Heads up -- Memory card problem!

As a new printer I learned quickly to use the SDHC card instead of the USB interface.

So I bought a pack of 5 SanDisk cards so I could “stack up” jobs and not have to wait for Job A to finish before I could load card B.

So after about 5 months my el cheapo SanDisk cards started having a problem with the little pieces of plastic between the teeth breaking off. On one card the “locking tab” broke off. So far the problem has always happens on my PC when I am loading the cards. Once it sheds a piece of plastic it does not work anymore (I dunno why) so I chunk them. Two of the five cheap cards have died so far. Meanwhile the Verbatim card Aleph provided it still soldiering on. So I ordered a few more Verbatim’s to replace the fallen and did not think much about it.

Here is a pic showing “breaks”


This morning I go to start a job and the display says “no card inserted”. I figured card 3 died and went to take it out. I felt a little resistance and knew a piece plastic broke off. Long story short I tried several other cards and none of them world work either! Ruh Ro Raggy!

At first, I was just trying to shake the piece of broken plastic out but no joy. I finally took it all apart and got the display/card reader out. I am a pretty mechanical guy but I am NOT good with small! This was small. That slot is so small that tweezers or hemostats would not go down in there! I was fishing with the smallest jewelers screwdrivers I have! With magnifying glasses and bright lights I could see the little piece of plastic was wedged up into some slots and tabs (see bottom left of photo below) and would NOT come out.


I finally bent the tabs and got the piece of broken plastic out. (Shown in the middle above of the above pic) I put it all back together and it still says “No card inserted” OY!

So take it all back apart again and I found two things. There are spring loaded tabs that contact the teeth on the card and one was popped up not allowing the card to seat fully! AHA! Again with the tiny screwdrivers I got that back in place. Using calipers I could tell cards are fully seating now. This time I was smart enough to test it before I put it back together and still, “no card inserted”. Dang!

On the third try I figured out that one of the tabs I bent on purpose to free the plastic bit is actually a switch that detects the card. I had bent it enough was no longer detecting. I tried to get it back where it worked properly and no luck, however I got to where it thinks a card is always inserted so at a least I can print again!

Did I mention I am not good with small? :wink:

Whew! The problems saving money on SDHC cards caused!