24 Feb
2006
24 Feb
'06
4:22 a.m.
Billy Pettit wrote:
But ferrofludic seals were
excellent and the resistance could be controlled. They came in about the
time of the transition from 14 inch to 8 inch drives. So some 14 inch
drives didn't need a static discharge spring, but most did. I only saw one
8 inch drive with a discharge spring. After that, the ferrofludic seal was
standard.
... although the spring seems to be the norm on 5.25" hard drives, presumably
for cost reasons?
I would never ever bend a spring away from the
spindle. Too many bad
experiences. The noise was a necessary pain. You can ease it by moving the
spring slightly, so a different part of the button is touching. All the
designs I know have oblong holes on the spring, so you can tweak the
adjustment. It's unfathomable to me why an OEM would tell its customers to
bend the spring away from the spindle.
Hmm, unless on 5.25" drives they have both the spring and the magic seals for
some reason - although I can't think why. If so though, maybe the advice about
bending the spring only applies to 5.25" drives?
I wonder why the squeal happens? Whether it's wear on the spring side or the
spindle side? If the former, then a donor spring from a scrap unit could fix
things.
I also wonder if using graphite grease is a viable way of curing the problem -
or if the grease just wouldn't last long enough or wouldn't provide a useful
ground path...
cheers
Jules