Life Insurance For Your Disk Drives¢ by Ron Fetzer¢¢ Are you worried that your disk¢ drives will not last? Are you¢ considering getting some back up¢ drives? This article will help you in¢ extending the life of your disk¢ drives. It will show you how to make¢ the most important improvement you¢ can make to your disk drives.¢ The major cause of disk drive¢ failure is heat. Have you ever opened¢ a disk drive after it has been used¢ for half an hour? The metal on which¢ the rectifiers are mounted is so hot¢ you can barely touch it. To extend¢ the life of your disk drive and its¢ components you must get rid of the¢ heat.¢ In the 8-Bit community there are¢ three types of disk drives in common¢ use. The Atari 810, the Atari 1050¢ and the Indus disk drives. The Atari¢ 810 and the Atari 1050 disk drives¢ will be treated the same way as far¢ as heat reduction is concerned. The¢ Indus disk drive will require a¢ different approach.¢ On the Atari 810 and the Atari¢ 1050 disk drives the most effective¢ way to reduce the heat is to install¢ an exhaust fan. The fan should be¢ completely independent of the disk¢ drive power supply and should have¢ its own ON/OFF switch. The fan will¢ be mounted flat on top of the case of¢ the 810 and 1050 drives.¢ For the fan I use a 3 inch 12¢ Volt DC brushless cooling fan from¢ Radio Shack. I run the fan on 9 Volt¢ DC. At that voltage the fan produces¢ the right amount of exhaust. Because¢ it runs below its rated voltage it¢ will last much longer as well. The¢ only two items that I had to buy were¢ the 3 inch fan and the 9 volt power¢ supply from Radio Shack. The rest of¢ the parts I had in my electronics¢ junk box such as a ON/OFF slide¢ switch and a male and female RCA¢ phono plug. The female phono jack was¢ mounted on a phenolic board with¢ mounting holes in it. I also needed¢ four 1/2 inch 6/32 machine screws¢ with nuts. If you don't have these¢ parts here are the Radio Shack¢ numbers for these items:¢¢ 3" Brushless 12 Volt DC fan ¢ #273-243¢ 9 Volt DC Power Supply #273-¢ 1651¢ 1 pkg of SPST Slide Switches #¢ 275-401¢ 1 pkg of Solderless Phono Plugs¢ #274-384¢ 1 pkg of Dual Solderless Phono¢ Jacks¢ (chassis mount) #274-332¢ Four 1/2 inch 6/32 machine¢ screws with nuts¢ (Hardware store)¢¢ Preparing the fan. First you¢ wire up the fan with the slide switch¢ and a removable 9 volt power plug¢ using the RCA phono jack. The fan¢ comes equipped with 4 mounting holes¢ on the top and 4 mounting holes on¢ the bottom of the fan housing and a¢ red and a blue wire for the power.¢ Take the fan and lay it down flat the¢ writing facing you. We are only¢ working now with the 4 top fan¢ mounting holes. On the left side¢ front mounting hole attach the slide¢ switch with a 1/2 inch screw and nut¢ to the fans mounting hole. On the¢ left side rear mount the phono jack¢ with a 1/2 inch screw to the mounting¢ hole. This completes the mechanical¢ part of the fan work.¢ Wiring the fan. Take the red¢ wire from the fan and cut it to reach¢ a little beyond the switch. Strip off¢ 1/4 inch insulation and solder it to¢ one terminal of the switch. From the¢ 2nd terminal of the switch solder a¢ wire to the middle of the RCA phono¢ jack. Cut the blue wire from the fan¢ and solder it to the outside terminal¢ of the RCA phono jack. Now the fan is¢ wired with a switch and a jack.¢ Preparing the power supply. Take¢ the 9 Volt power supply and cut off¢ the jack. You don't need it. Take a¢ male solderless phono plug pull off¢ the plastic sleeve and slip it over¢ the output cord of the 9 Volt supply¢ with the large end facing you.¢ Separate the 2 wires of the power¢ supply for about 3 inches and strip¢ off 1/8 inch insulation from one wire¢ and 1/4 inch insulation from the¢ other wire. Attach the wire with the¢ short insulation removed to the screw¢ in the middle of the phono plug.¢ Attach the other wire to the long¢ terminal with the serrated clip. Plug¢ in your RCA male plug into the jack.¢ Plug in the power supply and turn on¢ the switch. If the fan is not blowing¢ out from the front or is not working¢ reverse the two wires in the male¢ phono plug and try again. Make sure¢ that the middle wire with the screw¢ in the phono plug does NOT touch any¢ other metal part or you will have a¢ short. If everything is OK crimp the¢ long lead of the Phono plug with the¢ serrated edges around the exposed¢ wire and slip the plastic sleeve over¢ the plug. This completes the work on¢ the power supply.¢ Mounting the fan on the disk¢ drive is the same for the Atari 810¢ and the Atari 1050 drive. ¢ Marking the fan location on the¢ drive. You have to cut a 3 inch hole¢ in the top of the case for the fan.