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5-1/4 floppy adapter

Believe it or not I own about 10 5.25 drives. Sadly only 2 work. Not trying to bust the OP's bubble, but rather just being realistic. As long as the OP gets their data, all that really matters. =)

Was just trying to help... *shrugs
 
Most of mine didn't work. But I'm finding most just need head alignments or head cleans, have fixed a few of mine this week and will do the rest in the weekend.
Rescued a 1.2 and 360 for my 386, no more eating disks and no more drive read errors. Head alignment probably not for newcomers, but not as hard as I first imagined.

Old dirty disks and rough shipping I imagine.
 
That's odd--most of mine work (and I have a lot of them). Knowing how to repair and adjust them keeps them going. If you think about it, there's very little in a floppy drive to go bad.
 
I'll have to make time to do a video or something. I didn't want to say too much because I'm not an expert, just been playing around with them the last week.

Cleaning is easy for most, you just remove the top cover (if fitted) and you can raise the top head giving plenty of access for a q-tip and some isopropyl alcohol.

For alignment see the post at the bottom of: http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/archive/index.php/t-28519.html

The hardest thing to describe is how to do a specific drive, I've seen three different mechanisms so far. If there is an alignment screw it usually has a bit of gum/gunk around it to stop it from moving - but some drives may have a locking screw as well, and the last drive I did you undo two screws and can move the head mechanism forward, backward or angle it - and you do it by hand. The good thing is ImageDisk shows you what track the drive is set to, and what track it's reading, so if you miss a couple you can tell. I did find that on my machine Track 0 and Track 1 always reported seeing Track 1 - however DOS had no issues finding track 0.

But my cheap/nasty method isn't exactly perfect, I just know it works well for me and I had nothing to lose. Using a scope etc would be better as you could find the position that gives the strongest read, I just didn't have a scope and they seem to read and write just fine. Remember to use a disk formatted by a known working drive.
 
Most my drives, im sure with some love and effort will come alive. A few though need belts. Any idea were to get Teac/Tandon 360kb drive belts? Originals are translucent orange and extremely flat. I've tried the rubber band trick but no go. 3 of these drives here, 2 need belts, 3rd slips time to time but still works.

As for fixing my drives, I might just try that tomorrow night before work! I've adjusted a few before, but only had luck a few times, but I never tried using imagedisk. Hrm.... I always just put in a known disc, started a copy, and hit retry after every head adjustment till it read my data. You can actually listen to the head and know when its close, if you listen close enough you almost hear a faint kinda of music. But imagedisk seems mucho mucho easier!!! Shame I have work in an hour, otherwise I be playing with them right now! >.<. At least I get a ton of free time to browse the web! (working as a security guard , finding an admin job by me is tough atm, but hey it pays the bills :D )

Ok when you adjust the heads, do you just leave them barely loose and tap the head gently with a screwdriver or??? Thats how I was doing it before. Details be wonderful! :D

Maybe we can start a section in the wiki? I am willing to contribute with the drives I repair/realign.
 
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Translucent orange?! I have never seen one that color, all mine are flat black, smooth on one side, textured on the otherside, textured side in usually, but i don't think it matters for those things, i've got 3 of them out of tension , but now i know how to get a little more life out of the belt by moving the motor away *Thanks for that tidbit in the other thread*
 
Yes, there are some floppy drives that used Mylar or Kapton belts. Fortunately, there are suppliers of custom lengths, as these can be created to order using ultrasonic welding. (Mylar=clear, Kapton=orange). In a pinch, you could try a Plastiband of the proper size--they've got a lot of stretch.
 
Yeay finally someone knows what im talking about, by orange translucent belts. I thought the belts looked like Kapton tape, but figured it was some other material. Figures! xD

I might just try the plastiband method. I'll measure up the belt size ( guessing 4-4.5" bands ) and order a package this week! :D TY Chuck , your a lifesaver! Esp if I can resurrect 3 drives off a pack of plastibands! :)

The rubber bands just kept snapping on me , or were just too loose and the motor spin freely. Guess I could have used some sort of belt dressing, didn't think of that before, but I do happen to have a can in the garage (PT cruiser belts just love to churp! ). Plastibands sound worth a shot, esp for a few dollars. These drives have sat and sat for years due to the belts. 50 bucks for 3 belts , without shipping ( for basically rubber bands ) just didn't seem worth it to me... especially when I have a few working belt-less 5.25 drives.

This might just work! :)
 
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It might work--I use the 4" bands for repairing DC-600 type QIC cartridges. There's also apparently a 6" band, but it's offered at a premium.
 
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