This is a Brother EP-43 portable typewriter. Replacement ribbon cartridges are ludicrously expensive, but that doesn't matter. Just take out the cartridge, load up some thermal fax paper, and type like it's 1986, and you have an essay due in the morning.
Components
1×
3300µF, 10V electrolytic capacitor
this is the one that blew
1×
2200µF, 16V electrolytic capacitor
the big one next door
1×
470µF, 10V electrolytic capacitor
all nichicon, all the time
2×
22µF, 16V electrolytic capacitor
gonna replace all the caps
1×
10µF, 16V electrolytic capacitor
gonna pop some caps in this typewriter's ass
I replaced all the caps except two -- I was so concerned about making sure the replacement big boy caps were short enough to fit that the 470µF I got is about 50% too big for the footprint. And I left the original 0.1µF because DigiKey doesn't have them (or else I couldn't find them).
Anyway, after screwing the board back down and reconnecting the fiddly-ass ribbon cables, she powered on but didn't type. So I retried the keyboard ribbon cable about five times, and it finally worked. Hooray!
I ordered my caps in two sets -- at first, I was just going to order the two big boys since they are extra squatty and seemed difficult to source, and use caps from my stash for the rest. But my stash is old, and I might as well replace them all with fresh ones.
Anyway, the caps came today, so I'll see if I can get crackin' on this tonight.
@Tomas Green thank you for your kind words. These typewriters can be found fairly inexpensively in the US secondhand markets. I hope you get one someday!
@Tomas Green thank you for your kind words. These typewriters can be found fairly inexpensively in the US secondhand markets. I hope you get one someday!