1541

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Zippy Zapp
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1541

Post by Zippy Zapp »

I recently purchased a 1541 from *ahem*, ebay. I knew it probably didn't work and I was right it didn't. But all it had was a bad ROM chip.

The drive reads, writes and formats everything really well but there is one problem. It is very noisy when a disk is loaded. I think it is the hub and centering mechanism. It is a sort of rubbing grinding sound. It sounds like something needs to be lubed.

It is a neat drive and it was made in W Germany and has a switchable dual-voltage power supply and an Alps mechanism. I have not seen one before in this configuration so I thought it would be neat. I can tell the drive has never been opened up and is in decent shape otherwise.

Any idea how to quiet it down? Is it even possible? I know there is an e or c clip holding the centering hub and pressing on that doesn't change the noise.


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rmzalbar
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Re: 1541

Post by rmzalbar »

You can take apart the hub clamp down to its component bits, clean everything, and then put it back together with a small about of grease in the bushing and spacer parts. An E-washer snap ring is all that retains it, and it's usually this part rubbing against the top of the hub frame that's making the most noise, either because the clamping tolerance isn't enough to compress the spring and lift the E-washer up off the top of the hub when clamped, or the hub is hard enough to turn that the shaft prefers to turn instead, or a combination of both. It will also be noisier if your diskette is missing the reinforcing ring, because the hub won't be compressed as much and the e-ring will rub more.

Don't lose any of the spacer washers, and pay attention to the order the parts are stacked in. If you get lost, this will help with a diagram.
http://cini.classiccmp.org/pdf/Commodor ... erence.pdf

The old grease looks like some moly-based stuff. That or white lithium should be fine. Don't use liquid oil because it could migrate. It should be less noisy after the hub bushing assembly stack and e-washer are cleaned and greased.
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Re: 1541

Post by Zippy Zapp »

Awesome, thanks! I did this exact procedure and it did quiet it down considerably. But some of the noise came back and it is as you suggest, the e washer spinning. I did two drives and the 2nd drive seemed to be missing one of the "washers". This is a made in Germany drive with a dual voltage PSU and a selector for 117/220. I have never seen a drive like that so it was pretty cool to get it. It seems to work pretty well other then the noise and the clamping mechanism which sometimes you have to re-insert the disk to get it to clamp just right. Perhaps I should find another similar washer?

I used SuperLube which I have had pretty good success with for drives. I also have MolyKote which is probably what they used and is usually my first choice for plastic gears and mechanisms.
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rmzalbar
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Re: 1541

Post by rmzalbar »

Oddly enough I have a brown 1541 with the rotating latch that is labelled for 220V on the rear, but had a 110V transformer inside. It came in a box of stuff that included military papers and a ZX81, so I bet it was owned by a US military stationed overseas and he had it converted when he came back. He'd apparently tried to use the ZX81 here as there was a 110V-9VDC power supply tossed in the box, but of course the ZX81 puts out PAL region RF so useless here.

Anyway, I have two drives with that mechanism and mine both make some amount of noise in my experience. There's nothing really to prevent the e-ring from spinning since the entire assembly is mounted on a shaft that's free to do so, and there's some friction from the spring pressure and nylon parts on that shaft. I wonder if the nylon hub clamp itself is a little too worn and not evenly seating into the drive spindle? Is the top of the shaft wobbling? Might also try cleaning the hub clamp really well, inspecting it and also cleaning the drive spindle it seats into to make sure that's a smooth operation. Yes an additional spacer can increase the clamping pressure by depressing the spring more, though unless there was a seating issue it may not help the noise.

Finally, you can crack the screws loose that hold the clamping arm on, and adjust its position. There's no alignment issues involved there, and the tolerances aren't critical so long as when you put it on, the hub shaft is centered in the hole well enough. I think I did have some improvement by adjusting the position slightly on one of mine that was off-center.
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Re: 1541

Post by Zippy Zapp »

Ok cool thanks for the tips. I did clean the hub out and the shaft and everything that goes with it but have not tried to adjust those two screws that are locked down with thread locker. That sounds reasonable if it is off a bit.

I did get another 1541 drive in which is a VIC-1541 white job and it's mechanism is extremely quiet which is nice. The only thing wrong with it is the drive speed is way off. Something like 270 RPM. It still loads stuff but a performance test fails at track 1 or 35 or something like that which I suppose could be due to drive speed. I will adjust and try again.
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