Homebrew PCBs

I may have lucked into something good.  I put out a post on our county
FreeCycle Yahoo group for a heat-type laminator.  It surprised me, but
I got a response.  I went over and picked it up last night (free, of
course; that's what FreeCycle is all about), and this thing is an old
GBC Model 418-LM roll-type laminator.  I haven't measured the rollers
yet because I didn't have anything handy that long.  They're probably
18 - 20 inches, and there are 3 rubber rollers and one heated metal
roller.  The rollers are about 2.5" in diameter.  Looking at the
rollers and the diagram on the back, it's possible to manually feed a
board straight through.  This machine must weigh about 50 pounds.  It
has a temperature control pot or rheostat on the back.

There are some large electrolytic capacitors on this thing, so when I
check it out, I'm going to bring it up slowly on a Variac.

I sent an email to GBC to see if they can send me some info from their
archives.

Cheers,
Ted

On Wed, 08 Mar 2006 01:18:17 +0100, kilocycles <kilocycles@...>  
wrote:

> There are some large electrolytic capacitors on this thing, so when I
>
> check it out, I'm going to bring it up slowly on a Variac.


I doubt it's _that_ old ;-)


Sounds like a good find.

ST

Stephan,
Stylistically, I'd say the 1960's!  I'm going to disassemble it and
get the spiders out, and see what it'll do.

Cheers,
Ted

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Stefan Trethan"
<stefan_trethan@...> wrote:

>
> On Wed, 08 Mar 2006 01:18:17 +0100, kilocycles <kilocycles@...>  
> wrote:
> 
> > There are some large electrolytic capacitors on this thing, so when I
> >
> > check it out, I'm going to bring it up slowly on a Variac.
> 
> 
> I doubt it's _that_ old ;-)
> 
> 
> Sounds like a good find.
> 
> ST
>

On Thu, 09 Mar 2006 23:31:43 +0100, kilocycles <kilocycles@...>  
wrote:

> Stephan,
>
> Stylistically, I'd say the 1960's!  I'm going to disassemble it and
>
> get the spiders out, and see what it'll do.
>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Ted


OK, it _IS_ old ;-)

The 'lytics might be dry, i'd test them with the esr meter if they are  
critical for function.
I'm curious what a 60's laminator would need 'lytics for at all,  
considering that they practically exclusively used "mechanical"  
thermostats then. Maybe you see a motor cap for the drive motor?

ST

I just hoisted the beast onto my lap and shined a light in there, and
I don't see them.  I'm looking through a bunch of 1/4" ventilation
slots.  I could have sworn I saw two tall cans in there in the lady's
basement, but it must have been shadows of the rollers or something. 
There is a large heat sink and a big rectifier or SCR of some type,
which is good, because that means this thing puts out some heat!  The
fuse holder says "115 VAC, 15 Amp".  Probably somewhere around a
kilowatt, I suppose.

I measured the diameter of the rubber rollers with a divider, and they
are 2 inches.  The exposed roller length is about 19 inches.

> 
> OK, it _IS_ old ;-)
> 
> The 'lytics might be dry, i'd test them with the esr meter if they are  
> critical for function.
> I'm curious what a 60's laminator would need 'lytics for at all,  
> considering that they practically exclusively used "mechanical"  
> thermostats then. Maybe you see a motor cap for the drive motor?
> 
> ST
>

On Fri, 10 Mar 2006 00:34:48 +0100, kilocycles <kilocycles@...>  
wrote:

> There is a large heat sink and a big rectifier or SCR of some type,
>
> which is good, because that means this thing puts out some heat!  The
>
> fuse holder says "115 VAC, 15 Amp".  Probably somewhere around a
>
> kilowatt, I suppose.


Sounds about right, my fuser (30+cm length) has about the same power.



I was surprised today to find they sell GBC products here (Austria). I  
bought a simple paper cutter (sliding blade type) and found it is GBC  
brand. Might even sell their laminators here, but then, it's not like i  
need one.

ST