[Coco] Cleaning Coco disks (gene heskett) (Andrew)

[gene heskett]

On Sunday, January 22, 2012 04:09:58 PM Andrew did opine:

> All,
> 
> Thank you for taking the time on this.
> 
> @Bill Pierce: While that is a drive cleaning kit, it looks like it was
> made for 3.5" floppies; I was thinking a 5.25 floppy kit, but I'll stick
> to gene's advice on avoiding such disks for any drive as too abrasive
> (which is what I've heard about them). Maybe such a kit could get me the
> alcohol (maybe Fry's Electronics has something in MG chemicals section -
> I see the MG offers 99% pure isopropyl, which I think is the same that
> you see in video/tape cleaners?). Thanks for help.
> 
The alky I refer to is available in the paint dept at any 
hdwe/lumberyard/wallies on the planet, usually in a red & white quart can 
with a big SLX prominently displayed on the can.  This isn't isopropyl, 
more like methanol.  I've even tossed in some castor oil & ran model 
airplanes on it.  No use running all over creation & paying 10x the price 
just because some wanna be genius calls it head cleaner.

> @Robert Gault: As noted above, I'll keep the advice on cleaning; I'll
> also avoid trying to align any of the drives, since I certainly don't
> have any of the special alignment disks (I was kid when I remember
> seeing them advertised though). I had thought the disks had a strobe
> pattern on them, but you say that's one the drive - ok. What would be
> the best way to set this speed to 300 rpm? I seem to recall something
> about using a fluorescent lamp to do this from somewhere - something to
> do with the 60 hz flicker? I've got an AKAI turntable that has a speed
> adjustment system like that - it uses a small neon lamp next to the edge
> of the table, and you adjust a little potentiometer to vary the speed
> until the pattern holds still. I assume something like this is also done
> with a floppy drive...?
> 
> @gene heskett: Is the "paint thinner" alcohol (menthanol, I'd imagine)
> more-or-less as good as anything from MG?

Absolutely

 > I'll definitely look into
> those swabs as well; I have some acetone meant for cleaning up a
> mini-mill (something I have vowed to get to this year - its been sitting
> in red-grease for a couple of years now with a bag over it) - and such
> swabs might come in handy for that as well.

You can see what I have done with a micro-mill on my web page below.
 
> That head-stepper circuit sounds like it would be interesting to build;
> but I guess I would need a calibration disk to see the track signals on
> the scope, right?

No, any disk the has been recorded on, eg not bulk erased, will be seen on 
the scope.

> I do know how to use my scopes (one's a Tek 2213, the
> other a Fluke PM3380B Combi-scope), though they don't see as much use as
> I'd like (I happened across each in a "right price at the right time"
> kind of moment). I'd only need to know -where- to hook the probes up
> (the Trk0 detector would be easy - but where to read the head signal
> from, off the top of my head I would imagine some test point on the
> drive - maybe it's clearly marked?).

Occasionally you have to read chinglish to find them.

> The scope traces might be
> interesting to look at - but still, I'd need one of those special disks,
> right?
> 
> Probably not possible - but could such a disk be made on a drive (with
> the CoCo or a PC, maybe) that is "known good"? That sounds daft to me; I
> wouldn't expect it to be useful for "exact" calibration, but could be
> used for "close enuff" calibration...?

For the girls we go with, suffice to say that a disk that can be read in 
every other drive you own and know to work, is a good candidate to be used 
as a test disk.
 
> I do remember ads for those calibration disks you speak of from Dyson,
> but at the time I was a kid, and my parents weren't going to buy me
> something like that (not that I'd have had a clue then how to use it).

The instructions that same with it were surprisingly good.
 
> I don't know if I would have gone to such trouble for a CD-ROM drive,
> unless it was something that would only read certain disks, or I was
> flat broke; I would have probably tried something from Fry's Electronics
> (at one time - not sure if they still do - they sold belts and other
> parts for VCR and cassette repair), or something from a surplus dealer;
> maybe even tried a belt out of another broken drive (I keep a few around
> my shop now - for what real reason, I don't know).
 
Fry's, the nearest one, is probably 3 days drive for me.  Are there any 
east of the river?  I don't know of any, and I'm 2 days east of the river 
myself.

> Usually, when something on my computer breaks, I try something out of my
> shop if it will work (I have ton of PC computer parts), and if not, time
> for an upgrade (bank account allowing) - ;)
> 
> While I have Roger's DrivePak and SerialPak (future-proofing my system,
> I suppose?), I figure that whatever I can do and learn to keep the old
> floppy era around (and my drives working) is worthwhile.
> 
> Thanks again everyone for the advice.
> 
> -- Andrew L. Ayers, Glendale, Arizona
> 
> --
> Coco mailing list
> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco


Cheers, Gene
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