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