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How to use floppy drive cleaning disks?

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Vin Digit

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Jan 12, 2024
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I've got myself a floppy cleaning disk but I'm at a loss on how to actually use it and don't want to try incase I ruin something 🙈

giobbi's post seems informative in that the RW head is moved over the wet part of the square 'disk' without it actually spinning (using ImageDisk). Outside of this I can't find much information how to actually use these things or at least where and how to apply the alcohol.

The kit I have contains a circular disk which looks like it's designed to spin, but I'm not sure if the whole fabric disk should be wet with alcohol or just part visible at the RW slit? If only the slit visible part of the fabric is wet with alcohol then as the disk spins it will only make contact with the cleaning fluid N times per minute? I also note that the disks I have have no index hole so the disk just spins when in the drive, not sure whether this was an intentional design decision or not.

How should this best be done? Thanks
 
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Take a look at some instructions from my old RS kit.

One thing you will find is that the "easy" way was just to do a 'dir'. The more sophisticated way was to step the drive to an fro, There was plenty of software to do that kind of thing.

70% isopropyl alcohol was typical and I have used 90% without problems. Within reason, don't worry about using too much, but give it some time afterwards to let it all evaporate.
 
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I've wondered about the "spot" cleaning issue also... I generally spin the disk and make a wet cylinder as I apply fluid. Seems to work OK. Also I use a greaseweasel so I can select a clean "track" to clean the heads, though statistically I think a head cleaning diskette would have to get pretty grimy to stop working.
 
yeah, a greaseweasel has a command for it. On my drive I use: gw.exe clean --drive=1 --passes=3 --linger=100 --cyls=40
 
Even though you did not explicitly ask, I feel like I should add something....look at the disk surface carefully before you stick it in the drive. Many, including me; have cleaned the drive heads, inserted a bad disk and subsequently found that the drive could no longer read floppies that it had read earlier. IOW a very dirty/degraded/shedding floppy can gum up the heads very quickly. If this does happen, you can mistakenly thing that the drive is flakey.

These kinds of issues have been discussed here, e.g., this thread and IMO they are worth reading.
 
I messed up an 8" drive by using a cleaning disk and IMD. (You can't turn off the motor in an AC-operated 8" drive). It torqued the head supports a little too hard. Fortunately, I was able to repair the damage, but swore off the darned things.
 
Chuck(G) said:
I messed up an 8" drive by using a cleaning disk and IMD. (You can't turn off the motor in an AC-operated 8" drive). It torqued the head supports a little too hard. Fortunately, I was able to repair the damage, but swore off the darned things.
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Really? You swore off them when one torqued the head. I thought you used them all the time. When did this happen?
 
I'm with Chuck. Not in my drives, thank you. They typically leave gobs that need to dry after using that could break lose and damage you disk or drive.
You don't really know when you are done or use them two long. They are especially dangerous for many double sided drives.
Get swabs with long handles and do it right.
Dwight
 
syzygy said:
Really? You swore off them when one torqued the head. I thought you used them all the time. When did this happen?
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Depends on the drive. An inexpensive 5.25" or 3.5" drive is fair game--at least for me, there's no shortage. If I destroy it, that's the way things go. An 8" drive--well, now you're talking real money.
 
To be clear, I'm going to stay with using the drive cleaning disks occasionally as I have never had any problems with them and they are convenient. If I am going into the drive, I manually use high grade lens cleaners on the head. I also use alcohol for cleaning the heads. I have swabs (cotton and other), but don't use them for cleaning the heads.

Granted, there can be circumstances far more sophisticated than my uses and involving more valuable items than the equipment (or diskettes) than I have. There are many posts on this forum about using the cleaning disks - even so far as how to make your own (which I do not do) and this is the first time I have heard about head torquing problems. Still I hear it and respect it and the day may come where I do something different, but not today. Everybody finds their own way.
 
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I've been using the cleaning disks for a while and at first they cleared some of the gunk off, but now they seem to not be clearing everything off. I put on the alcohol (isopropyl), insert the disk and let it spin for however long, then wait a few minutes for things to dry off. However I'm still seeing scratches on the disks.. I'm wondering whether the thickness of the disk should be increased (maybe by using two disks) in order to better get at the head, although this might risk damaging it.

I've got some other drives to use the cleaning disks on so need assurance that it will actually clean the heads. I've thought whether the paper method I linked at the start of the thread is worth doing?
 
Checking the read/write heads after repeated uses of a cleaning disk is a good idea. It may be that grunge has built up on the sides of the head. The cleaning disk won't remove it. The effect is like running a plow over the disk and anything loose will join the buildup of material.

There was an expected amount of cleaning that the cleaning disks were intended for. Dirtier conditions can exist.
 
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