6128 drive not spinning on some disks

[Colday]

Hi all.


Some of the disks I have been putting in one of my 6128's show as disc missing but work fine on the other 6128.


If I use other discs (Amsoft vs Maxell) then the drive works fine.


Been doing some testing and it seems that the device that pushes the disc down onto the read head is gripping these discs more than the others.


It seems the Maxell ones get 'gripped' whereas the Amsoft ones do not.


Does anyone know of the Maxell media is thicker than the Amsoft ones?


If I lightly lift the sprung piece of the head then the disc starts spinning happily. I removed the drive and had a look underneath and the big pulley is still spinning even though the disc isn't.


I've got a spare belt here but it doesn't seem to be that...


Any ideas?

[Bryce]

You probably need to lubricate the carrier (that metal frame that the disk slides into). On the outer surface it slides against the main metal frame of the drive and was originally greased, but as they get older some drives start getting "sticky" and the disk doesn't seat. With the case open you can manually push it further down, it will click and the disk is then readable.


Bryce.

[VincentGR]

Same happens to me on one of my drives.
The disk is pushed down and it can read only if I slightly touch the eject button.

[Colday]

@Bryce I'll have a look at putting some lubrication in there somewhere but it doesn't feel like that in my gut. I'll try and grab a video of it tomorrow and pop it over on the Discord channel if you want to have a look.


@VincentGR I'll have a try with the eject button tomorrow!

[Bryce]

Here's a picture to illustrate what happens. The two upper arrows show the sliding mechanism which is pulled down by the spring in the middle (identical on both sides of the drive). The metal against metal parts need to be lubricated as the metal has worn over time and doesn't fully pull the disk down far enough. The problem is quite visible if you observe it with the cover removed. The later 156 drives have a simpler system, but can suffer from a similar issue.

Bryce.

[Colday]

Me again.


Ok, I'm back with my CPC6128 after a few weeks away.


@Bryce, this definitely isn't the issue you suggest and is exactly as @VincentGR mentions.


When you slightly push the eject button the disc becomes readable, with the CPC case open, what this is doing is slightly lifting the carrier mechanism which in turn is slightly lifting the pressure mechanism that sits on top of the disk (holding the magnetic surface against the read head).


Any thoughts/suggestions?


Video here: 
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/561947509140881449/581845459946045472/video.mov

[Audronic]

@Colday


Its Possible that the belt is to loose or slipping ??
Is the belt and pulley clean

Good luck.  Ray

[Colday]

I'm pretty sure that was one of the drives I replaced the belt on, however I intent to strip it down and put another new on on and see how it goes from there.


It's frustrating as it's the drive I want to connect to my PC.


I'll update later on how it goes.

[Bryce]

Me again.


Ok, I'm back with my CPC6128 after a few weeks away.


@Bryce, this definitely isn't the issue you suggest and is exactly as @VincentGR mentions.


When you slightly push the eject button the disc becomes readable, with the CPC case open, what this is doing is slightly lifting the carrier mechanism which in turn is slightly lifting the pressure mechanism that sits on top of the disk (holding the magnetic surface against the read head).


Any thoughts/suggestions?


Video here: 
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/561947509140881449/581845459946045472/video.mov

Ok, if that's the case, I'd try wrapping some PVC tape around the two plastic "wings" of the pressure mechanism, so that it always stays a bit higher or maybe try bending up the two metal surfaces that the "wings" glide on to raise the mechanism.

Bryce.


Bryce.

[Colday]

Ok, solved it.


This WAS one of the drives I had replaced the belt on and it was slipping apparently on the small spindle.


When I looked closely the small motor spindle was very smooth so I roughed it up with a little wet and dry sandpaper, replaced the belt again and now it works fine.


Thanks for all your help guys!