Applied sparingly as part of the process of applying the moly-disulfide
lubricant (powder) I've had good results with the WD-40, I believe for the
precise reason that it "goes away" after a time. That's not good if you
want it to lubricate over the long-term, but if you just want to aid in
smooting out the moly-disulfide powder, I think it's all right.
You're probably right about the 600 RPM drives, but I'm curious what sort of
controller you use with them.
Most 3-1/2" drives are hardly worth fiddling with. They're a pain to
disassemble and you can buy them for less that $15 US. I hate to buy
replacements for something I could fix, but I've not found it worthwhile to
fiddle with the 3-1/2" drives.
Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: Tony Duell <ard_at_p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2000 5:15 PM
Subject: Re: Lubing Shugart 800,801's?
> >
> > I can't imagine anyone being concerned about 3-1/2" drives, but with
these
>
> I am when they're the (old) 600 rpm 3.5" drives. Those are almost
> impossible to obtain (AFAIK they're not made any more) and I seem to get
> a reasonable number on my bench to repair. And the Sony service manual
> certainly tells you to lubricate them.
>
> > old 8" drives it is risky to put greasy lubricant on the lead screw. If
you
>
> I don't see why it's necessarily worse for 8" drives. Yes, you should use
> the right lubricant (I use a special plastic grease from Electrolube) and
> you need to clean/relubricate the screw every couple of years at least.
> But if you do that you'll have no problems.
>
> > do need to lubricate the nut, then do so with some powered molybdenum
> > disufide. That's what they put in grease to make it slippery, and it
does
> > well without the grease. If you put that on the nut and leadscrew,
> > remembering that the nut is steel and the leadscrew is some form of
> > polycarbonate, I'd say that doing everything to clean the leadscrew and
nut
>
> All my drives have a metal leadscrew and a plastic nut...
>
> > that is available to you, then lubing it with a LIGHT coat of (one drop
for
> > every three drives) of WD40, then adding about 1/4 tsp of
moly-disulfide,
>
> Argh!! WD40 is _NOT_ a lubricant.
>
> I have a minor-ish interest in (mechanical) clocks. And one of the things
> that really gums up a clock is to spray it with WD40. The lighter oils
> evaporate and leave a waxy deposit behind that sticks things solid. And
> it's difficult to remove.
>
> Please don't use WD40 on a floppy drive.
>
> -tony
>
Received on Fri Apr 14 2000 - 03:28:23 BST