JonnyBritish Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Okay I caved and bought a new Atari 820 printer from Best. Came with a ribbon, paper and manual which I will scan and post. I have not had time to connect it up but at least switched it on and hit the form feed button. Wow it really does sound like a dishwasher!!! When I get back next week I will hook it up and run some program listings through it. Cool thing is it looks like you can get the ribbons for it A. Talked to the guys in the warehouse John. Here are the generic printer ribbons that fit the Atari 820 Printer. DTC / Data Terminal LRC / Micros / MKD Unitote Regital 400 & 430, Unitote/Regitel ECR Just have to be sure not to be tired when I use it in case I try to pour dishwasher detergent in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeventura Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Take the dried out ribbon you have, give it a spritz with 10W-40 Poof new ribbon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox-1 / mnx Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Take the dried out ribbon you have, give it a spritz with 10W-40 Poof new ribbon! "10W-40" is what I put in my car engines. Are you sure you don't mean "WD40" ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Take the dried out ribbon you have, give it a spritz with 10W-40 Poof new ribbon! "10W-40" is what I put in my car engines. Are you sure you don't mean "WD40" ? Definitely WD40! We did it all the time when I was in school. I would always accidentally get some on the floor by the entrance door Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbaeza Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Okay I caved and bought a new Atari 820 printer from Best. Came with a ribbon, paper and manual which I will scan and post. Hi there Congrats on your purchase. Do you have a picture of your printer? Was it new in the box or refurbished? Is it a generic cardboard box? Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeventura Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 DOH I meant WD40! Hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velcro_SP Posted April 25, 2010 Share Posted April 25, 2010 Wow, just checked out the picture of it at atarimuseum.com, very cool and looks like a fat 810 disk drive. And sounds like a washing machine, says the article. I have an 825 printer. It's the model that sounds like a machine gun, I suppose. I don't think I can do the WD-40 trick with its ribbon (yet...?) Anyone know if I can get a non-dried-out ribbon for it somewhere? Played Seven Cities of Gold for a bit last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyBritish Posted April 25, 2010 Author Share Posted April 25, 2010 Wow, just checked out the picture of it at atarimuseum.com, very cool and looks like a fat 810 disk drive. And sounds like a washing machine, says the article. I have an 825 printer. It's the model that sounds like a machine gun, I suppose. I don't think I can do the WD-40 trick with its ribbon (yet...?) Anyone know if I can get a non-dried-out ribbon for it somewhere? Played Seven Cities of Gold for a bit last night. Yep Best Electronics still has some new Atari 820's avaialble. They turn up in a plain brown box complete with cables etc. The 820 sits perfectly on my working 810 disk drive. As said it was funny to hit form feed and think wow it sounds like my dishwasher. I have an HD camera so was going to start it printing then take a short movie as the only one I can find seems to tbe the 820 advert and does not highlight the noise. The good news is the ribbons and paper can still be found. I have a quite a printer collection as i have two 1025's (one new) and also the plotter (1020)? One things for sure my house will never be short of a 650x series processor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnBuell Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Wow, just checked out the picture of it at atarimuseum.com, very cool and looks like a fat 810 disk drive. And sounds like a washing machine, says the article. I have an 825 printer. It's the model that sounds like a machine gun, I suppose. I don't think I can do the WD-40 trick with its ribbon (yet...?) Anyone know if I can get a non-dried-out ribbon for it somewhere? Played Seven Cities of Gold for a bit last night. Yep Best Electronics still has some new Atari 820's avaialble. They turn up in a plain brown box complete with cables etc. The 820 sits perfectly on my working 810 disk drive. As said it was funny to hit form feed and think wow it sounds like my dishwasher. I have an HD camera so was going to start it printing then take a short movie as the only one I can find seems to tbe the 820 advert and does not highlight the noise. The good news is the ribbons and paper can still be found. I have a quite a printer collection as i have two 1025's (one new) and also the plotter (1020)? One things for sure my house will never be short of a 650x series processor Did you do anything special to get the ink ribbon printing? Do you have to unspool the whole dang thing and spritz it down, or is there a shortcut? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyBritish Posted May 19, 2010 Author Share Posted May 19, 2010 Wow, just checked out the picture of it at atarimuseum.com, very cool and looks like a fat 810 disk drive. And sounds like a washing machine, says the article. I have an 825 printer. It's the model that sounds like a machine gun, I suppose. I don't think I can do the WD-40 trick with its ribbon (yet...?) Anyone know if I can get a non-dried-out ribbon for it somewhere? Played Seven Cities of Gold for a bit last night. Yep Best Electronics still has some new Atari 820's avaialble. They turn up in a plain brown box complete with cables etc. The 820 sits perfectly on my working 810 disk drive. As said it was funny to hit form feed and think wow it sounds like my dishwasher. I have an HD camera so was going to start it printing then take a short movie as the only one I can find seems to tbe the 820 advert and does not highlight the noise. The good news is the ribbons and paper can still be found. I have a quite a printer collection as i have two 1025's (one new) and also the plotter (1020)? One things for sure my house will never be short of a 650x series processor Did you do anything special to get the ink ribbon printing? Do you have to unspool the whole dang thing and spritz it down, or is there a shortcut? Not tried a printout yet, will test this weekend. It appears that this company can sell both the ribbons and paper - http://www.hamco-wpa.com/index.