Floppy disk casing repair possible?

[matburton]

Recently I repaired my unreadable copy of Lotus 2 by:

• cracking open the floppy casing at the bottom
• extracting the moldy platter
• inserting a replacement I'd prepared with my Kryoflux

It worked perfectly

Then I moved on to my copy of Bubble Bobble which made too much noise spinning in the drive for me to consider using it.

I tried the same tactics, but it just resulted in the same noise.

Am I right in thinking the 'padding' the platter rests against inside the casing is too worn or lose and that's what's causing the noise?



Is this the end for this copy of Bubble Bobble or is there a realistic way of taking the casing apart further and replacing the padding?

[Sim085]

To my knowledge the sound you are hearing occurs when the platter inside the disks get stuck while the floppy drive underneath rotter continues spinning. I believe that is how one member over here had explained it to me (or I read it somewhere).

Have you tried to rotate the disk with your fingers?

I have not tried to save a disk which made such sounds so far so not sure what would exactly cause the platter inside the disk to get stuck
Hopefully some over here have some ideas.

Originally Posted by matburton

Am I right in thinking the 'padding' the platter rests against inside the casing is too worn or lose and that's what's causing the noise?

[demolition]

If you hear a constant whizzing noise, then I would think it comes from the friction between the platter and the padding which is caused by mold on either one of them. If the friction is too large, it could slow the spinning or even block it from spinning altogether.

Thus I think you should also replace the padding. Also, if the old platter had mold on it some of that would have been deposited on the padding and will infect your transplanted platter.

[matburton]

Also, if the old platter had mold on it some of that would have been deposited on the padding and will infect your transplanted platter.

That's a good point, I didn't check for Lotus 2 time will tell I guess.

Have you tried to rotate the disk with your fingers?

Yes, it does rotate fairly freely. I try to avoid putting disks that feel like they're not going to rotate properly in any drive (having broken one with dud disks)

Thus I think you should also replace the padding.

I was guessing that'd be the only option.

Any ideas on what adhesive to use? I'm guessing the padding must end-up being fairly uniformly stuck down so as not to bunch-up but also mustn't end-up gripping the platter.

Given I'd have to fully separate the two halves, is there a technique to get the metal shield back on after? Would I even be able to get the tiny spring back in properly?

I know this is all a bit over the top but I just hate the idea of chucking original game disks in the bin.

[demolition]

It should be possible to remove and reinstall the metal slider if you are careful. I think that reinstallation is easier than removal as you have to be careful not to bend the slider when you remove it. To me, the hardest part is to take the two halves of the floppy apart. Actually I have never been able to do that without breaking it a little bit around the points where they are welded together.

But I guess you can just start practicing on some worthless floppies and eventually you should figure out how to get them off clean and then you have the parts you need.

[matburton]

I just got round to this. There was little hope of replacing the padding inside so I swapped the bottom half of the disk with another disk, along with the platter (and hoped the padding on the top half was good enough)

It should be possible to remove and reinstall the metal slider if you are careful. I think that reinstallation is easier than removal as you have to be careful not to bend the slider when you remove it. To me, the hardest part is to take the two halves of the floppy apart. Actually I have never been able to do that without breaking it a little bit around the points where they are welded together.

You're right, it was tricky. The slider and spring turned out to be fairly easy to re-add but I snapped the 'little' bits' in different ways on each disk and they didn't easily line-up. That in turn meant I made a mess when trying to glue the two halves back together.

But I guess you can just start practicing on some worthless floppies and eventually you should figure out how to get them off clean and then you have the parts you need.

I think my conclusion is disks like this one are probably too far gone to be worth the effort. Lotus 2 only worked because the patter had some damage but span nicely in the casing, and inserting a replacement platter isn't nearly as invasive.

Ah well, was a fun experiment, but it's going in the bin