One day I was cleaning up, and realized that one of the latches on the top cover of my prized Brother EP43 word processor had snapped off! At the time, I couldn't find the fragment that broke off, but it looked somewhat easy to repair. So, I did the first most logical thing that came to mind, which was to buy another one!
My first EP43 came from a thrift store, where it was marked down to just three dollars. It still works perfectly, with the exception of the platen roller knob missing. This doesn't really matter, because the PAPER UP and PAPER DOWN buttons work just fine for rolling in the paper. I don't know what I was thinking when I bought another one; it was very much an impulse buy. Oh, and did I mention that the new one was for parts as-is? The LCD has a large black splotch, and the thing won't even power on. And worse, when it got here and I opened the box, I found dead bugs inside it! AND, the lid doesn't actually match the model I originally got, since the Brother logo on the new lid is white, while on the old lid it is not. At least I was able to find the part of the latch that broke off, so I should be able to reattach it with either glue, epoxy, or maybe even plastic welding.
Even though the new EP43 has a broken LCD, I still want to get the thing working to the best of my ability. When I put in batteries and flipped the switch, nothing happened. After a little while I decided to take the batteries out, and found they were very warm. I then tried plugging it into the wall with one of those universal power adapters, only for the power indicator on the power adapter to go out. Clearly I was dealing with a short, but where? I took it apart fully, to make sure that no insects were left, and to see if I could fix the issue. I'm not quite sure how exactly the wiring to the main board works, but I can tell you:
My two machines:
My working machine:
The top of my working machine:
the bottom of my working machine:
The thermal ribbon cassette in my working machine:
The thermal ribbon removed from my working machine:
The inside of my nonworking machine:
The image from the listing for my nonworking machine:
The keyboard and LCD of my nonworking machine:
The broken latch on my working machine:
The broken LCD on my nonworking machine:
The power input on my nonworking machine, please help me understand!:
My first EP43 came from a thrift store, where it was marked down to just three dollars. It still works perfectly, with the exception of the platen roller knob missing. This doesn't really matter, because the PAPER UP and PAPER DOWN buttons work just fine for rolling in the paper. I don't know what I was thinking when I bought another one; it was very much an impulse buy. Oh, and did I mention that the new one was for parts as-is? The LCD has a large black splotch, and the thing won't even power on. And worse, when it got here and I opened the box, I found dead bugs inside it! AND, the lid doesn't actually match the model I originally got, since the Brother logo on the new lid is white, while on the old lid it is not. At least I was able to find the part of the latch that broke off, so I should be able to reattach it with either glue, epoxy, or maybe even plastic welding.
Even though the new EP43 has a broken LCD, I still want to get the thing working to the best of my ability. When I put in batteries and flipped the switch, nothing happened. After a little while I decided to take the batteries out, and found they were very warm. I then tried plugging it into the wall with one of those universal power adapters, only for the power indicator on the power adapter to go out. Clearly I was dealing with a short, but where? I took it apart fully, to make sure that no insects were left, and to see if I could fix the issue. I'm not quite sure how exactly the wiring to the main board works, but I can tell you:
- Red to yellow is 678 ohms
- Red to black is 678 ohms
- Yellow to black is 0 ohms
My two machines:
My working machine: The top of my working machine: the bottom of my working machine: The thermal ribbon cassette in my working machine: The thermal ribbon removed from my working machine: The inside of my nonworking machine: The image from the listing for my nonworking machine: The keyboard and LCD of my nonworking machine: The broken latch on my working machine: The broken LCD on my nonworking machine: The power input on my nonworking machine, please help me understand!: