8 Apr
2012
8 Apr
'12
6:57 p.m.
On 04/08/2012 09:47 PM, Ethan Dicks wrote:
Agreed on all points. One other failure mode I've seen is the
decomposition of the white plastic used to make the air ducts in the
bottom of the drive. I restored one a few years ago in which that
plastic crumbled at the slightest touch. That was a real shame. I
repaired the drive using parts from a donor drive whose chassis was
badly warped due to having been dropped.
The other thing that usually needs replacing (Adrian you'll want to
look into this) is the NiCd battery pack that's used to retract the head
positioner.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
I saw one in 1984. It was damaged beyond what
appeared unreasonable
to repair at the time, but today, I'd probably give it a shot. I did
get the RK11-C and an RK05J. I haven't tried to restore the RK11-C
but I've used the RK05J with an RKV11D.
Niiiiice!
I do like
RK05s. Actually I very much like most of DEC's big drives.
They are easier to repair than many other drives. I've found the lamp
in the positioner a common point of failure - easy to spot, too -
power up the drive and look through the door - if you don't see the
light, the lamp is probably blown. Head crashes are not uncommon, but
the heads are pretty robust. I haven't done it myself, but I've read
tales from other members about vigorous cleaning of heads after crash
events. I've also heard of blower motor insulation failures that have
been known to be somewhat catastrophic, so if you are powering up a
long-stored drive, inspect the motor and the air path. I'm sure there
are other tips in the list archives (like always mounting a scratch
monkey ;-).