wet disks!

trydowave · 09 May 2015, 14:33

Stored all my 3.5 floppies (about 300) in a part of my sisters house while I was in the process of moving.
Also stored were about 5 IDE and sata hdds.

I found out that this part of the house was not only damp but from looking at the disks completely wet. I'm not sure if they've got soaked, dried out and then got soaked again but I've taken them all out and got the hair dryer on them.

Has this happened to anyone before and what kind of damage, if any happens to disks when they get damp or wet?

The hdds are drying out and I wont plug them in for at least a week.

Cheers for any advice.

Vot · 09 May 2015, 15:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by trydowave

Stored all my 3.5 floppies (about 300) in a part of my sisters house while I was in the process of moving.
Also stored were about 5 IDE and sata hdds.

I found out that this part of the house was not only damp but from looking at the disks completely wet. I'm not sure if they've got soaked, dried out and then got soaked again but I've taken them all out and got the hair dryer on them.

Has this happened to anyone before and what kind of damage, if any happens to disks when they get damp or wet?

The hdds are drying out and I wont plug them in for at least a week.

Cheers for any advice.

Put them in a sealed container with a cupboard moister remover... It will suck all the moisture out.. As for the disc's mould will be the problem...

fitzsteve · 10 May 2015, 11:28

You can probably save the disks by taking apart and cleaning with ipa and a cotton swab. It will be a long and painful effort for 300 disks so perhaps just the important ones and bin the rest.

Whatever you do don't put the disks once dried out in an amiga, you'll ruin the drive.

Vot · 10 May 2015, 12:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by fitzsteve

You can probably save the disks by taking apart and cleaning with ipa and a cotton swab. It will be a long and painful effort for 300 disks so perhaps just the important ones and bin the rest.

Whatever you do don't put the disks once dried out in an amiga, you'll ruin the drive.

Thats why i didn't tell him to clean those the mould can be like sandpaper. I used to have moderate success with ipa and cleaning the surface (i live in a tropical area so mould on your disks was always a problem back in the day

dlfrsilver · 10 May 2015, 17:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by fitzsteve

You can probably save the disks by taking apart and cleaning with ipa and a cotton swab. It will be a long and painful effort for 300 disks so perhaps just the important ones and bin the rest.

Whatever you do don't put the disks once dried out in an amiga, you'll ruin the drive.

the coton tip for ears are too harsh for the disk surface (too much abrasive).
Better using a cotton eye cleaner with IPA, that's more adequate.

trydowave · 10 May 2015, 20:17

wouldn't mold be a problem if they had been wet for ages?
they're dry now so isn't there a good chance mold wouldn't be present?

I think ill try em in the drive anyway and take apart the ones that don't work. if I find mold in lots of them ill chuck them

fitzsteve · 10 May 2015, 22:16

If they've been wet they'll almost certainly have grit and probably mould them. The grit is the worst thing as it will ruin subsequent disks you put in your drive

trydowave · 11 May 2015, 18:39

they wernt submerged, they were in a carboard box that got damp. In turn some of the labels on the floppies got damp. Ive tried a few disks now and some work. a few don't.

Amiga1992 · 11 May 2015, 18:44

Mold can be removed by washing the magnetic disc, I have done this on 5 1/4" floppies with much success. Take the diskette apart and put the magnetic disc on a known good mold-free case to try and read it. harder with 3 1/2" disks ince this means you have to break the case.

I only used water and rubbed the disk surface gently with my own fingers. I made sure I dried the disks properly afterwards surrounding them in tissue paper and not rubbing them at all, just "patting" them with the tissue paper until they were absolutely water free.

All disks that gave a whine and ruined disk drives before now worked and had not even a single read error. I backed them all up and forgot about them forever. took a while but hey, I recovered my data.

Don't try the disks on your drive! Mold can ruin your drive and then you'll regret it.

fitzsteve · 11 May 2015, 18:49

You said originally they were completely wet, hence the advice, now you said just the label was damp?

trydowave · 11 May 2015, 20:57

I meant that I don't know what condition they were in. They could have been more wet and dried off or just been damp. Not sure which. ive taken apart one of the floppies that had a wet label (after it had dried) and the black disk inside looked fine. Well to my eyes. Nothing on it apart from the odd partial of dust, which I blew off.

grizzlyaddams · 12 May 2015, 22:06

For 3.5" floppies I have had a good amount of success by sliding the metal bracket over, manually spinning the disk, and looking for mold or other damage.

In the case of damage or mold, or even some cases where they looked fine but the disk still didn't work, doing as others mentioned with IPA and cotton swab to clean the entire data surface of the disk. I do this without removing the disk from the jacket by holding open the metal bracket and manually spinning the disk, cleaning the area visible in the opening with each turn.

Afterwards a few more manual full spins to help dry and further clean the disk surface. It takes me maybe 5 to 10 minutes per disk and I've only done them on an as needed basis, as opposed to dozens or hundreds at a time.

