Huge IBM 1800 find (and need some help)

[Jon Elson]

On 03/22/2015 12:53 PM, Paul Koning wrote:
>>
> We had a 1620/II in college with a pair of 1311s, which are similar to the 2311.  The system drive sprung a leak.  The field service tech replaced the failed seals, and I obtained some reagent grade isopropyl alcohol from the chemistry department.  He used that with Kimwipes to clean the oil from pack and heads.  The result was complete success.  Packs and heads in those days had tolerances far larger; I wouldn’t want to try that with anything much newer.  But if you have a 2311 with contaminated heads or packs, you might give that technique a try.
>
You had to be VERY careful, and use the correct solvent to 
not harm the magnetic coating.  As long as the pack was not 
mounted when this happened, the heads and pack could be 
laboriously cleaned.  if the pack was mounted, it would 
cause a huge disaster, burning the disk and heads.

Jon