4 Apr
2011
4 Apr
'11
11:23 a.m.
> The metal eject mechanism comes off
> easily (four screws=20
> > > from underneath, one jesus clip on the eject
> motor), so you can easily=20
> > > WD40 it to dissolve the old grease.
>
> I wouldn't put 'Wanton Destruction 40' anywhere near the
> floppy drive (or
> any other aprt of a classic computer).
You don't use the WD40 as a lubricant. You use it
as a solvent, on the
I never suggested you would use WD40 as a lubricant.
WD40, at least the stuff we get over here (and I assume it's the same
world-wide) is a mixture of vartious hydrocarbons. If you apply it to
something, the lighter ones soon evaporate, leaving the heavier ones
behind, and these leave a waxy coating on <whatever>. For the origianl
intended applciation of Water Displacement, this is clearly a good thing.
It is not a good thing when it's used on a small mechanism.
disassembled eject mechanism to dissolve the old
grease. Then you rinse
it out with isopropyl alcohol. The eject mechanism can be completely
Yes, you probably can remove the remnants of the WD40 with propan-2-ol,
but why apply somethjing in the first place that is going to put crud on
the mechansims that you then have to remove. Propan-2-ol applied first on
its own will shift the origianl grease.
removed from the drive - but not totally
disassembled, as some parts are riveted together. You can, however,
There are at least 2 versions of the eject mechanism used on the
'standard' (push-button eject) drive. The older one thast I've seen is
assmebled with E-circlips and will come almost toally apart. The later
one is riveted and won't. I have no idea if all Lisa drives (with the
eject motor) are riveted or not, they might well be.
Having cleaned and repaired many, many, of these deives, I have foudn the
best thing to do is to take it apart as far as you can. If you have a
riveted one, unhook the return springs (a spring hook tool is very useful
here), apply the solvent between the levers and the side plate, and work
them back and forth by hand. You will see the grease coming out, wipe it
off, and keep on moving the parts. In the end it will free up.
Be careful when taking it apart. THere are some small washers, bushes,
spacers, etc in there. Oftnn they are stuck in place by the old grease
and you may not realise they are sparate parts until you apply the
solvent and they fall off and find a hidden corner of the workshop.
WD40 is a terrible lubricant, but it's a fantastic
(and easy to get)
solvent.
It irritates me that many of the better, safer (for machinery [1])
solvents are hard to get, if nto impossible, but WD40 is sold
everywhere. Alas I have seen what the misuse of this stuff can do to
precision mechanisms.
[1] I couldn't care what harm they might do to me. There amy many more
hackers than classic computers, etc in the world...
-tony