¢ From the back of the disk drive edge¢ measure 3 inches forward and make a¢ small mark with a pencil at that spot¢ in the middle of the case. Take a¢ compass and put it on a ruler and¢ open it to 1 1/2 inches wide. Draw a¢ 3 inch circle where the dot is on the¢ case. The fan will be located¢ approximately over the power supply¢ and the motor. These are the 2 heat¢ producing sources in your disk¢ drive.¢ Removing the case. On the 810¢ drive on top there are plastic round¢ disks in each corner. With a sharp¢ knife tip remove them to expose 4¢ screw holes one in each corner. Take¢ a phillips screw driver and remove¢ the screws. The case will now come¢ apart. ¢ On the 1050 drives there are 4¢ screws holes on the bottom plus 2¢ screws in the front that hold the¢ black front cover. Remove them. Slide¢ the case forward. You can also remove¢ the black front cover from the case¢ by bending it outward.¢ Cutting the case. There are 2¢ ways of cutting the hole in the case.¢ You can use a round hole saw that you¢ clamp into your drill. These hole¢ saws come with various diameter saw¢ inserts. Select the largest one which¢ is usually 2 1/2 inches in diameter¢ and cut the hole. This hole is¢ somewhat smaller than optimum but it¢ will do. This is the easier of the 2¢ ways. Or you can use an electric¢ scrolling saw. Use a blade that has¢ many teeth per inch to get a clean¢ cut. Drill a hole in the inside of¢ the circle to insert the saw blade¢ and then start cutting. Frequently¢ stop to let the blade cool down or¢ your plastic will reseal the cut.¢ After the hole is cut clean off the¢ burrs with a utility knife and 0¢ steel wool. Lay the fan on top of the¢ hole. With a pencil mark 2 holes¢ opposite each other to hold the fan¢ to the case. Drill the holes and¢ mount the fan with the 2 screws.¢ That's it. You are finished! It reads¢ like a lot of work but it can be all¢ done in about one hour.¢ Your disk drive will now be as¢ cool as a cucumber. You can run it as¢ long as you want to without any heat¢ build up. Your IC chips will last¢ without any thermal problems and the¢ motor will stay cool. You have made¢ the most important improvement you¢ can do for your disk drive.¢ Each muffin fan use 160 ma. of¢ current so you can use the power¢ supply for 2 drives. The power supply¢ produces 500 ma. of current. Attach¢ another set of wires to the output of¢ the power supply wires and repeat the¢ steps above for the 2nd drive.¢ The Indus drive has no provision¢ for air cooling so a fan set up¢ cannot be used. Instead we open the¢ case on the top and let the heat¢ escape by convection.¢ Case removal. To remove the case¢ take out the 2 screws in the back of¢ the plastic end section. Remove the 4¢ screws on the bottom. Slide out the¢ case through the back.¢ Take a 1/4 size drill bit and¢ drill about 10 holes in the top of¢ the case to let the hot air escape.¢ That is all you have to do.¢ Assembling. Reassemble your case¢ to the drive. It will stay cool and¢ you will not have to worry about¢ thermal problems anymore.¢ While you have your Atari or¢ Indus drive open check to see if the¢ pressure pad still has some felt on¢ it. The pressure pad is a little¢ round holder over the read/write head¢ that holds the disk to the head.¢ There should be at least 1/32 inches¢ of felt showing. Give the pressure¢ pad a 45 degree turn (slot on top) to¢ expose a new side of the felt. If it¢ is worn out order a new one from Best¢ Electronics.¢ Use a stick with some cotton on¢ it and put a light coating of LUBE¢ GEL (Radio Shack) on the cromium¢ read/write rails. Do not get any gel¢ on the read write head itself.¢ Your disk drive will now be in¢ tip top shape and should hold up a¢ long time. The only other weak link¢ is the drive belt. While the 1050¢ drive is open check to see if it is a¢ TANDOM or a WOLRD STORAGE DRIVE and¢ order a belt for it from Best¢ Electronics.¢ If you made the modification to¢ your drives you cannot stack them¢ anymore. Stacking drives is a bad¢ idea anyway because the top drive¢ absorbs the heat from the bottom¢ drive in addition to its own heat.¢ This may lead to premature failure.¢ If you can avoid stacking drives do¢ so. ¢ With a little work you now have¢ improved your disk drives so that¢ they are better than new. You disk¢ drives will now enjoy a long life and¢ you will enjoy peace of mind.¢¢ >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>END<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<¢¢
