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5 1/4" Floppy disk woes..

robbo007

robbo007

Experienced Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2012
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Hi guys,
So just trying to work out whats actual going on here. I come by quite a lot of software which I always archive. I use a mixture of devices and drives to achieve this. From my experience 3.5" seems to stand the test of time a little better than 5 1/4". The cleaning techniques and procedures I use seems to remove the dirt fine and allow a what looks like damage floppy to dump without issues. I'm ever so careful to make sure the heads on my drives dont get crud all over them and then detroy a perfectly good floppy. They are always clean.

But a few times what seems like a fresh un-used floppy (no damage to the naked eye) just starts flaking off in my drive and I get the "rings of death" which makes the floppy then unreadable (FUBAR). Even before checking the drive heads and making sure their are clear of dirt.

What is actually happening here? Has the floppy lost some of the chemical layers over time and just destin for destruction upon read? Is there a way to stop this from happening? Is there another restoration technique or something I'm missing? It does not happen very often but today it happened on a piece of software I was trying to archive. Really brings me down :(

Any help most appreciated.
Regards,
 
I wonder if there are better drives that put less pressure on the medium. I know that my Tandon 8 inch drives seem to be really rough on the disks, but my Mitsubishi drives seem to be much more gentle.
 
There are differences in head suspension on 8" drives. Shugart, for example, advertises its 8" drive heads as being "bi-complaint", which I assume is a good thing. Wording to the effect of "The read/write head{s) is mounted on a carriage which is located on precision carriage ways. The diskette is held in a plane perpendicular to the read/write head (s) by a platen located on the base casting. This precise registration assures perfect compliance with the read/write head{s}. The read/write head{s} is in direct contact with the diskette. The head surfaces have been designed to obtain maximum signal transfer to and from the magnetic surface of the diskette with minimum head/diskette wear due to the low mass suspension system"

How much of that is marketing doublespeak, I don't know, but it seemed to be a big thing with them.
 
Some brands of floppys are known for this. There is nothing you can do about. I think KAO were ones to avoid because of this.
 
Right I've just found this: https://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/craig_clean_floppies.txt

So when rings have been made on the floppy will the cyclomethicone help reading them a second time? Or is that damage un-fixable?

Should cyclomethicone be used after my cleaning process and before first read of the floppy? Will this stop the rings of death apearing on floppies with the same conditions?
 
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The physical damage is unfixable, but sometimes another cleaning and a dab cyclomethicone might help coax bits that are still there off of the disk.

Imagine a tiny area on the disk that has flaked off as a pothole in the road. Cyclomethicone will sort of temporarily fill that pothole allowing your travel over it to go smoother, letting you look for for bits that you might of missed when there was a big "bump".

BTW, when I suspect a disk might be flaking or sticking, I use a non-functional drive with the head positioned all the way to the last physical track (40th+ track, no data) and manually turn the spindle to try and gauge how bad the disks are. If I hear screeching or see scratching, I go back and re-inspect and clean the disk. I've had good luck with a washing method for 5.25" disks using just water and Dawn dish soap.
 
ok thanks. When applying the cyclomethicone do you just apply a tiny amount to a cloth or something then spin the disk around so it gets all over?
 
I was responsible for the cyclomethicone innovation, after trying dozens of lubricants. Originally, I used it on half-inch tapes (and still do). It's not really flammable and is present is shampoos and soaps--often used as a detangler.

For tapes, I apply it with a felt pad while the tape is running through my tape cleaning machine. Even for 2400' reels, it doesn't take much.

Don't go overboard--a couple of drops will usually coat the entire surface. Spin the disk while doing it.
Eventually it will evaporate completely,

Maybe KAO diskettes were bad, but Wabash are legendary.
 
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