lexmark 25 w black ink success
2008-10-05 by woodmastermcmlxii
Hi all someone from the group suggested I join and tell you all about my Lexmark 25 hack. I read the epsom hack somwhere on the net but didn't want to have to go find another printer since I had 2 junked ones on hand. So I took the lexmark 25 got rid of all the plastic covers and just screwed it down on a peice of plexi glass with a few washers and standoffs, then made a simple feed in tray out of plexi by glueing it all together with super glue. I removed to 2 center rollers that were held in place with springs and can print between the 2 outer rollers by tapeing the blank pcb down on a piece of card stock. problem, the ink beads up on the copper. I wipe a film of ordinary soapy water on the copper (soap is a wetting agent) heat the board a little to dry the soap. the print came out perfect. but now I just pre etch the board for about a minute that works good to. I wanted to use black ink since it's cheaper but does not resist etchant very well at all even if baked on. then I got some powder coat paint and tryed sprinkling that on the wet freshly printed board and baked it that didn't work very well, the etchant goes through the powder coat. then I got some toner and sprinkled that on the freshly printed board blow off the excess and heat with a heat gun. this works very well. when my black ink runs out I plan to just refill it with water and see if it will print with just water since all it does is hold the toner in place untill I bake it with a heat gun