10 Jul
2015
10 Jul
'15
12:18 p.m.
From: tony duell
I find [RL0x's] easier than RK05s
Try taking out an RA81!
(Somewhere I have pictures of the rig I built to take a couple of RA81's out
of some racks I was sent. I should post them...)
Noel
10 Jul
10 Jul
12:22 p.m.
From: tony
duell
> I find [RL0x's] easier than RK05s Try taking out an RA81!
I did an R80 (not much lighter) single-handedly.
The trick with those is to take the HDA out. It takes only a few minutes. Raise
the logic chassis (top part of the case including the front panel), then lock the
heads (you MUST do this anyway), release the belt tension (lever at the front
right), then unplug 3 cables (2 small ones on the front of the HDA and a 40 way
ribbon from the PCB on top), take off the 4 mouting nuts and lift the HDA up and
out. Then tape the spindle pulley so it doesn't turn when moving the unit. If it
turns
backwards it is likely to damage the heads.
The rest of the drive (chassis, PSU, motor, logic PCBs) is just about liftable fully
assembled.
I think the worst is the RA60. It's very heavy and it is a pain to dismantle. You have
to take it
apart a little bit at a time.
-tony
12:31 p.m.
The RA60 is my least favorite drive to move. The thought of disassembling
it crossed my mind but since it was being slid into a rack with a shelf and
not on rails it would not have helped much, so just picked it up, carried
it over and shoved it in.
On Fri, Jul 10, 2015 at 3:22 PM, tony duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote:
--
Matt Patoray
Owner, MSP Productions
(330)542-3698
mspproductions at gmail.com
KD8AMG Amateur Radio Call Sign
From:
tony duell
> I find [RL0x's] easier than RK05s Try taking out an RA81!
I did an R80 (not much lighter) single-handedly.
The trick with those is to take the HDA out. It takes only a few minutes.
Raise
the logic chassis (top part of the case including the front panel), then
lock the
heads (you MUST do this anyway), release the belt tension (lever at the
front
right), then unplug 3 cables (2 small ones on the front of the HDA and a
40 way
ribbon from the PCB on top), take off the 4 mouting nuts and lift the HDA
up and
out. Then tape the spindle pulley so it doesn't turn when moving the unit.
If it turns
backwards it is likely to damage the heads.
The rest of the drive (chassis, PSU, motor, logic PCBs) is just about
liftable fully
assembled.
I think the worst is the RA60. It's very heavy and it is a pain to
dismantle. You have to take it
apart a little bit at a time.
-tony
9:11 p.m.
I made a mistake. I was reading about the floppy drive and accidentally
mentioned the rx01 / rx02. The hardware to be moved is actually RL01/RL02
hard drives, not the floppy drive. Please forgive the mix up, any help is
appreciated.
On Fri, Jul 10, 2015 at 3:31 PM, Matt Patoray <mspproductions at gmail.com>
wrote:
The RA60 is my least favorite drive to move. The
thought of disassembling
it crossed my mind but since it was being slid into a rack with a shelf and
not on rails it would not have helped much, so just picked it up, carried
it over and shoved it in.
On Fri, Jul 10, 2015 at 3:22 PM, tony duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
wrote:
unit.
From:
tony duell
> I find [RL0x's] easier than RK05s Try taking out an RA81!
I did an R80 (not much lighter) single-handedly.
The trick with those is to take the HDA out. It takes only a few minutes.
Raise
the logic chassis (top part of the case including the front panel), then
lock the
heads (you MUST do this anyway), release the belt tension (lever at the
front
right), then unplug 3 cables (2 small ones on the front of the HDA and a
40 way
ribbon from the PCB on top), take off the 4 mouting nuts and lift the HDA
up and
out. Then tape the spindle pulley so it doesn't turn when moving the If it turns
backwards it is likely to damage the heads.
The rest of the drive (chassis, PSU, motor, logic PCBs) is just about
liftable fully
assembled.
I think the worst is the RA60. It's very heavy and it is a pain to
dismantle. You have to take it
apart a little bit at a time.
-tony
--
Matt Patoray
Owner, MSP Productions
(330)542-3698
mspproductions at gmail.com
KD8AMG Amateur Radio Call Sign
9:12 p.m.
