Apple Color StyleWriter 1500 General Maintenance

Routine care for the Apple Color StyleWriter 1500, from Apple's StyleWriter 1500 Service Source and the printer's user's guide.^[1]^[2] Apple's documents cover cleaning, the cartridges and an EEPROM reset; there is no lubrication procedure, and repairs beyond these are made by exchanging modules.

Cleaning

Turn the printer off and unplug the power adapter: Apple notes that unplugging is the only way to remove power completely.^[2]

Wipe the outside with a soft cloth dampened with water.^[2]
If ink has misted onto the platen, clean it with a soft, damp cloth. Ink on the paper transport parts smears the page before it reaches the platen; Apple's cure is to dismantle those parts and clean them with a soft, damp cloth.^[1]
Spur tracks on the paper come from dirty spurs on the front cover; clean them with a soft brush.^[1]
Paper bits clumped on the purge unit's head wiper or capping area mean a new purge unit (922-2063).^[1]

Cartridges

The print head is part of each cartridge, and the nozzles are on its underside: do not touch or wipe them. The ink is water-soluble but stains.^[1]

The black cartridge (M8041G/C, shared with the StyleWriter 1200) prints about 500 pages at 5 % coverage and stops printing when empty.^[2]^[1]
The colour cartridge (M4609G/A) prints about 100 pages at 30 % coverage. When one colour runs out, colours shift; print the test page to see which.^[2]^[3]
Keep the cartridge that is not in use in the storage case supplied with the printer, which stops the print head drying out.^[2]

Test page

Switch on and hold the online key for at least six seconds; or plug in the adapter and hold the power button until the page starts. The page shows the ROM revision and a nozzle pattern. Broken lines at the bottom mean clogged nozzles.^[1]

Cartridge cleaning

From the Macintosh: install the StyleWriter 1500 printing software, select the printer and port in the Chooser, print any document, click Utilities in the Print dialog, select "Clean ink cartridge before printing" and click OK. Use it for blurred characters, horizontal white streaks and missing dots.^[1] The printer also cleans the head by itself when it is plugged back in and after more than three days idle.^[2]

At every power-on the printer runs a fixed sequence: ROM and RAM test, power LED on, carriage motor initialisation and home seek, a maintenance cleaning, paper feed motor initialisation (pickup roller and lifting plate to their start positions), and an ink cartridge check.^[1]

EEPROM reset

The EEPROM on the logic board holds data that must be cleared after replacing the ink absorbers or the logic board. It works with either cartridge installed.^[1]

Disconnect the power adapter from the printer, leaving it plugged into the wall, with a cartridge installed.
Hold the power button while connecting the adapter to the printer, then release it.
Hold the power button until the power indicator blinks once, then release it. If it is allowed to blink more than once, the printer enters a manufacturing test mode that is not for service use.
A pattern page prints. A white last bar shows that the data has been reset. Switch off and disconnect the adapter.^[1]

Paper and envelopes

Use 16-24 lb paper. Set the forms thickness lever up for standard paper and down for envelopes, transparencies, labels and heavy paper, do not mix cut sheets and envelopes in one print job, and put the lever back after printing envelopes.^[1]

Related pages

References

↑ ^1.00 ^1.01 ^1.02 ^1.03 ^1.04 ^1.05 ^1.06 ^1.07 ^1.08 ^1.09 ^1.10 ^1.11 Apple Computer, StyleWriter 1500 (Service Source), 89 pp., hosted as StyleWriter 1500 Service Source (PDF). PDF pages: colour capability p. 6; test page pp. 7-8; specifications pp. 11-17; initial start-up sequence p. 20; ink smearing p. 32; spur tracks p. 34; ink cartridge cleaning pp. 77-82; EEPROM reset pp. 83-87.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 ^2.6 Apple Computer, Color StyleWriter 1500: Setting up and using your printer, 030-8134-A, hosted as File:Apple Color StyleWriter 1500 Users Guide 1996.pdf. Page numbers are the guide's own: plugging in p. 10; replacing a cartridge p. 54; storing the cartridge p. 55; cleaning p. 57; automatic head cleaning p. 66.
↑ Apple Computer, Apple Color StyleWriter 1500, data sheet L01704A, January 1996, hosted as File:Apple Color StyleWriter 1500 Data Sheet 1996.pdf. Ordering information: colour cartridge M4609G/A, black cartridge M8041G/C.

[ss1500-1] 1.00 ^1.01 ^1.02 ^1.03 ^1.04 ^1.05 ^1.06 ^1.07 ^1.08 ^1.09 ^1.10 ^1.11 Apple Computer, StyleWriter 1500 (Service Source), 89 pp., hosted as StyleWriter 1500 Service Source (PDF). PDF pages: colour capability p. 6; test page pp. 7-8; specifications pp. 11-17; initial start-up sequence p. 20; ink smearing p. 32; spur tracks p. 34; ink cartridge cleaning pp. 77-82; EEPROM reset pp. 83-87.

[ug1500-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 ^2.6 Apple Computer, Color StyleWriter 1500: Setting up and using your printer, 030-8134-A, hosted as File:Apple Color StyleWriter 1500 Users Guide 1996.pdf. Page numbers are the guide's own: plugging in p. 10; replacing a cartridge p. 54; storing the cartridge p. 55; cleaning p. 57; automatic head cleaning p. 66.

[ds1500-3] Apple Computer, Apple Color StyleWriter 1500, data sheet L01704A, January 1996, hosted as File:Apple Color StyleWriter 1500 Data Sheet 1996.pdf. Ordering information: colour cartridge M4609G/A, black cartridge M8041G/C.

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