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted May 19, 2010 Share Posted May 19, 2010 The Atari 820 was Atari's first proposed and designed printer. The 822 was a rebadged/cased printer that was sold also for the Apple ][ line and the Atari 825 was also a rebadge/cased Centronics printer as well. Curt Okay I caved and bought a new Atari 820 printer from Best. Came with a ribbon, paper and manual which I will scan and post. I have not had time to connect it up but at least switched it on and hit the form feed button. Wow it really does sound like a dishwasher!!! When I get back next week I will hook it up and run some program listings through it. Cool thing is it looks like you can get the ribbons for it A. Talked to the guys in the warehouse John. Here are the generic printer ribbons that fit the Atari 820 Printer. DTC / Data Terminal LRC / Micros / MKD Unitote Regital 400 & 430, Unitote/Regitel ECR Just have to be sure not to be tired when I use it in case I try to pour dishwasher detergent in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnBuell Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Did you do anything special to get the ink ribbon printing? Do you have to unspool the whole dang thing and spritz it down, or is there a shortcut? Not tried a printout yet, will test this weekend. It appears that this company can sell both the ribbons and paper - http://www.hamco-wpa.com/index.php Which items on their site are compatible? I couldn't find anything. But, if you take the ribbon, wind it all to one side or the other, and get one of those newer cans of WD-40 that have the straw or a sprayer (depending how it's held), you can just soak one of the spools in it, let it sit for a while to dry, and presto, ink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyBritish Posted May 22, 2010 Author Share Posted May 22, 2010 A. Talked to the guys in the warehouse John. Here are the generic printer ribbons that fit the Atari 820 Printer. DTC / Data Terminal LRC / Micros / MKD Unitote Regital 400 & 430, Unitote/Regitel ECR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyBritish Posted June 28, 2010 Author Share Posted June 28, 2010 A. Talked to the guys in the warehouse John. Here are the generic printer ribbons that fit the Atari 820 Printer. DTC / Data Terminal LRC / Micros / MKD Unitote Regital 400 & 430, Unitote/Regitel ECR Well tonight after a long break i hooked up the 820 and loaded the factory supplied paper and ribbon. Loaded a basic program into BASIC XE and did a LIST "P:',10,100. Lo and behold the 820 printed with no issue and the ribbon is fine!!! The manual is copyright 1979 so assuming the printer is around 30 years old. Only funny is that it prints out a number of lines then pauses and takes a break to cool down I guess. Yes I know I could print via APE etc but much more fun when you can see some genuine vintage Atari hardware in action Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamchevy Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Did Atari make a field service manual for the 820? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sm3 Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Did Atari make a field service manual for the 820? Yes, it has a yellow cover and it reads "ATARI 400/800 820 40 COLUMN PRINTER SERVICE MANUAL". I should add Best Electronics has these in stock still (the service manual that is). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamchevy Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 I have found an 820 on eBay for sale, but the seller told me it has some problems: Here's what I know about the state of the "820". It was working when I put it into storage several years ago. Now, when I test it, the front panel pilot light comes on when it is turned on but pushing the front panel paper advance button doesn't cause any mechanical activity. I manually rotated the main plastic drive spindle to see if that would free things up...but no joy. My guess is that the lubricants have dried out...maybe in the drive motor...but that's as far as I went before deciding to sell it as-is. I'm not sure if I should venture into repairing this printer or not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sm3 Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 ... I'm not sure if I should venture into repairing this printer or not? I can't answer that part, but I can say Best Electronics has brand new (old stock) printer mechanisms for sale still. Or at least they did when I got my 820 in June of 2014: 1 820 Printer Mechanism CA014701 U$D 29.95 1 820 Atari US Field Service Manual 82 pages FD100048 U$D 20.00 I'm afraid they don't have the plastic cases though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamchevy Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 I can't answer that part, but I can say Best Electronics has brand new (old stock) printer mechanisms for sale still. Or at least they did when I got my 820 in June of 2014: 1 820 Printer Mechanism CA014701 U$D 29.95 1 820 Atari US Field Service Manual 82 pages FD100048 U$D 20.00 I'm afraid they don't have the plastic cases though. Thanks for the info! If I wasn't so lazy I could have taken the time to look. I think I will Venture! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Be sure there is proper grease on the cog gear-like thing.. If it has been idle for years, chances are it needs fresh grease. Good to know Mr. Bradley has mechs in stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.