Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!mks!wheels From: wheels@mks.UUCP (Gerry Wheeler) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Another STRANGE hard disk problem Summary: stuck brake Keywords: Miniscribe, motor problems Message-ID: <509@mks.UUCP> Date: 27 Sep 88 19:32:03 GMT References: <1254@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU> <8525@bigtex.uucp> Organization: Mortice Kern Systems, Waterloo, Ont. Lines: 26 In article <8525@bigtex.uucp>, james@bigtex.uucp (James Van Artsdalen) writes: > In article <1254@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU>, kyriazis@turing.cs.rpi.edu (George Kyriazis) wrote: > > > I turned on my PC one nice morning and discovered that the motor > > wasn't spinning! > > My CDC Wren III-182s have a habit of doing this sometimes. It never > overspins like George describes, but usually after a move across town > one of the two drives will refuse to spin up. To get it going again, > I take it out of the computer and shake it along the spindle axis. The ancient hard disk I inherited (Ampex Pyxis 13) uses a solenoid as a brake on the spindle. While power is on, it is retracted. When power is removed, the spring presses a cork against the flywheel to stop the spindle. Sometimes the solenoid sticks in its park position, and there is enough friction to prevent the motor from turning. I have to reach in and use the tip of my finger to nudge it to retract. I should probably take it apart and see what's making it stick, but, you know how these things go... -- Gerry Wheeler Phone: (519)884-2251 Mortice Kern Systems Inc. UUCP: uunet!watmath!mks!wheels 35 King St. North BIX: join mks Waterloo, Ontario N2J 2W9 CompuServe: 73260,1043