Got a Rainbow 100 and ...

[Alan Perry]

On 11/10/18 10:47 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk wrote:
>
> Today I picked up a Rainbow 100. The seller bought it new for a 
> specific need and he says that it had been sitting in his barn since 
> '84. It looks like it was a dry barn because things look pretty clean 
> for the most part aside from a thick layer of dust on everything.
>
> What I got was the system unit, a VR201 monitor, a keyboard, a 
> vertical deskside stand for the system unit, and a LQP02 daisy wheel 
> printer. I also got the MS-DOS and CP/M doc and software slip cover 
> boxes. The CP/M disk box is still sealed and the CP/M docs are still 
> in shrink wrap. The specific need that the seller bought it for 
> involved MS-DOS, not CP/M.
>
> I last saw a Rainbow 100 in college around the time that the seller 
> stopped using this system, so I am getting familiar with it now. I 
> haven't powered anything on yet.
>
> ...
>
> 2. The belt that moves the print head is dried out and looks like, if 
> the motor put any load on the belt, it will fail. Is any kind of 
> replacement available?
>

In case anyone else has a similar issue (including people searching the 
list archives in the future) ...

I found a replacement for the belt on the LQP02.

The belt is 10mm wide and the tooth pitch is 2mm. It was tricky to 
measure since, when I touched a tooth with the calipers, the tooth would 
break off or disintegrate. Using those parameters, I searched and found 
"BALITENSEN 5 Meter GT2 Open Timing Belt 10mm Wide 2mm Pitch for CNC 3D 
Printer Mendel Rostock Reprap" on Amazon. The old belt is under 37" 
long, so this 5 meter long piece that I got was long enough for a couple 
spares.

I got the belt today. Cut a piece to length, installed it in the 
printer, and powered the printer up. The belt works so far.

alan