Date   : Sun, 21 Apr 1985 10:55:00 MST
From   : Keith Petersen <W8SDZ@SIMTEL20.ARPA>
Subject: Floppy disk squeal fix

The following was recently seen on Ward Christensen's personal
bulletin board system (312-849-1132) and is relayed here for its
informational value.
--Keith

From: Ward Christensen
To:   All
Re:   Squealing diskettes solved

A month or so back I solicited opinions on squealing diskettes.
Yesterday I solved it with a replace of the PRESSURE PAD on the
Shugart 801 drives.  I also WD-40'd the stepper lead screw, and now
seeking is as smooth as velvet, IN SPITE of maintenance people's
advice to leave it "dry" so it doesn't attract dust.


From: Gary Elfring
To:   Ward Christensen
Re:   WD-40 and Shugart

I have lubricated my lead screws for a number of years.  One of my
drives started acting up and I noticed that it was very hard to
manually move the lead screw.  I cleaned the screw completely with a
freon based solvent and then lubricated with a light machine oil.
This speeded up disk access significantly!  Anyway, the choice of
lubricant makes a BIG difference.  After about 6 months I had to go
clean and relubricate the screw.  It got all gummed up.  This time I
used a silicon based spray product.  That attracted less dirt and
lasts about a year.  Cleaning and spraying once a year doesn't bother
me much.  It also a good idea to check the pressure pads at least once
a year.  As they wear out the disk reads and writes become less
reliable.