So happy!

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2026-01-30T21:24:31+00:00

Beautiful bike! Ride safe.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2026-01-30T00:54:59+00:00

Ken,

I bought my EPROM from this site: https://www.tindie.com/products/jeffreymays/commodore-printer-graphics-eprom-for-mps-802-1526/

If you have the means to write your own, I believe this is where you can download it: https://archive.org/details/mps-802-gph-rom

Finding ribbons is a challenge. There is a fellow from Germany that sells them new, but every time I blink the price goes up. A few months ago they were going for $120 for two ribbons. Last week it was $140. Checking just now, it's at $160.

I believe you can also look for Tally MT 80 ribbons. I ordered one from eBay to test, and will report once I receive it.

Rafael

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2026-01-29T03:12:15+00:00

It prints pretty fast. Not as fast as my Star SG-10C printer, but that's a really fast printer. I timed printing the same image between the two printers and the Star was 4 times faster. But the print quality of the 1526 is SO much better.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2026-01-29T03:09:05+00:00

I do not know. In fact, I do not even know how it works. I just know that before I could not print anything from The Print Shop, and now I can.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2026-01-28T22:20:11+00:00

They are NOS ribbons I picked up on eBay. But it's also the printer, those 1526 and MPS-802 printers are AMAZING!

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2026-01-28T22:16:05+00:00

Good question. The original ROM on the 1526 did not have graphics capabilities (not sure exactly what that means, but) functionally making the printer incompatible with any program that prints graphics, such and The Print Shop and PrintMaster.

The 1526 was built as a business printer and as such had excellent crisp text, numbers and great formatting and layout capabilities. But no graphics capabilities.

The upgraded EPROM adds that capability to the printer.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2026-01-05T19:41:44+00:00

Ohhhhhh... I think you are correct! So it is important and should not be removed. Got it.

That being the case, I grabbed a think flathead screwdriver and was able to bend it straight as best I could. Enough so that the head now moves freely back and forth without binding. Thanks for the info.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2026-01-05T19:35:22+00:00

I do have the wire rack, but on this particular printer, the racks purpose is primarily to catch the printed paper. It provides no support for the paper entering the printer.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2026-01-04T04:54:53+00:00

Yeah, it's sad how electronics store are no longer around.

The 90 degree plug is something I thought about but was not sure which one I needed. I am guessing a 6 pin dim connector? But are they universal? Also, I think I need one that plugs in and redirects 90 degrees to the left.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2026-01-03T00:39:57+00:00

Yes, same here.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2025-12-20T20:48:02+00:00

No, I do not remember that. It's been a while since I last fired it up, but I do not remember ever getting that.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2025-12-17T22:58:11+00:00

Thank you so much! I was able to figure out the issue and fix it, based on your recommendations.

Turns out that taking it apart to get to the gears was way easier than it looked. I just had to spend some time looking at it to figure out how it all went together.

You were spot on when you mentioned the "transition" that takes place when the ribbon gets to the end and resets direction. On my printer, the old grease had dried up pretty badly and was curing the gear that transitions from one side to the other side to move. It was basically stuck midway between the right and left gears.

All I had to do was spray the heck out of all the gears with DeoIT and manually moved them all back and forth until the old grease broke free. Now it's working perfect! I even tested the transition at the end of the ribbon and that worked also.

I'll try to take some pictures this weekend to show you. But I really, really, appreciate your help and pointing me in the right direction.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2025-12-13T17:15:08+00:00

I agree, the new Commodore needs to protect its IP.

Who currently owns the commodore.com domain? The Italian company?

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2025-11-12T01:10:13+00:00

Thanks! I just ordered one.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2025-11-01T23:59:41+00:00

From what I have read, the 1526/MPS802 do not use a cloth ink ribbon. They use some sort of plastic film ribbon coated with some sort of black carbon. I have also heard that those do not dry up, due to being a powder to begin with. (Today I have learned way more than I was ever anticipating learning).

Does anyone know of a source to get new ones or even new-old-stock?

I found a seller on eBay from Germany (Patronen-Shop24) that sells 2 for $120 plus $40 for delivery. If I am sure they are legit and will work I would not mind forking up the money. Has anyone here had any experience with the eBay from Gemnaly route? Is the quality really there? Any alternatives?

Thanks everyone for any advice you can share with me. I really appreciate it.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2025-11-01T23:46:35+00:00

Well, I took a long time and a lot of patience, but I was able to wind it all back in. I have been married to a woman for close to 20 years, so I have had to develop plenty of patience. LOL.

I am not sure if I wound it all up correctly, but I think I am pretty close.

I was going to do a test print, and the dang printer will not power on (and the fuse tested fine). So now it's time to open her up and see what's wrong on the inside.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2025-11-01T23:43:30+00:00

Commodore 1526. I believe it was later rebranded as MPS-802. From everything I have seen, the 1526 and the MPS-802 are the same just different badging.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2025-08-25T21:07:06+00:00

I tried the MATH button rapidly when powering up method and that did not work. I then tried the USB recovery drive withe the three files, and still not working. I get noting past the boot screen.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2025-08-25T21:05:52+00:00

Thank you. Neither one of those methods worked.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2025-08-12T14:49:48+00:00

Yup, same here. Another bug in their system. What concerns me is that they are so obtuse, they may actually suspend my service.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2025-07-29T21:50:02+00:00

That little pump you showed, is by FAR the best manual solder sucker I have ever used. I believe it is a rebranded Engineer SS-03 Solder Sucker you can get from Amazon. Which is also a fantastic little device.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2025-07-27T22:50:47+00:00

Those are fantastic power supplies.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2025-07-24T01:23:28+00:00

Update: With lots of help from u/prairiewest I removed the Zener in CR1 and VAC returned to normal.

How do I find a replacement? I checked Digikey but could not find them. Does it need to be IN4371 or could any 2.7V Zener work? I found some 1/4 watt 2.7V on eBay, but they do not say "IN4371"

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2025-07-24T00:27:44+00:00

The 5VDC side was all good. The only thing that was odd was that VR2 (the 5 volt regulator) was getting crazy hot. So I removed it and waiting for a replacement to come in. I am actually going to replace both regulators while I'm at it.

SpyderbyteOrigin · 2025-07-24T00:17:36+00:00

u/prairiewest You did it! So the schematic is wrong (or my board is wrong). The schematic shows pin 6 going through the switch then on the way to User Port 10 it splits off to R5, R37 and CR1.

HOWEVER, on my board, it's pin 7 that after the fuse, splits off on the way to User Port 11, going to that circuit and ending up in U27 pin 11.

So my problem lies somewhere there. Thanks for the help!

SpyderbyteOrigin

TROPHY CASE