Best way to lubricate 800k drives?

[TheMacGuy]

I'm not sure if anyone remembers this, but my 800k drive in my 512kE has seised up somewhere in the eject mechanism. The floppy drive works, but produces a loud buzz. The emergency eject will move the drive up and down, but the disk won't pop out. I have heard that doing

will fix the problem, but what lubricant should I use? I have heard liquid teflon, others white grease (like the 68kMLA Wiki says). I was wondering, which one has turned out the best without damaging the drive? Also, is there anything else I should check while in there?
Also, the external 800k I bought has a problem where it will try to mount the disk with part of the disk still sticking out (about an inch of the disk sticking out). I have to use another object to shove the floppy in far enough to get it to get it on the header for reading. Sometimes, the disk is in there, but not all the way, so the computer will say its not readable and to initialize it, but the initialization will fail, so if I eject the disk, and push it all the way in, it will mount. Any ideas what the problem is? The eject motor is a little weak too. Not sure if the disk is sticking on some of the plastic, or if the motor is just getting old.

Please, anyone with ideas, please respond! I'm going to the hardware store tomorrow to get the final products for the repair, and would like to get it done tomorrow, since I have a free day.

Thanks!

 

[CC_333]

Hi,

The eject motor is probably fine. It seems weak most likely because it has to deal with the high resistance of the mechanism sliding through the old, sticky grease.

What I do when I lubricate a drive:

1. Remove the drive from the computer
   
2. Unhook the springs which are on each side of the eject mechanism. These are what provides the force for the auto-inject. beware the heads! There is a small plastic thing snapped onto the upper plate where a tab on the head rests. It is best to remove this while the mechanism is in the down position (as if there were a disk inserted).
   
3. Slide the lower plate around until you can free the upper plate (the one where the disk sits) and set it aside.
   
4. There are four little round things which snap onto little posts which you need to carefully pry off. These hold the lower plate to the drive's frame.
   
5. Once you've gotten it down this far, wipe everything down with rubbing alcohol and Q-Tips.
   
6. Use whatever you're comfortable with. I use White Lithium Grease, and it seems t work quite well.
   
7. While you're at it, you can replace the grease on the head positioning motor's worm gear. If you want to go all out, you can carefully remove the head and motor, and thoroughly clean and re-lubricate both pieces (including the little bar the head slides on)
   
8. Put it back together, and run a disk through it a couple times to make sure everything is moving freely.
   
9. If you did everything correcly (and I did a good enough job explaining it all ), you should now have a fully functional drive!
   

If the head tension isn't correct (it randomly rejects disks unless you push down the head), then you can readjust the spring tension of the head.

I hope this helps!

c

 

[uniserver]

break-free, gun cleaner and some q-tips. good to go, will make em work like new.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Breakfree-Powder-Blast/19417554

 

[TheMacGuy]

CC_333, are there any videos on how to do this, or a guide? I couldn't even find one to show me how to get the drive out.

uniserver, is the procedure your taking about like the one shown in the video I linked?

 

[uniserver]

procedure

yeah dab the q-tip in break free and smear it on parts that move, just like cleaning a gun.

The break-free has really great penetration so it will absorb in,

the place that needs it the most is where the top half and bottom half slide on each other, that is mainly

what causes the FD to jam up, because those surfaces do not slide well when the lube goes gunk.

Don't get any on the heads.

 

[TheMacGuy]

Ok. I'll try that. Thanks!

Anyone have a guide to taking the drive out of the computer?

 

[TheMacGuy]

Ok, I got some teflon non-stick Dry-Film Lubricant. I hope this will work. Anyone have a guide on how to take the floppy drive out?

 

[TheMacGuy]

Well, I've got good news and bad news.

Good news: I got it open, lubed the drives, and its working beautifully! No more buzzing noise. Except:

Bad news: The eject motor will engage and start, but the floppy won't move. I have to use a paperclip to get it up and out. I will post a YouTube video of it to show everyone.

I was wondering, can I move the guts of the external floppy drive into the 512kE? Its the later 800k that is ejected from the software and has no buttons or lights.

 

[TheMacGuy]

 

[uniserver]

sounds to me like the eject gear has teeth broken off or something like that. the buzz is the eject motor working, but its just spinning. 2 screws take the whole eject assembly out. Take it apart and inspect.

 

[techknight]

Well the problem is, if you remove the head/motor you will have to realign the tracking when putting it back together. Keep this tidbit in mind. Any "twist" of the stepper from its current position will throw off the tracking.

 

[TheMacGuy]

Ok, so I got the external floppy drive torn apart, but I need help discovering what the problem is and how to fix it. Click here to see my video on the problem.

Any ideas?

 

[haemogoblin]

I'm also having issues with my 800k drive, I have followed the guide for cleaning / greasing the drive. Yet now the drive has trouble ejecting the disks without my help by pressing the ejection tab.

I've greased everywhere but it still feels sticky / grating like metal is rubbing together.

 

[haemogoblin]

Thanks for all the advice, in the end I used a wet lubricant used on bicycle chains. Was much better then the silicon grease I had been trying. Drive appears all good now

 

[Brett B.]

I always use white lithium grease. It is what the factory used and lasts a long time. "Oil" will spread out too much and evaporate, you want it to stay in one place, so grease only.

Glad to hear it's working.

 

[uniserver]

I personally don't think it needs grease at all.

just something for dust to stick to.

 

[RickNel]

agree with Uniserver. I fixed my last sticky 800k drive just by purging the rails with spray of alcohol. Grease can attract lint.

I did oil the stepping helix though - sewing machine oil, then dabbed off gently with a a screw of paper towel, making sure not to leave any lint. Less is more.

Rick

 

[Brett B.]

We'll have to agree to disagree then. Dust sticks to oil and grease equally well. Oil spreads out too much. The only oil type lubricant I'd consider using would be chainsaw bar lube because it's so sticky.

 

[Charlieman]

I've used cycle chain lube in the past. It's designed to stay attached to things that whizz around.