I think you have a Stentura and here is information about basic maintenance (or preventive maintenance) from Stenograph.
Stentura Care and Maintenance...
General Care
Stenograph recommends you clean your platen at least once a month by using a lint free cloth and rubbing alcohol. It is also important to keep your shell and keyboard clean, use a mild soap to accomplish this. DO NOT spray or pour liquid cleaners on the Stentura. They WILL DAMAGE the electronic components.
Storage
Don't store your Stentura at extreme temperature (hot or cold) such as a car. If your Stentura is coming out of an extreme temperature, let it recover at room temperature for at least one half (1/2) hour before use. The LCD display and battery won't work normally until they adjust to room temperature.
Be careful to keep small items such as paper clips stored when using the travel case. It is possible for small items to get stuck in the diskette drive or even short the PC board. Do not transport your writer with a diskette in the drive this may damage the drive.
Lubrication
Lubrication is very important to keep your Stentura working properly and alleviating noise. We generally recommend lubricating your writer as needed, which is dependent on your use. At a minimum, we recommend that you lubricate your writer once every three months. The areas that need the most frequent lubrication are the platen shaft, platen bearings, paper feed roller, electric platen advance gear and the ribbon advance shaft.
A kit, containing all necessary supplies, may be purchased from Stenograph by calling your Supplies Representative at 1-800-228-2339 and ask for Part #31280.
Batteries
Extreme temperature, over time, affects battery performance. Don't leave an "extra" battery in your car for an extended period without use. When you do take a battery out of storage, cycle charge the battery. Sometimes a battery may need multiple cycle charges to bring it back to a normal capacity.
A cycle charge is more than just "topping off" your battery in your writer or QuickCharge. A cycle charge is a complete discharge and then recharge of the battery. It is important to remember that not only your regular use battery, but also your extra battery needs cycling on a similar schedule. If you haven't used (discharged and recharged) your backup battery for more than a month, it may not perform well when you retrieve it from storage.
We recommend cycle charging your battery at least once a month. If the charge time of a cycle charge is short (less than 2 hours in the QuickCharge / 4 hours in the Stentura ), your battery probably needs an additional cycle charge to ensure its capacity and performance. In a cycle charge, the QuickCharge LED flashes during the initial discharge and is ON during the final charging period.
The battery's useful life is longer than 200 discharge cycles. As you continue to use a battery after this, you should expect shorter running times on a full charge and unpredictable "Low Battery" warnings. You will also notice that the cycle charge time becomes shorter. When the battery is worn out to this extent, its deterioration quickens. Replace it.
Stenograph recommends using the QuickCharge to help maintain a scheduled charging routine. This product charges the batteries in better than half the time required by the Stentura. It is a great help in keeping your batteries in optimum condition. This product may be purchased from Stenograph by calling your Supplies Representative at 1-800-228-2339 and ask for Part #33190.
When you try to cycle charge Stentura batteries and nothing happens, you may see it go back to the menu that has BATTERY and MODEM. This is normal. To see the charging message, press MORE. After a few seconds, you will get message "cycle charging battery, unit will remain on".
Static Build-up
During the warm summer months and cold winter months, dry conditions can promote static build-up. Static can cause stacking of paper notes and billowing of paper out of the tray. Fanning your paper before use and cleaning the paper tray with a damp cloth to remove any static build-up can alleviate these issues. Also try to avoid carpeted areas.
By following some of these reminders you will have less worries with your Stentura now and for the years to come. But, always remember that your Stentura needs cleaning, lubricating and routine servicing by a trained service technician every one to two years. Many reporters have their machines serviced annually. If you use your machine less often, it may need servicing every two years. It is also very important to allow only Stenograph Service Technicians or one of our Authorized Service Providers to service your writer.
Virginia Kling
CSR No. -- to be assigned when I take and pass the exam.