Once I do this myself i plan to put up a gallery of lots of pictures to
help another newcomer such as myself. Not having seen the actual hardware
is what gets me the most mixed up.
On Sat, Jul 11, 2015 at 12:11 AM, devin davison <lyokoboy0 at gmail.com> wrote:
I made a mistake. I was reading about the floppy drive
and accidentally
mentioned the rx01 / rx02. The hardware to be moved is actually RL01/RL02
hard drives, not the floppy drive. Please forgive the mix up, any help is
appreciated.
On Fri, Jul 10, 2015 at 3:31 PM, Matt Patoray <mspproductions at gmail.com>
wrote:
The RA60 is my least favorite drive to move. The
thought of disassembling
it crossed my mind but since it was being slid into a rack with a shelf
and
not on rails it would not have helped much, so just picked it up, carried
it over and shoved it in.
On Fri, Jul 10, 2015 at 3:22 PM, tony duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
wrote:
minutes.
> From: tony duell
> I find [RL0x's] easier than RK05s
Try taking out an RA81!
I did an R80 (not much lighter) single-handedly.
The trick with those is to take the HDA out. It takes only a few Raise
the logic chassis (top part of the case including the front panel), then
lock the
heads (you MUST do this anyway), release the belt tension (lever at the
front
right), then unplug 3 cables (2 small ones on the front of the HDA and a
40 way
ribbon from the PCB on top), take off the 4 mouting nuts and lift the
HDA
up and
out. Then tape the spindle pulley so it doesn't turn when moving the
unit.
If it turns
backwards it is likely to damage the heads.
The rest of the drive (chassis, PSU, motor, logic PCBs) is just about
liftable fully
assembled.
I think the worst is the RA60. It's very heavy and it is a pain to
dismantle. You have to take it
apart a little bit at a time.
-tony
--
Matt Patoray
Owner, MSP Productions
(330)542-3698
mspproductions at gmail.com
KD8AMG Amateur Radio Call Sign
11 Jul
11 Jul
8:30 a.m.
The RL01/RL02 Users Guide (bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/disc/rl01_rl02) Figure
2-25 on page 2.35 describes the positioner restraining bracket that
should be put in place before shipping. It is just a little square
piece of metal (probably aluminum) with a single screw that holds it
down that sits in front of the carriage to keep it from rolling into the
pack area.
Of course, you don't want a pack in there while you are moving it
around. :)
It also mentions on that page a couple of shipping screws on the bottom
of the drive to restrain the spindle/blower motor from turning.
On 7/10/2015 11:11 PM, devin davison wrote:
I made a mistake. I was reading about the floppy drive
and accidentally
mentioned the rx01 / rx02. The hardware to be moved is actually RL01/RL02
hard drives, not the floppy drive. Please forgive the mix up, any help is
appreciated.
12 Jul
12 Jul
12:24 a.m.
Note that the bracket should already be there; just loosen the screw,
rotate the plate 90 degrees to block the positioner-mount, and then tighten
the screw again. I *think* that the bottom drive-retention screws are
interchangeable with screws on the back-panel, and a typical approach is to
remove a pairs of screws from the back panel for temporary reuse to
stabilize the motor, then return to their former locations after re-racking.
On Sat, Jul 11, 2015 at 11:30 AM, Jay Jaeger <cube1 at charter.net> wrote:
The RL01/RL02 Users Guide
(bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/disc/rl01_rl02) Figure
2-25 on page 2.35 describes the positioner restraining bracket that
should be put in place before shipping. It is just a little square
piece of metal (probably aluminum) with a single screw that holds it
down that sits in front of the carriage to keep it from rolling into the
pack area.
Of course, you don't want a pack in there while you are moving it
around. :)
It also mentions on that page a couple of shipping screws on the bottom
of the drive to restrain the spindle/blower motor from turning.
On 7/10/2015 11:11 PM, devin davison wrote:
I made a mistake. I was reading about the floppy
drive and accidentally
mentioned the rx01 / rx02. The hardware to be moved is actually RL01/RL02
hard drives, not the floppy drive. Please forgive the mix up, any help is
appreciated.
4:45 a.m.
Thank you all for the excellent information. I think i have a pretty clear
idea on what im dealing with now. Quick question though, what if there is a
pack in the drive? What holds the pack in there? Can the pack be removed
without power?
On Sun, Jul 12, 2015 at 3:24 AM, Paul Birkel <pbirkel at gmail.com> wrote:
Note that the bracket should already be there; just
loosen the screw,
rotate the plate 90 degrees to block the positioner-mount, and then tighten
the screw again. I *think* that the bottom drive-retention screws are
interchangeable with screws on the back-panel, and a typical approach is to
remove a pairs of screws from the back panel for temporary reuse to
stabilize the motor, then return to their former locations after
re-racking.
On Sat, Jul 11, 2015 at 11:30 AM, Jay Jaeger <cube1 at charter.net> wrote:
The RL01/RL02 Users Guide
(bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/disc/rl01_rl02) Figure
2-25 on page 2.35 describes the positioner restraining bracket that
should be put in place before shipping. It is just a little square
piece of metal (probably aluminum) with a single screw that holds it
down that sits in front of the carriage to keep it from rolling into the
pack area.
Of course, you don't want a pack in there while you are moving it
around. :)
It also mentions on that page a couple of shipping screws on the bottom
of the drive to restrain the spindle/blower motor from turning.
On 7/10/2015 11:11 PM, devin davison wrote:
> I made a mistake. I was reading about the floppy drive and accidentally
> mentioned the rx01 / rx02. The hardware to be moved is actually
RL01/RL02
> hard drives, not the floppy drive. Please
forgive the mix up, any help
is
appreciated.
6:21 a.m.
Thank you all for the excellent information. I think i
have a pretty clear
idea on what im dealing with now. Quick question though, what if there is a
pack in the drive? What holds the pack in there? Can the pack be removed
without power?
Believe-it-or-not the pack is held to the spindle by a magnet ring. Yes, a magnet, that
close the the
disks...
You can't open the drive in the normal way without power. I DO NOT recomend powering
anything
up though. There are 2 ways round this, depending on the age of the drive.
On early drives (certainly RL01s, I am not sure if any RL02s were made this way) there is
a little cover
on the right hand side of the drive (on the side panel), held on by 2 screws. Take if off.
Behind it you will
see the door lock solenoid. With a flat screwrdriver, pull the armature down, and hold it
down while
sliding the catch on the top. You can now open the lid to remove any pack and move the
head
lock bracket.
On all drives you can get inside by first extending the drive all the way out on the
slides. That is, pull
it out, then fiddle with the little rocking levers on top of the slides until it will come
out some more.
Now, the drive top is in 2 parts. The front part is the door over the pack. The rear part
is the cover
over the electronics and is retained by 4 captive screws. Undo these. Then lift the rear
edge of the rear
part of the cover -- carefully -- until you can unhook the front edge from under the rear
edge of the
door. Now swing the rear part of the cover rearwards -- lifting the front edge. There is a
PCB fitted to the
inside of this cover with lots of cables going to it. Don't panic, there is a little
bracket on the PCB//cover which
lets you hang it on the back edge of the main drive chassis. You don't need to unplug
anything. Now lift the rear
edge of the door part of the cover slightly until you can slide the catch on top of this
cover. When you do that
the door will come free. Lift it off. There are 2 spring-loaded arms at the back of the
door that will snap over,
don't worry.
Now you can see if there is a pack in the drive. If there is, lift out the white cover
(looks like a large, shallow,
bowl, open side down) and turn it over. You then see the top of the pack. In the middle is
a handle, brown
for an RL01 pack, blue for an RL02 pack. On the handle is a little square slider. Slide
that over and while
holding it in that position, raise the handle. It will be stiff (if it isn't,
you've not moved the slider properly).
Lift the pack out by the handle and put it into the cover you just removed. Lower the
handle and the pack
will (magnetically) lock into the cover. You can now raise the handle again without
moving the slider and
carry the pack by the handle.
To put the covers back on, put the door in place almost vertically, and position the
spring-loaded arms on
their guides. Now unhook the rear cover from where you hung it on the back of the drive
and fit it under the
edge of the door. It will hold the door pivots in place. Tighten the 4 captive screws.
Lower the door
and clip it down so that it locks.
-tony
12:11 p.m.
Excellent descriptive instructions. Ill print them out. Thanks.
On Sun, Jul 12, 2015 at 9:21 AM, tony duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote:
Thank you all for the excellent information. I
think i have a pretty
clear
idea on what im dealing with now. Quick question
though, what if there
is a
pack in the drive? What holds the pack in there?
Can the pack be removed
without power?
Believe-it-or-not the pack is held to the spindle by a magnet ring. Yes, a
magnet, that close the the
disks...
You can't open the drive in the normal way without power. I DO NOT
recomend powering anything
up though. There are 2 ways round this, depending on the age of the drive.
On early drives (certainly RL01s, I am not sure if any RL02s were made
this way) there is a little cover
on the right hand side of the drive (on the side panel), held on by 2
screws. Take if off. Behind it you will
see the door lock solenoid. With a flat screwrdriver, pull the armature
down, and hold it down while
sliding the catch on the top. You can now open the lid to remove any pack
and move the head
lock bracket.
On all drives you can get inside by first extending the drive all the way
out on the slides. That is, pull
it out, then fiddle with the little rocking levers on top of the slides
until it will come out some more.
Now, the drive top is in 2 parts. The front part is the door over the
pack. The rear part is the cover
over the electronics and is retained by 4 captive screws. Undo these. Then
lift the rear edge of the rear
part of the cover -- carefully -- until you can unhook the front edge from
under the rear edge of the
door. Now swing the rear part of the cover rearwards -- lifting the front
edge. There is a PCB fitted to the
inside of this cover with lots of cables going to it. Don't panic, there
is a little bracket on the PCB//cover which
lets you hang it on the back edge of the main drive chassis. You don't
need to unplug anything. Now lift the rear
edge of the door part of the cover slightly until you can slide the catch
on top of this cover. When you do that
the door will come free. Lift it off. There are 2 spring-loaded arms at
the back of the door that will snap over,
don't worry.
Now you can see if there is a pack in the drive. If there is, lift out the
white cover (looks like a large, shallow,
bowl, open side down) and turn it over. You then see the top of the pack.
In the middle is a handle, brown
for an RL01 pack, blue for an RL02 pack. On the handle is a little square
slider. Slide that over and while
holding it in that position, raise the handle. It will be stiff (if it
isn't, you've not moved the slider properly).
Lift the pack out by the handle and put it into the cover you just
removed. Lower the handle and the pack
will (magnetically) lock into the cover. You can now raise the handle
again without moving the slider and
carry the pack by the handle.
To put the covers back on, put the door in place almost vertically, and
position the spring-loaded arms on
their guides. Now unhook the rear cover from where you hung it on the back
of the drive and fit it under the
edge of the door. It will hold the door pivots in place. Tighten the 4
captive screws. Lower the door
and clip it down so that it locks.
-tony
2:17 p.m.
Very good explanation, Tony!
Is there any chance that he might need to worry about a pack being inside the drive with
the heads un-parked, e.g. from an abrupt power failure?
--
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
http://www.nf6x.net/
9:42 p.m.
Very good explanation, Tony!
Is there any chance that he might need to worry about a pack being inside the drive with
the heads un-parked, e.g. > from an abrupt power failure?
I would hope not (IIRC all DEC drives are designed to retract heads if the power fails).
If the heads are still
loaded and the drive has spun down then both heads and pack are likely to be damaged.
However, it can't hurt to check.
After removing the rear cover and top door, if there is a pack in the drive, then before
trying to remove it,
lift out the read/write module, which is the central part in the rear section of the
drive. It has a ribbon
cable to the PCB in the cover and 2 cables on the underside to the heads. After lifting it
up you'll
see the heads. Make sure they are as far towards the rear of the drive as they will go. If
not, very gently
slide the head assembly that way. Then remove the pack as before and lock the heads.
-tony
3450
days inactive
3453
days old
11 comments
7 participants
participants (7)
-
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
cube1＠charter.net -
jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu -
lyokoboy0＠gmail.com -
mspproductions＠gmail.com -
nf6x＠nf6x.net -
pbirkel＠gmail.com