Apple ImageWriter LQ General Maintenance

ImageWriter LQ (photo: All About Apple museum, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Routine care of the Apple ImageWriter LQ, from Apple's ImageWriter LQ Owner's Guide. Unlike the nine-pin ImageWriters, the LQ needs no lubrication: Apple says the print mechanism uses special materials that make it unnecessary. Apple's service adjustments for the LQ (print head gap, platen gap and parallelism, home position switch, card guide and the colour ribbon) were in a separate Paperless Printer file that the wiki does not hold; see ImageWriter LQ Service Source.

Environment

Apple's guidance is to keep the printer out of direct sunlight, away from chemical or solvent fumes (including steam from a coffee maker), dust and containers of liquid, on a sturdy surface free of vibration.

Operating and storage limits (Owner's Guide, Chapter 9)

Condition	Operating	Storage
Temperature	10 to 40 °C (50 to 104 °F)	−40 to 47 °C (−40 to 116 °F)
Relative humidity, non-condensing	20 to 95 %	10 to 95 %

Position pin-feed paper so it reaches the printer freely, clear of cords, and place the printer so printed pages fall away from it: Apple warns that piled-up pages can cause jams or uneven lines.

Cleaning

Outside

Wipe the case with a soft cloth that is damp, not wet. For stains, add a drop of liquid detergent to the cloth. Do not use household cleansers, ammonia, powders, abrasives or solvents such as cleaning fluid, which can mar the finish.

Inside

Apple suggests cleaning the inside once a month, mainly to remove paper dust and scraps. Use a soft clean brush, a small can of compressed air or a lint-free cloth.

1. Switch the printer off and open the front cover.
2. Remove the ribbon cartridge.
3. Brush or blow away the dust.
4. If the carrier rod is dirty, wipe it with a clean, soft, lint-free cloth.
5. If the platen is dirty, clean it with pre-wetted platen cleaning pads. A clean platen means fewer paper-feed problems.
6. Refit the ribbon cartridge and close the front cover.

Ribbons

The LQ takes a fabric ribbon cassette, black or the optional colour ribbon. If print fades, check that the cartridge is seated, that the ribbon is threaded correctly and that the paper thickness lever suits the paper. Stray colours, such as an underline in a different colour from the text above it, come from a cartridge not pressed fully down (press until it clicks, then switch the printer off and on), an old colour ribbon that bleeds, or a ribbon slightly misaligned with the head, which Apple refers to the dealer. Apple's Service Source adds that a self-test with four light lines and three dark ones means the printer is sensing the colour ribbon carriage: press the black ribbon cassette fully down on its left side so it operates the ribbon microswitch.

Sheet feeder

Apple says cleaning is the only preventive maintenance the feeder needs: take it off the printer to dust it, clean all the pick-up rollers with a lint-free cloth and platen cleaner, and keep the printer's platen clean. Keep platen cleaner off the feeder's plastic parts, because it melts plastic.

Settings that affect print quality

DIP switch bank 3 holds the colour ribbon home position and horizontal registration adjustments. Apple's Peripheral Interface Guide warns that these "modify adjustments critical to print quality" and should not be changed without the ImageWriter LQ Technical Procedures. The switch settings are listed on Apple ImageWriter LQ.

Related pages

• Apple ImageWriter LQ
• Apple ImageWriter LQ Troubleshooting Guide