Accelerating the sludge removal from the 1053 Console Printer

APPLIED NEW CLEANING METHOD

A fellow restorer has recommended that I soak the typewriter in a warmed bath of Simple Green, which won't damage the motor or solenoid enamel coatings. I picked up a large tub, aquarium heater and high capacity pump to agitate the solution, mixed up some cleaning solution and dumped the typewriter into it to see how it worked.

I had warmed the solution to 93 F, the max that my heater can be set to, before inserting the typewriter into the bath and switching on the pump. The water from the tap was already at 90 F and the sun on the solution pushed it up over 100 so I really didn't need the heater. 

Bathing in Simple Green with circulation pump

I left the mechanism submerged for a few hours before I pulled it out and disposed of the soiled solution. I carefully checked the bath for small springs or other parts before tossing it out, just to be sure that the water circulation didn't dislodge anything. 

The 1053 mechanism from the 1130 I am currently restoring was first into the bath. When it was removed, I tried to operate a number of mechanisms that had been frozen or sluggish before, such as the print cycle clutch and the carrier tabbing to the right. 

They moved! It does seem to work, in spite of its gentleness. I set up a table and a production line to soak my three selectric mechanisms - two 1053 console printers from 1130 systems and a Datel Model 30 terminal, which was sold as an alternative to the IBM 2741 terminal. Both of those are full typewriters that communicate over telecom lines, typically they were used as timesharing terminals. 

Mechanisms waiting their turn for the solvent bath

The two 1053 printers aren't yet perfect, but with quite a bit of grease removal I should have no problem getting them to 100% functionality. The one from the 1130 I am currently restoring was missing the rotate tape but I already had a new spare tape of the correct size. 

SELECTRIC CARRIER - SOME BACKGROUND READING

The carrier is an assembly that slides left or right on a round rail in the front and slides across a flat plate at the rear. Near that flat plate are two toothed racks. Levers on that back end produce a single step forward in a space operation, a single step backwards for a backspace, or latch the levers out of the way to allow the carrier to be pulled rightward until a projecting tab pin unlatches the lever to stop the carrier at an intended tab stop. 

The round rail in the front will rotate once for a print cycle, which imparts the motion to slam the typeball forward to that a spot on the ball strikes the platen through the ribbon and paper. Thus the lowest level on the carrier is a platform that pivots front and back to move the ball to the platen.

The type ball sits on a pivoting front to back subassembly which produces the tilt. That is, it leans the ball forward or back to put one of the four bands around the ball in position to strike the ribbon and paper. This is the top level of the stack - lowest pivot platform, middle rotation wheel and then the upper tilt assembly. 

In the middle on that pivoting subassembly is a wheel which rotates to move the ball so that from the top it is turning clockwise or counterclockwise. This wheel can be moved to one of five positions in either direction, thus there are 11 discrete rotations of the ball that are selected. Combining 11 rotations and 4 tilts gives 44 selectable characters. 

The wheel can be moved more dramatically to rotate the ball an entire 180 degrees, making use of a second hemisphere. This is a shift operation. Printing a character by picking which of the 44 on a hemisphere to slam into the ribbon is done during a single print cycle. However, to shift or move to the other hemisphere needs its own cycle prior to the actual printing of a character on the other side. 

Tilt and rotate are selected by tightening or loosening metal bands that run over pulleys on the left and right side of the typewriter, while being fastened to the carrier at each end. Thus, if a pulley on a lever is bent away from or toward the center, the effect is to move the tilt or rotate part in the carrier. One end of each band is fixed to the carrier itself, the other end of the band is hooked to the wheel (for rotate) or to the pivoting subassembly (for tilt). 

Early in a print cycle (one rotation of the print shaft), the tilting and rotating take place. The ball spins and tilts to position the character properly. Later in the print cycle, it slams the ball forward to strike the ribbon and paper. 

Additionally, parts move the ribbon up into position, leaving it down and out of the way so the typist can read the prior characters easily until it is needed during the act of printing the next character. On the 1053, the ribbon lift mechanism has two settings, controlled by yet another band. A plastic band is tightened or loosened by solenoids on the side of the machine to control how much the ribbon is lifted when it moves up for a print operation. Using a ribbon that is divided down its length with red and black inked halves, the variable lift can select the color that will be used for the typed character. 

A few other parts are here as well, adjusting the striking force for when carbon paper and multi part forms are used on the typewriter. All of these parts must be cleaned and move freely to have the typewriter work properly.

CORROSION CONCERN

I do see some corrosion on the rails that the carrier moves along. It does not seem to affect its operation but I won't know fully until I get everything freed up and working well. It is possible that these will need to be resurfaced or replaced. They are common to ordinary Selectric I typewriters thus spares can be found if needed. Look closely at the rough surface. Perhaps the bearings that slide along this are also galled internally. 

Worrisome corrosion on the front rail for the carrier