Rodents are the enemy of Teletypes. Be sure to check under the hood before you buy!
I have a page with some info you can download that covers how to check out a Teletype before you buy it. On Wed, Oct 14, 2015 at 2:48 PM, Brad <unclefal...@yahoo.ca> wrote: > How heavy are these things? They look like solid steel in pictures. > That's one of the things that presents a big problem for me up here in > Canada... shipping from the US has gotten outrageously expensive. > > -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of tony > duell > Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2015 5:40 AM > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts < > cctalk@classiccmp.org> > Subject: RE: Fair price and ways to find a teletype > > > [ASR33] > > > This is a very delicate mechanical device. In spite of the fabulous > > shipping crate, the bolts installed to secure the printer, the > > shipping guys let us down. The thing had very rough handling, sheared > > off the shipping bolts, the printer was totally shook up and Wayne and I > are working on it to bring it back. > > A general point. The 'Typing Unit' -- that is the main chassis with the > motor, carriage, platen, punch, in fact everything apart from the keyboard, > tape reader and electronic unit is not normally bolted down. It rests on > rubber mounts. If you are shipping an Model 33, you must either put in a > shipping screw, or preferably remove the typing unit (it's just some > electrical connections and the H-plate link to the keyboard trip linkage) > and pack it separately. > Otherwise you will have damage. > > If it;s a real Teletype as opposed to, say a Data Dynamics 390 (which is > Teletype mechanicals in a Data Dynamics case) then note that the plastic > cover is likely to have gone very brittle with age. Take care. > > > > You need to understand, and be prepared for handling a mechanical > > marvel, that there are virtually no replacement parts. You will have > > to be pretty good with your hands, have tools and a shop. This is a > > totally mechanical device, and the innovation in it, how it works is so > clever you will not get it without some help. > > All I can say is YMMV (and mine certainly did). I rebuilt my first Model 33 > when I was still at what you would call high school. Back then there was no > WWW, no places to get manuals, no lists like this one. And I didn't have > the > paper manuals. I took the whole thing apart down to the last nut and bolt. > And got it running. You need a good hand tool kit, but not that much more > unless you need to make parts. > > Perhaps because I had a mis-spent childhood but I had no problems figuring > out how it all works. It's not that complicated, it follows very logical > principles. > > > Lots of patience, and when things go wrong (they will) you will need > > the perseverance to stick with it. > > That I will agree with. My first one, working without manuals, took about 6 > weeks of tinkering in the evenings after school and at weekends to get > going. And it certainly didn't work first time (it almost did, I had > misunderstood the print suppression linkage). > > -tony > = > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2015.0.6172 / Virus Database: 4447/10805 - Release Date: 10/12/15 > > -- Bill
