ink. From time to time I'd try checking the mechanism, testing things out, seeing how it was getting stuck. I assumed it was something to do with gunky mechanisms on the underside of the carriage, which is nearly impossible to access without removing the carriage from the rails. I did some extensive research on the GreenKeys search engine (which is still available here <http://teletype.net/gksearch>-- the website I used to have built around it is gone due to the software I used no longer being supported except as a silly cloud version I would have less control over), which also made me think it was a matter of a gunky mechanism just sticking.

Then during this year's Santa Tracking experience, in between two of the pix, I realized it was always getting stuck only on the left side. I played with the ribbon reversal arms again and realized the left side had less play in it before you could feel it catch the reversal mechanism. The right side had much more play in it to the point that you hardly felt it catch the mechanism before it hit the extent of its movement and could be pushed no more. I unscrewed the upper set screw on the left ribbon reverse shaft, pushed the ribbon reverse shaft link all the way in while holding the lever at the top so the shaft would slide without the lever moving, and then screwed the set screw back in.

Now both ribbon reversal levers have about the same amount of play, and I didn't run into any reversal problems for the rest of the broadcast. We were already having a great Christmas, but this added that much more magic.

If you have any issues with ribbon reversal, try that first as it's an easy adjustment to make and may just save you a lot of hair pulling and eaten up ribbons!

Merry Christmas, 73,

-
Jordan Spencer Cunningham
teletype.net | GreenKeys Search Engine: teletype.net/gksearch
SMS via teletype: 385-308-4898 | Email via teletype: tty at nerdology.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/greenkeys/attachments/20241226/7fa6ebf4/attachment.html>