Yikes! my floppy drive!!!

[per]

Does the maintenance manual for this particular drive even recommend lubrication of the carriage rails? I can envision that a drive kept in hostile (i.e. corrosive or very dirty) conditions might have some damage to the rails or slides that might be temporarily helped by a lubricant. It would seem that the long-term fix is to get things squeaky clean and smooth.

The maintenance manual doesn't tell anything else than "replace [spesific item]". Too bad they stopped making them in 1987...

The rails are of metal, shiny and smooth (steel I think). I can't see anything wrong with them.

 

[Trixter]

Then I use a light oil that I found at Radio Shack. It comes in a small tube with a needle tip applicator. The oil is very light and features Teflon particles embedded in it. I've been using it for about 5 years now and have not had any problems with dirt accumulation, which is a problem with heavier oils like '3-in-1'.

I have been to my local Radio Shack, and the website, and I cannot find this magical needle-tip tube of wonder fluid. Can you read your tube for the exact wording and/or part number I can throw at my local clueless Radio Shack representative?

Is it "Contact Cleaner"?

 

[patscc]

Ptfe

Ptfe

RatShack has this:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102643

They try to trick you by calling it PTFE instead of Teflon.

patscc

 

[BG101]

The maintenance manual doesn't tell anything else than "replace [spesific item]". Too bad they stopped making them in 1987...

Exactly. And we are maintaining these drives long after their intended useful life! Preventing avoidable wear is essential in the long term.


BG

 

[gerrydoire]

Iomega

Iomega

Anyone know if an Iomega 100 or 250 meg printer port drive would work on a 8088 based PC?

Thanks :>

 

[Chuck(G)]

Exactly. And we are maintaining these drives long after their intended useful life! Preventing avoidable wear is essential in the long term.

Hence, smearing the mechanism with something that will trap dust and dirt and grind it into the works is to be avoided.

My original suggestion was for at most a coating of dry silicone--it's not greasy, doesn't attract or hold dirt and is generally benign.

If it were my drive, I'd clean it and leave it alone.
-----------------
Regarding the parallel-port drive, the answer is yes in theory, but ISTR that GUEST.EXE uses some 286 instructions. Anyone know for certain?

 

[vwestlife]

Regarding the parallel-port drive, the answer is yes in theory, but ISTR that GUEST.EXE uses some 286 instructions. Anyone know for certain?

Iomega's GUEST driver requires a NEC V20/V30 chip or higher. On a plain 8088 or 8086 chip it will lock up. An aftermarket driver called "PalmZip" will run on an 8088 or 8086.

More info here:

ftp://ftp.oldskool.org/pub/tvdog/tandy1000/documents/zipnotes.txt

 

[gerrydoire]

Iomega's GUEST driver requires a NEC V20/V30 chip or higher. On a plain 8088 or 8086 chip it will lock up. An aftermarket driver called "PalmZip" will run on an 8088 or 8086.

More info here:

ftp://ftp.oldskool.org/pub/tvdog/tandy1000/documents/zipnotes.txt

Thanks for the info. I was expecting 286 or above..

 

[BG101]

Hence, smearing the mechanism with something that will trap dust and dirt and grind it into the works is to be avoided.

I certainly agree with that one. I do believe however that SOME sort of lubrication is necessary to prevent wear and will certainly investigate the silicon option ...


BG