Nu-trol control cleaner - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2024, 03:15:28 am
content: I noticed my can of Nu-trol says it lubrifies servomechanisms. I want to lubrifiy the head stepper of a 1986 Miniscribe hard disk. I just want to put like 0.1mL right where the shaft pops out the bearing.Vintage forums talk about using "bearing oil". This Nu-trol stuff seems like the right thing though.Is this is a good choice?

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2024, 05:55:18 am
content: The SDS for Nu-Trol shows it is 38% white mineral oil. That can be used for lubrication, food handling equipment, cosmetics, etc. It would provide lubrication, but I would probably use a synthetic watch oil or other oil designed for high speed and slow aging.0.1mL (about 2 to 3 drops) sounds like a lot. I have never seen the drive you are working on. For close fitting parts and watches, the amount of oil is more in the uL range. Is there anything in the mechanism that would be damaged by excess oil?

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2024, 08:38:23 pm
content: Thanks, it's just a salvaged drive I want to try to get working on an XT board I have.The head stepper is outside the main tub, so that's cool in itself, but it was seized when I got the drive.The drive powered up and flashed an error code "unable to uncover track zero sensor".I put a few drops of 3-in-1 high performance penetrant just on where the shaft comes out, under the interrupter.I tested after ten minutes and the stepper started moving a bit, then it became totally free.The drive's self-test mode exercised the thing (it moves REAL fast) and now there is no more error code on power up.So I figure I have to put some lubricant back in there.By the time I get around to finding a ST-506 8 bit ISA card and building my junk XT, it's probably gonna be seized again...

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2024, 08:54:50 pm
content: From memory, Mini-Scribe had a 20M drive that would fail due to the material choices inside the drive. These would out gas and build up a layer on the platters and the heads would stick. I remember seeing the heads pulled off the arms. Back when these drives still cost a bit of cash, I pulled a few apart and cleaned the platters by hand and reassembled. Nice is there is no servo write. You can low format the drive and run an error check to remap any errors. I gave one I cleaned to a friend who used it for about a year.I have an old DSO that can use them and have a few in a box, but I think those are all froze now. Seagate made the 225 20M drives, which never had this problem. I found a working Seagate that I wanted to put into the scope because of the reliability, but some of the signals were not the same. Ended up modifying the controller. That drive is still in operation today.If it is the same problem. The only fix is to pull it apart. Attempting to free it may damage the heads, media or both. If you do manage to free it, the drive may run for a very long time until you turn it off and let it set again. May not get so lucky the next time.Again, from memory, so take it for what it's worth.