[GreenKeys] TTY Routine Maintenance

[Don Robert House]

On 5 Feb 2014, at 2:51 PM, Larry wrote:

...Thanks. BTW, when i went thru TTY school they didn't tell us some  
of the stuff i saw in this paperwork.  IT was mainly about  
maintenance.  We did nothing with the stuntbox other than a bit,  
single case, of trouble shooting.  However i worked in  a mostly rural  
area with probably no more than 20 machines which only the FAA and  
Highway patrol had any degree of complication to them.  Troubles?   
Only with the printer itself being beat up at 100 WPM  but trouble  
calls were not that frequent with those services.  Mainly came from  
radio stations when they had a 28 RO and they would tear off the paper  
but not make sure the new paper coming out was clear of the hood so it  
would back up inside and then get eaten.  Lots of stuffed full of  
chopped up paper jams.  Otherwise those machines ran pretty much  
trouble free.  I never had a case of trouble with stuntbox functions.

I've had several ASR and KSR's here with a KSR remaining.  IT also has  
a 3 speed gear shift.  It's about due for a lube job as it's beginning  
to sound a little harsh but the last one it got was many years ago.   
Course it doesn't run 24/7 either. but i have run a case or more of  
paper thru it in the last several years.

Great machine and i love them to death.  I wonder what will happen to  
it after I'm gone.

larry
W0OGH

Hi Larry,

You need to find a younger person and get them interested in older  
technology.  It is not easy...  Example is the membership of the  
Classic Car Club of America (CCCA)
The AVERAGE age of their members is 80. Our Packard Club is  
approaching an average age of 69 and getting older each year.

Word to the WISE...  If you don't do much routine maintenance on your  
Model 28 or 35 equipment...
Be alert to the lubrication needs of the clutches on the mainshaft.   
If the felts are WHITE they need oil.  They should look gray.
In my day we had over 600 Teletype machines to maintain and most were  
28s, 35s and eventually many 33s.

The clutches are the heart of the machine and need to be examined once  
in a while.  You do not want them to wear.... ESPECIALLY the Function  
Clutch, which operates the
stripper bale used with the stuntbox.  If the Function Clutch wears to  
a point where it seizes up, it will cause all of the tines on the  
function bars to break off.  This makes the
machine worthless until you are able to find replacement function bars  
or code universal bars. And adjust or replace the function clutch.

Some of our machines had so much 24/7 use that we had to install wear  
plates on the top of the stuntbox.
You can spot the clutch wear by looking at the space between the  
clutch's latching levers... should be no more than 40 thousands of an  
inch or about the width of a J Wrench.
If the space gets too wide the stop lever may insert itself between  
the levers and much bad noise will emanate from the machine causing  
the pants of the owner to soak with urine....

Old Don
Tracer of open circuits... and oiler of many felts...
K9TTY

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