About lubricating that floppy drive...

[LaPorta]

Well it’s jammed again. Im

going to get rid of all of this stuff

and start over. Degrease it. It’s silicone-based, maybe it’s too thick. We will see. New white lithium on the way.

do people only use tubs, or do some use spray cans?

 

[jessenator]

From what I've seen, application with something small, like a toothpick, is a bit more precise and controlled than a spray. 

 

[stevesontheroad]

This guy has older videos specifically regarding the 400 and 800K drives, and seems to have perfected everything with this video. The original question of factory lube is answered at about the 50 second mark.

 

[olePigeon]

Thanks for the tip @stevesontheroad . This is actually a pretty old thread and it's fairly common knowledge now regarding EM-30L. It's actually the modern formulation of the original EM-10L which is no longer manufactured. It was discovered via some sleuthing by one of our fellow members here (I think @LaPorta .) Coincidentally, @JDW is also a member here.

 

[trag]

Thanks for the tip @stevesontheroad . This is actually a pretty old thread and it's fairly common knowledge now regarding EM-30L. It's actually the modern formulation of the original EM-10L which is no longer manufactured. It was discovered via some sleuthing by one of our fellow members here (I think @LaPorta .) Coincidentally, @JDW is also a member here.

I appreciate the info because I was wondering why I have a small unopened tub of EM-30L in the garage...

 

[olePigeon]

I appreciate the info because I was wondering why I have a small unopened tub of EM-30L in the garage...

I have 3-in-1 oil for the head shaft, plastic safe silicon grease for the gears in the eject motor, and EM-30L for the mechanism & worm gear.

 

[CC_333]

I use the EM-30L for everything. That stuff works for things that no other lubricant I've found works for!

And it's not messy! I can just dab a little bit on to the thing I'm lubricating, spread it around a bit, and I'm done.

Way back, I had a couple Apple USB keyboards (I think the ice cube tray and the one immediately before it), and after I cleaned them, the keys were insanely sticky, so not knowing better, I used a bunch of 2-cycle motor oil, which worked wonderfully until it leached into the membrane and ruined it. Oops....

Had I known about the EM-30L back then, I'm 99.9% sure that wouldn't have happened. But I wasn't so smart about such things back then (or, perhaps more accurately, I wasn't as careful).

c

 

[Skate323k137]

I always use a rubiks cube puzzle lube on plastic parts I'm concerned with (having also seen other products destroy plastics). I'll have to look and see if I can find what it actually is.