CF2 - cleaning mehtod

[radu14m]

i discovered this today and looks suitable for our CF2 disk:
http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?t=43332

[MaV]

i discovered this today and looks suitable for our CF2 disk:
http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?t=43332

That's unlikely as the 3.5" cases can be opened more easily than on the CPC. And you would have to clean the case as well and remove the padding on the inside if moldy, otherwise it'll be unreadable again very quickly because of the contamination. I tried this in the 80s with one or two disks without being successful.

Another question will be how much of the surface has already been damaged. We're speaking of almost 30 year old magnetised disks.

But a test will prove me wrong, and I'm looking forward to your results!

[Gryzor]

i remember opening and putting back together a couple of disks, though I don't remember what make they were. The trickiest part was the spring that closes the metal shutter, on one of them I couldn't get it right and had to open/close it manually...

[radu14m]

I get last week around 10 disks with games, including some original games.
All of them were readable, i runs some games and check them all.
The next day, from 10 disk only 3 could be read....i try them in my other cpc, same problem.


is normal that they fail like this or i can fix them somehow ?

[radu14m]

i was afraid that my 3" drive is defective and kill the CF2 disk...


No suggestion guys ?

[arnoldemu]

i was afraid that my 3" drive is defective and kill the CF2 disk...


No suggestion guys ?

If you open the disk (moving the metal cover) does the disc surface look dirty?
or perhaps there is a circle cut into it?

Can you try the disks in another cpc or another drive?

[gerald]

i was afraid that my 3" drive is defective and kill the CF2 disk...


No suggestion guys ?

In addition to arnoldemu advice, you may had a worn out floppy where the coating is getting out and stayed on the floppy drive head.
A clean up of the head should not hurt, and if it's getting better, you need to identify the faultly disk(s).

[Gryzor]

Reading an old disk after many years may dislodge a piece of dirt that will get in the way on subsequent reads. However, 7/10 is a bit high... do try cleaning your drive heads.

[radu14m]

I check the discs but found no dirt, or scratches..
How do i clean the head ?
Is there a special procedure ?

[arnoldemu]

I check the discs but found no dirt, or scratches..
How do i clean the head ?
Is there a special procedure ?

I think a little isopropyl alcohol gently rubbed over it and wait for it to dry. The head is the white bit with a black line through it.
There is a spring loaded part with a material pad on it too. Not sure how to clean that. Had the belt been replaced recently?

[radu14m]

yes, new belt is installed !

[arnoldemu]

Avoid using a "cotton wool bud" (a plastic stick with cotton wool on each side) because the cotton wool can come off and it's awkward to remove.

There are special cleaning pads which have leather like ends. These are meant to be the best.

I know that a lot of my discs have failed, so it's possible you were just unlucky.

[MaV]

I second arnoldemu's advice: Don't use cotton wool buds.

Also: I've received quite a lot of used disks during the last two or three years, and it's usually easily about 50% that have some disk errors at least on one side. I never even checked the lesser quality disks completely, but so far the yield of good disks for those were much closer to zero.
30% is ok-ish for second hand 3" disks (unfortunately). And unless there is a proven good cleaning method by someone in the know, I wouldn't bother with cleaning the defective ones. You're just wasting precious hours of your spare time fishing in muddy waters with almost no gain.

[Gryzor]

Depends on the buds. If it's of high-quality, tightly spun, then it'll leave no residue to speak of. I think baby ones are the best, though the shape makes them a bit awkward to use.