UPDATE: Most Common Problem With Floppy Disk Drives

[Brad]

Hi,

One problem floppy drive in a laptop, I hear a "wine" noise (belt slip)
during an attempt to read a floppy. I removed the floppy drive and checked
it. I removed the belt and cleaned it with a rubber cleaner/revitalizer.
Afterwards, no more "wine" noise and the floppy drive can read/write now.

I would like to buy a new belt, but this belt is very small in thickness
(can't use any other type of belt), and I doubt I can find a source that
sells them.
Brad

 

[mike]

Hi,

One problem floppy drive in a laptop, I hear a "wine" noise (belt slip)
during an attempt to read a floppy. I removed the floppy drive and checked
it. I removed the belt and cleaned it with a rubber cleaner/revitalizer.
Afterwards, no more "wine" noise and the floppy drive can read/write now.

I would like to buy a new belt, but this belt is very small in thickness
(can't use any other type of belt), and I doubt I can find a source that
sells them.
Brad

Try cleaning the heads.
If it's a very dirty environment, there can be problems in the optical
sensor that initiaalizes the stepper postion.
As drives wear out, the track position moves. Disks written in one
might not read in another. Format the disk in the drive you want to use
it in.

What kind of drive do you want a belt for? Haven't seen a drive with a
belt in more than a decade. Most are direct drive these days.
Used standard 3.5" drives can be had for a buck at computer parts stores.
Sometimes you can find suitable belt replacements at an O-ring store.
There's a warehouse here that sells nothing but O-rings. I go in with
my busted device and they find a match. It's cheaper for them to give
it to me than to fill out the paperwork. Nice guys.
Stereo/VCR repair places can often get belts.
mike

 

[Rod Speed]

Hi,

One problem floppy drive in a laptop, I hear a "wine" noise (belt
slip) during an attempt to read a floppy. I removed the floppy drive
and checked it. I removed the belt and cleaned it with a rubber
cleaner/revitalizer. Afterwards, no more "wine" noise and the floppy
drive can read/write now.

I would like to buy a new belt, but this belt is very small in
thickness (can't use any other type of belt), and I doubt I can find
a source that sells them.

Makes a lot more sense to buy a new drive unless its something very unusual.

 

[paulmd]

Hi,

One problem floppy drive in a laptop, I hear a "wine" noise (belt slip)
during an attempt to read a floppy. I removed the floppy drive and checked
it. I removed the belt and cleaned it with a rubber cleaner/revitalizer.
Afterwards, no more "wine" noise and the floppy drive can read/write now.

I would like to buy a new belt, but this belt is very small in thickness
(can't use any other type of belt), and I doubt I can find a source that
sells them.
Brad

Well, one way to get the part you need is to buy a dead floppy of the
same model.

Of course, you could buy a live floppy of the same model and save
yourself a lot of trouble.