decayed capstan in Archive QIC - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

1 Mar 2000

Tough it can require some disassembly, another trick might be to apply
'SILASTIC' to the metal post which supports the roller and to which it's
fastened.  It takes a bit more patience, but less force, and, once cured,
the 'SILASTIC' can be worked with a DREMEL tool to reduce its diameter or to
shape it as needed.  I made a couple of these in a lathe and ground them
true and flat with a toolpost grinder.  You can even make a capstan that
way, since the stuff is really quite hard when cured, yet more forgiving
than other materials often used in these drives.

Silastic is not particularly prone to creep or abrade and it's quite inert,
chemically.  If the temperature varies much, there will be a bit of
dimensional change, so try to measure it when it's at nominally room
temperature.

Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Technoid(a)cheta.net &lt;Technoid(a)cheta.net&gt;
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org &lt;classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org&gt;
Date: Wednesday, March 01, 2000 7:15 PM
Subject: Re: decayed capstan in Archive QIC

...
 I fixed my qic tape drive this way:

Open the drive and scrape away the goo that used to be what I called the
drive bogy from the shaft it is on.

Find a roller from a printer.  I used an output roller from my Epson
Actionprinter 3250.  The inside diameter is MUCH smaller than the drive's
driveshaft.  Don't worry.  Cut the length of the replacement roller to the
correct length or it will cause the drive to bind and that is not good.

Take a ballpoint pen of the kind you can remove the business end from.  I
used a cheap, non retractable bic.  I streached the roller over the body
of the pen using the nose of the pen as a starter beacuse the diameter of
the roller is so tiny.  Once you get the roller past the removable end and
it is fully on the body of the pen, remove the nose from the pen.

Clean the drive's driveshaft with alcohol or fingernail polish remover to
remove any traces of the old gooey roller. Fingernail polish remover is
great stuff for dissolving the rubber goo but remember that they put stuff
in it to make it 'good for you' like vitamin E.  Clean the shaft
thoroughly with alcohol after useing the remover or if you are more
organized than I am, you will have some ACETONE around which is the same
thing without the gook added.

Place the now blunt end of the pen against the face of the driveshaft and
slide the streached roller onto the shaft.  Once it is on, check to make
sure it is of the correct width so as not to contact the case of the tape
or the tape its'self.  it should only contact the drive bogey on the tape
when the tape is inserted in the drive.

You are done and the roller will last at least months as mine has if not
for years.

Good luck.  This took me about two hours to conceive of and accomplish and
my Data General 6311 tape drive has had many many happy hours of
shoeshining tapes without fail since.  My drive is a bit larger than most
of the little qic (DC2000 type) drives but I was scoping those drives for
a replacement roller and noticed that the bogeys are about the same size
on all of them.

Technoid Mutant at your service

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