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Squeaky 10MB IBM 5.25" FH HDD

R

rvdbijl

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I have a nice 5150 system, 16-64k mainboard, original power supply, original 10MB HDD (with only 1 bad sector!). The system is beautiful minus the constant squeak from the 10MB HDD. It sounds as though it could come from one of two locations and I haven't been able to "put my finger" on it.
I'm 99.9% sure it's not from the heads / platters contacting each other, but it is either from a "shoe" that touches the side of a metal cylinder under the HDD enclosure (between the two circuit boards) that spins with the main motor. Two leads come from this "shoe". It doesn't look like it's a brush for a DC motor, but I'm sure it fulfills some function. The other potential source is a small metal clip that touches the center of the spindle by the circuit boards.
I have tried to lubricate both areas and that makes the squeak go away for a few minutes, but it always comes back.

Any suggestions on what lubricant to use or what to replace / fix to deal with the squeak?
 
If the "shoe" thing you're describing looks like this:

Picture4.jpg

Then it's the spindle brake. It's designed to push a brake shoe against the spindle when power is removed from the drive. The shoe is supposed to have a .010" clearance when power is applied to the drive; if it's rubbing, that could be your squeak. The gap is supposedly adjustable:

Picture3.jpg

Here are some instructions:

Picture5.jpg
 
Awesome! I think that's probably what it is. I haven't seen or heard that actuate at all. There are two wires going to it, but it looks slightly different from the picture. It does make sense that it would have the same functionality. I will try to set the gap and confirm that it actually works.

Any idea what the long clip that touches the center of the spindle is for? It's right next to the brake on your picture (left).
 
I suspect the clip that rubs on the spindle just grounds the spindle and platters, perhaps as an anti-static measure?
 
Yes, the clip provides grounding to the spindle & platters for anti-static. You could just remove it temporarily to see if it's the noise source.
 
It looks like it wasn't the brake shoe or the clip. It really sounded like it came from that area though!
I'm guessing it's from the inside of the drive somewhere, but it is not dependent on where the heads are, so I didn't think it would be something related to the heads rubbing against the platters. Especially since Spinrite gives this thing only 1 bad sector in all its 10 MB with a thorough scan.

I attached a short video to hear what it sounds like. If anyone has any idea of what that could possibly be, let me know!

 
Could just be a bearing with dried out lubricant. Try running it on it's side for a while, sometimes that re-distributes what lube is left. I advise against running it upside down though; the install instructions for these really old drives often specifically disallow that, and I think I know why:

http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68334-IBM-XT-HDD-noise&p=557702#post557702

It also looks in your video like most of the screws holding the cover on are missing - if somebody's been inside there, then really all bets are off.
 
I've pulled it out and let it run on its side. I'm doing another Spinrite analysis. That'll take a few hours, so I'll see if the noise disappears then... Hopefully!
The screws were partially removed since I poked my head under the lid to see if I could see anything "off". I closed it right away when I didn't see anything obvious and did another spinrite analysis. No change (still just 1 bad sector).

Thanks for the link to the other thread. I guess there is no good way to access that bearing to re-lubricate it, is there?
 
Accessing the bearing would probably require complete disassembly of the spindle and platters, so unless you've got a clean room the answer is no - I mean, you are correct, there is no good way to access the bearing. There are old threads on here where some have had success quieting noisy HDD bearings by setting the drive upside down and squirting penetrating lube up under the spindle rotor, let it sit upside down for a while so some oil seeps down into the bearing, then clean it all up. Again, I think there is risk to this procedure in terms of lube potentially running through the bearing and down the spindle all the way to the platter surface.
 
That's what I was afraid of... I ran the disk yesterday for a good 5-6 hours on its side, and the noise has gotten less for sure. But it's intermittent. Sometimes it comes back for a few seconds, and then it goes away again.. I'll leave it on its side for a while and run it more and see if it completely fixes it. Otherwise I guess I'll make a tower case out of the 5150 with a few bookends. :)

Thanks for all the suggestions / help.
 
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