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Amstrad PCW 9512 Maintenance Guide

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Amstrad PCW9512 daisywheel printer (Personal Computer World, October 1987)
The PCW9512's daisywheel printer, with the cable that carries its power and control signals

Most of the routine care of the Amstrad PCW 9512 concerns its daisywheel printer, which Amstrad's user manual covers in detail: the transit locks, the ribbon cassette and the daisywheel. The main unit holds the CRT, the power supply, the computer board and a 3-inch drive.[1][2] Amstrad's service manuals cover the PCW 8256/8512 and the later PCW 9512+, but neither covers the original 9512's boards, so check board markings against them before using their figures.

Safety

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Warning: the main unit contains the mains power supply and a CRT. Both can hold a dangerous charge after the plug is pulled.

Unplug the machine before opening it and discharge the tube before working near it; see CRT Discharge Procedure. The printer has no supply of its own; its power comes down the printer cable from the main unit.[2] Switch the PCW off before connecting or disconnecting the printer.[1]

Unpacking and transit locks

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A machine that has been stored in its original packing may still have its transit locks fitted:[1]

  1. Press the drive's eject button and take out the piece of card that protects the drive in transit.
  2. Lift the rear cover of the printer (it is also the paper guide) and remove the dust cover: open it to the vertical and lift it off its hinges.
  3. Remove the polystyrene block between the two lugs of the ribbon cassette, and lift out the cassette.
  4. Find the paper label tied by a plastic strap to a small clip that holds the print head at the far left of the carriage. Pull the strap firmly to remove the clip and free the head.
  5. Refit the ribbon cassette as below and replace the dust cover.

Cleaning

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Clean the screen and plastic case with an anti-static aerosol cleaner. The manual rules out alcohol-based cleaners.[1]

Ribbon

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Order a ribbon cassette for the Amstrad PCW9512.[1] 1990s dealers sold one ribbon for both the PCW 9512 and the 9512+.[3] Community advice is that PCW ribbons and daisywheels are now very hard to find.[4]

  1. Lift off the dust cover; it is held by hinges and has to be released from them.
  2. Lift out the old cassette.
  3. Hold the new cassette as shown in the manual and remove the small ribbon lock beside the rewind knob.
  4. Turn the ribbon drive knob anticlockwise to take up the slack.
  5. Fit the cassette's two lugs into the slots in the carrier. The two ribbon guides hold the ribbon in place; do not twist it.
  6. Press the cassette down gently until it seats. Check that the ribbon lies in front of the print head and take up any slack with the knob on the cassette.
  7. Refit the dust cover on its hinges and lower it over the printer.

When a ribbon runs out during printing, the printer stops and the PCW waits so that no text is lost; fit a new ribbon and press Exit to carry on.[1]

Daisywheel

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The printer takes Diablo 630 daisywheels.[2]

  1. Lift off the dust cover and remove the ribbon cassette.
  2. Pull the daisywheel adjustment lever inside the printer.
  3. Lift out the old wheel. Lay the new one in its place; do not try to set it to any particular character.
  4. Push the adjustment lever forward. A small noise is normal, and the wheel is not yet fully engaged.
  5. Refit the ribbon cassette and the dust cover.
  6. Tell the software which wheel is fitted.

Garbled print means either the wheel is not seated properly or the software is set up wrongly.[1]

Paper

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Single sheets load automatically only when the paper release lever is pushed back.[1] With continuous paper the tractor feed stops the lid being closed, which leaves the printer louder.[2]

Disc drive

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The 9512 has one 720K 3-inch drive, with space to its right for a second.[2] A drive whose motor runs but whose disc does not turn usually has a perished belt, which community advice calls the most common PCW fault.[4] The belt procedure for the 3-inch drive of the 8000 series is in the 8256 maintenance guide, and Amstrad's alignment figures for the 8512's 720K drive B are in the Amstrad PCW 8512 Maintenance Guide; confirm that the drive in the 9512 is the same mechanism before relying on them. Head cleaning is covered in Floppy Drive Repair.

Let a machine that has been in a cold loft or garage stand in a warm room for a couple of days before switching it on.[4]

Monitor

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The horizontal and vertical hold controls are on the back of the main unit, beside the power switch.[2] Amstrad's published alignment figures are for the later 9512+, whose monitor board may differ; they are in the Amstrad PCW 9512+ Maintenance Guide.

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Amstrad, PCW9512 Ordinateur Personnel Traitement de Texte – Manuel de l'utilisateur (1987, French). Hosted as File:Amstrad PCW9512 User Manual (1987, French).pdf, described at Amstrad PCW 9512 User Manual (French). Part 1: transit packing and printer locks pp. 3–4; connecting the printer p. 5; rear power switch p. 6; cleaning p. 16; changing the ribbon pp. 23–24; changing the daisywheel pp. 24–25; Annex II, troubleshooting, pp. 37–41.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 John Donaldson, "Benchtest: Amstrad PCW9512", Personal Computer World, October 1987, pp. 98–102. Scan at archive.org. Retrieved 2026-10-02. The one-piece main unit with display, power supply, drive and circuitry; the rear hold controls; the printer powered and controlled from the main unit, with a 15-inch carriage and Diablo 630 daisywheels.
  3. ↑ PCW Today issue 7 (autumn 1997), dealer advertisement: "Ribbon for PCW 9512, 9512+". Scan at archive.org/details/pcw-today-07. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Richard Lloyd, PCW article ("Fifty two years and counting"), Amstrad CPC User Club Magazine (ACUC) issue 1, June 2022. Scan at archive.org. Retrieved 2026-10-02. PCW printer ribbons and daisywheels almost unobtainable; the perished drive belt as the most common PCW fault; letting a stored machine acclimatise.


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