[Coco] FD-502 replacement drives

[Gene Heskett]

On Monday 18 December 2017 14:27:13 John Mautz wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I have had two FD-502 enclosures for a few years now and when I
> installed them today, neither drive worked.  I do have and FD-501 with
> 2 drives and it seems to work (I don't have a lot of disks to test
> with).  I would like to restore my FD-502 to a 2 drive system in
> working order.  Why, because the drives are supposed to be double
> sided.
>
> Anyone have 2 working FD-502 drives they would be willing to part
> with?
>
Are you able to remove the drives?

If so. you will likely find the lubricant on the rails the head carriage 
slides on, a dried up caked mess. Clean those rods with paint store 
alcohol and put a thin film of vasolene or similar very light grease on 
them again. If the motor to head carriage connection is a very thin 
steel tape, it wouldn't hurt to clean it also as an old film of 
cigarette smoke will change its diameter enough to miss track on the 
inner tracks. If the motor is on the rear of the drive and has a long 
screw shaft, clean the gunk out of the groove in the shaft, and recoat 
with vasolene, ditto the tracking wire and the bronze leaf that serves 
as the drive nut.  All this needs to be clean and lubricated. Quiet, you 
can't alway hear them stepping drives, are surefire signs the drive is 
due for a clean and lube job. The noisy drive is the one thats stepping 
accurately from track to track. 

While you have access, wet a q-tip and run it between the head faces to 
clean the heads. If any color comes off on the q-tip, toss it, get a new 
one and "wash, rinse, and repeat" till the wet q-tip stays clean. But do 
not bend them for a better view. Just slip the wet q-tip between them.

>    or
>
> Anyone know of a good source to find replacement drives? (Mitsumi
> Elec. Co. - D502).

These are genuine antiques today, buyer beware.
>
> Oh, and yes I have and email out to see if the SDC master (Zippster)
> has any CoCoSDC's avail for sale.
>
> Thanks for the help.
>
> John.


Cheers, Gene Heskett
-- 
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene>