29 Nov
2007
29 Nov
'07
7:31 a.m.
I just received an old-ish (1990) Toshiba T1000LE laptop and it wouldn't
boot, so I took a look at the hard drive and there seems to be some type
of goo oozing out of it. It's a Conner hard drive, nothing too abnormal.
I didn't think a hard drive contained anything that could ooze out. Any
idea what it could be and does that mean the drive is pretty much
toast? Let the magic goo out?
29 Nov
29 Nov
9:39 a.m.
--- Michael Lee <mikelee at tdh.com> wrote:
I just received an old-ish (1990) Toshiba T1000LE
laptop and it wouldn't
boot, so I took a look at the hard drive and there
seems to be some type
of goo oozing out of it. It's a Conner hard drive,
nothing too abnormal.
I didn't think a hard drive contained anything that
could ooze out. Any
idea what it could be and does that mean the drive
is pretty much
toast? Let the magic goo out?
Hmm, sounds like a bad valve cover seal. Perhaps the
cover wasn't tightened properly when the timing belt
was last changed. How many miles are on this again?
No, but seriously, is it coming out from between the
two halves, or is it just on the outside? I know that
I have seen some machines where they put a rubber
bumper or guard on/near the hard drive, to hold is
secure inside the computer, and the rubber had turned
to goo. Or, there is a rubber gasket between the
halves of the drive, and that could very well have
turned to goo over time. At least some drives *cough*
RD53/Micropolis *cough* had a rubber head stop that
often turns to goo with age. It's not likely to leak
out though. ISTR the Macintosh portable having a
really unreliable Conner 3.5" 40mb SCSI drive (with a
screwy pinout), that was gooey in mine. Long time ago
though, could have been caused by something else, like
a coke spilled into the computer. I distinctly
remember gooey in there though.
-Ian
10:06 a.m.
Since it was a laptop, it was stored upright in a bag for 15+ years.
The goo looks like some type of old lubricant or oil. I've been told
nothing had been spilled on it, and the goo is definitely pooled out
from the drive halves at the bottom. It seems that
gravity had pulled
it down and out through the seam.
Mr Ian Primus wrote:
Hmm, sounds like a bad valve cover seal. Perhaps the
cover wasn't tightened properly when the timing belt
was last changed. How many miles are on this again?
No, but seriously, is it coming out from between the
two halves, or is it just on the outside? I know that
I have seen some machines where they put a rubber
bumper or guard on/near the hard drive, to hold is
secure inside the computer, and the rubber had turned
to goo. Or, there is a rubber gasket between the
halves of the drive, and that could very well have
turned to goo over time. At least some drives *cough*
RD53/Micropolis *cough* had a rubber head stop that
often turns to goo with age. It's not likely to leak
out though. ISTR the Macintosh portable having a
really unreliable Conner 3.5" 40mb SCSI drive (with a
screwy pinout), that was gooey in mine. Long time ago
though, could have been caused by something else, like
a coke spilled into the computer. I distinctly
remember gooey in there though.
-Ian
10:49 a.m.
On 29 Nov 2007 at 9:31, Michael Lee wrote:
I didn't think a hard drive contained anything
that could ooze out. Any
idea what it could be and does that mean the drive is pretty much
toast? Let the magic goo out?
A lot of small hard drives use a ferrofluid seal on the motor shaft.
When it works, it's great--forms an impervious low-friction seal.
I wonder if that's what your "goo" is.
Cheers,
Chuck
'Conner--we put the "goo" in "google"'
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