Yeah, I popped it open to see if there were DIP switches, no luck. There's also a big electrolytic capacitor, but at least it didn't look bulgy.
The DPU-414 has, if I read that manual correctly, 'soft' DIP switches set using the two buttons on the printer. I did already email the support address for printers at Seiko yesterday, but no reply yet. Of course, time difference, may have already been close to end of day for their Friday, plus I'm sure digging up a manual for a really old printer they haven't sold in forever is not on the top of their daily goal list. - Tom On Fri, May 9, 2025 at 4:58 PM Andrew Ayers <[email protected]> wrote: > Trying to help ya out, because I've been there before. > > Something you might try to do, would be to contact Seiko Instruments > Inc, whom I believe is the manufacturer, directly; the FCC ID seems to > confirm this: > > https://fcc.report/FCC-ID/C4Z7NSTK06011 > > ...but not much else (sometimes, when a device is FCC registered, you > can find all kinds of info that the FCC keeps on file about it, as it > wends and winds it way thru the registration process; technical manuals, > user manuals, etc - and if the FCC does certain testing, you might even > find internal photos, and other things; it's a great "go-to" place for > things like this... > > BTW - I got this FCC ID from a photo of a DPU-40 I found on Ebay - maybe > there is another version? > > https://www.ebay.com/itm/326280347705 > > ...to continue, though...sometimes, like in this case - you find > nothing, unfortunately - except confirmation of the manufacturer. I > don't honestly know why this sometimes happens, because one would think > that when you start the process, there would be more than just this > singular application record and nothing more. Unless there was a more > lax process back then (1980s?) and/or the records were lost, not > digitized, or something else? That said - here's another oddity - I > found this manual for the "DPU-30" (which should be the model before the > DPU-40, right? Well...): > > https://www.mouser.com/ds/2/360/DPU30_Technical_Reference-8285.pdf > > This manual shows a much more modern-looking thermal printer - and a > manufacturing date range of the early 2000's - so, maybe they re-used > model #s for the product range (much like the Ford Ranger pickup truck > thru the years, when at one time the "Ranger" was a 4-door car, IIRC - > 1950s or 60s?). > > Something you can also google around for, which might help you find > something (I'm still looking) is "Seiko DPU series pdf" - of course, not > knowing exactly which printer you have (the old 1980s model? Or > something newer?) - hinders my searching a bit (there is, for instance, > some newer "DPU-414" mobile printer - but I don't know if anything about > it would relate to your printer). > > Something you might do (well, I'd do it - but you'll need to decide if > you'd feel like it ) would be to open the thing up, and see what's > inside the printer - take a bunch of photos, there might be some > markings or numbers that can help - gather as much info as you can. Of > course, this is only of use if you plan to do much more than what you > are doing, of course - but anything can help in the future. Also, gauge > on whether you want to do this or not based on your level of comfort > with tearing down things...and then putting them back together (just > keep in mind, mainly, that if something doesn't want to come apart, to > stop, and step back, and re-assess what you are doing - there is usually > a reason why something won't come apart easily - and forcing things > could break them). > > I'll post a follow-up to this if I happen across anything more...but I > hope what I have here will help. Again, though: Contact Seiko > Instruments Inc (SII is also how they are referred to). Just also keep > in mind that you'll likely be contacted the rest of your life from them > for various things (I'm on their list - or maybe it was Casio - or Sony? > I forget - but some old piece-o-junk I had landed me on an email list > which so far, has seemed impossible to get off of). > Andrew L. Ayers > Glendale, Arizona > phoenixgarage.org > github.com/andrew-ayers >
