On 10/02/2012 13:54, N_Cook wrote:

If this was mine , I'd connect a small spring or cord with that spring to
reduce its effect, but allow continued use while you obtain info&
stepper/driver replacement



That is pretty much what I was going to do although since I can't see
any particular reason why the anti-backlash is in one direction and not
the other I was going to re-route the spring to pull the carriage the
other way. That way it is assisting in the weak direction but still
doing its job.

In the longer term I do need to work out what is wrong or at least see
if I can get a circuit diagram of the driver board. However it is a SCSI
device so there may be something to be said for cutting my losses and
getting something USB based that I can use with the laptop. For
electronic devices they do seem to hold their value well on the
second-hand market.

Andrew