# Is there any hope I will be able to find this? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2003, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-hope-i-will-be-able-to-find-this/168759 "2003-04-14T23:49:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bindera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@bindera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bindera)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-hope-i-will-be-able-to-find-this/168759/1 "2003-04-14T23:49:17Z")
I have here an ancient Sharp Electronic printer. Nice little thing. You can type in it and see what you type in a little box before actually putting it onto paper. So kind of a combination typewriter and printer deal. Great condition, everything works, only one little problem. I’m out of ink. I can’t find a place to buy a new cartridge anywhere. I Googled, tried a cartridge for a normal printer, didn’t work. Is there any hope that I will be able to find a cartridge for this? Any advice as to where something might be available? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Toddly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@Toddly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toddly)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-hope-i-will-be-able-to-find-this/168759/2 "2003-04-15T00:10:22Z")
There may not be an ink cartridge available because of its age. It would be most helpful to have the Model Number. How ancient is it? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-hope-i-will-be-able-to-find-this/168759/3 "2003-04-15T00:10:26Z")
What is the model number? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-hope-i-will-be-able-to-find-this/168759/4 "2003-04-15T00:12:30Z")
One of their “Star” typewriters? And Googling the name/number of the print cartridge comes up blank? Not sure if I’m surprised or not. I had one of them 15 years ago, and yes, it was nice, but the cartridges were challenging to find back then. You can query Sharp [here](http://www.sharpelectronics.com/products/SupportAbout/0,1152,,00.html#top) ---
**Author:** ![Kithara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8491ac/32.png) [@Kithara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kithara)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-hope-i-will-be-able-to-find-this/168759/5 "2003-04-15T00:15:57Z")
All I can offer is the customer support number for Sharp. I would get in touch with them and see what they can offer. 1-800-BE-SHARP ---
**Author:** ![bindera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@bindera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bindera)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-hope-i-will-be-able-to-find-this/168759/6 "2003-04-15T00:34:29Z")
Model number… model number… ah… There’s numbers all over the place! Under ELECTRONIC PRINTER on the back there is a number… PA-1000H. Could that be it? Sorry, should have had that on there to begin with. It’s about 20 years old. The “ancient” was a bit exaggerated. 🙂 It’s not a “Star”, but thanks for the website and the number. All help is greatly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-hope-i-will-be-able-to-find-this/168759/7 "2003-04-15T02:59:51Z")
Any chance the cartridge can be refilled? Perhaps a local office equipment service has a trick to do that. ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-hope-i-will-be-able-to-find-this/168759/8 "2003-04-15T09:14:49Z")
**literatelady** , what you are describing sounds like what was called a “word processor” rather than just a printer – specifically that you said that you can type on it and see the line on a little box before it is sent to be printed. Check and make sure, but rather than an ink cartridge, I think it will have a ribbon. The earlier dot-matrix printers commonly had a ribbon, it won’t look like the old typewriter ribbons, but will be in the form of a cartridge, with a gap with a ribbon across it that goes behind the dot-matrix print head. I think I have found your model number, but I am not sure. [Partsolver.com](http://Partsolver.com) lists a ribbon cartrige for a model PA1000 [here.](http://www.partsolver.com/SearchResults.asp?ModelID=53619&Keywords=&ManufacturerID=81&ModelNumber=pa1000&SearchType=ModelNumber&x=28&y=9) The part number is EA821R and it costs $7.18 (plus shipping, I would imagine). You should probably call them and make sure it is the same ribbon as for the PA1000H. The model numbers can be confusing – one source listed the PA1000 under fax ribbons (although I think it was the part number for a ribbon for a Panasonic fax machine). When you call them, check on the physical size of the ribbon. A fax ribbon will be quite wide – the width of the paper, about 8 1/2 inches. The printer cartridge ribbon will be less than an inch. I hope this helps. Good luck!