Supamax · 13 May 2015, 03:19

What's IPA??

grizzlyaddams · 13 May 2015, 07:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Supamax

What's IPA??

Isopropyl alcohol, or rubbing alcohol.

jbenam · 13 May 2015, 10:34

I've tried cleaning 2-3 floppies I had around, which were obviously stored in a suboptimal way. Read errors everywhere.

Opened the floppy up, cleaned the surface with IPA with a good rub and put them back in the drive. Fire up X-Copy to check the disk and... all the errors were still there, at the SAME exact sectors as before

I tried another 2 and I had the same thing happen. I just gave up

09 May 2015, 14:33	#1
trydowave Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: N/A Posts: 873	wet disks! Stored all my 3.5 floppies (about 300) in a part of my sisters house while I was in the process of moving. Also stored were about 5 IDE and sata hdds. I found out that this part of the house was not only damp but from looking at the disks completely wet. I'm not sure if they've got soaked, dried out and then got soaked again but I've taken them all out and got the hair dryer on them. Has this happened to anyone before and what kind of damage, if any happens to disks when they get damp or wet? The hdds are drying out and I wont plug them in for at least a week. Cheers for any advice.

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10 May 2015, 11:28	#3
fitzsteve Professional slacker! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kent, UK Age: 44 Posts: 6,683	You can probably save the disks by taking apart and cleaning with ipa and a cotton swab. It will be a long and painful effort for 300 disks so perhaps just the important ones and bin the rest. Whatever you do don't put the disks once dried out in an amiga, you'll ruin the drive.

10 May 2015, 20:17	#6
trydowave Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: N/A Posts: 873	wouldn't mold be a problem if they had been wet for ages? they're dry now so isn't there a good chance mold wouldn't be present? I think ill try em in the drive anyway and take apart the ones that don't work. if I find mold in lots of them ill chuck them

10 May 2015, 22:16	#7
fitzsteve Professional slacker! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kent, UK Age: 44 Posts: 6,683	If they've been wet they'll almost certainly have grit and probably mould them. The grit is the worst thing as it will ruin subsequent disks you put in your drive

11 May 2015, 18:39	#8
trydowave Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: N/A Posts: 873	they wernt submerged, they were in a carboard box that got damp. In turn some of the labels on the floppies got damp. Ive tried a few disks now and some work. a few don't.

11 May 2015, 18:44	#9
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,644	Mold can be removed by washing the magnetic disc, I have done this on 5 1/4" floppies with much success. Take the diskette apart and put the magnetic disc on a known good mold-free case to try and read it. harder with 3 1/2" disks ince this means you have to break the case. I only used water and rubbed the disk surface gently with my own fingers. I made sure I dried the disks properly afterwards surrounding them in tissue paper and not rubbing them at all, just "patting" them with the tissue paper until they were absolutely water free. All disks that gave a whine and ruined disk drives before now worked and had not even a single read error. I backed them all up and forgot about them forever. took a while but hey, I recovered my data. Don't try the disks on your drive! Mold can ruin your drive and then you'll regret it.

11 May 2015, 18:49	#10
fitzsteve Professional slacker! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kent, UK Age: 44 Posts: 6,683	You said originally they were completely wet, hence the advice, now you said just the label was damp?

11 May 2015, 20:57	#11
trydowave Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: N/A Posts: 873	I meant that I don't know what condition they were in. They could have been more wet and dried off or just been damp. Not sure which. ive taken apart one of the floppies that had a wet label (after it had dried) and the black disk inside looked fine. Well to my eyes. Nothing on it apart from the odd partial of dust, which I blew off.

12 May 2015, 22:06	#12
grizzlyaddams Registered User Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: NY Posts: 36	For 3.5" floppies I have had a good amount of success by sliding the metal bracket over, manually spinning the disk, and looking for mold or other damage. In the case of damage or mold, or even some cases where they looked fine but the disk still didn't work, doing as others mentioned with IPA and cotton swab to clean the entire data surface of the disk. I do this without removing the disk from the jacket by holding open the metal bracket and manually spinning the disk, cleaning the area visible in the opening with each turn. Afterwards a few more manual full spins to help dry and further clean the disk surface. It takes me maybe 5 to 10 minutes per disk and I've only done them on an as needed basis, as opposed to dozens or hundreds at a time.

13 May 2015, 03:19	#13
Supamax Da Digger :) Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Monza, Italy Posts: 2,822	What's IPA??

13 May 2015, 10:34	#15
jbenam Italian Amiga Zealot Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Italy Age: 36 Posts: 1,910	I've tried cleaning 2-3 floppies I had around, which were obviously stored in a suboptimal way. Read errors everywhere. Opened the floppy up, cleaned the surface with IPA with a good rub and put them back in the drive. Fire up X-Copy to check the disk and... all the errors were still there, at the SAME exact sectors as before I tried another 2 and I had the same thing happen. I just gave up

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