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From: igb@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Isidore G Bendrihem)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Stiction problem on Seagate ST-251
Message-ID: <1990Jul9.214341.4490@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu>
Date: 9 Jul 90 21:43:41 GMT
Sender: news@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (The Daily News)
Reply-To: igb@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Isidore G Bendrihem)
Organization: Columbia University
Lines: 20

I have a Seagate ST251 (40MB) disk whose platter is failing to spin on
power up.  At first, I thought the motor was flaky, but after talking to
some local people, it seems like the drive is suffering from a common
problem that affects Seagate drives: Stiction.  Stiction occurs when too
much resin is placed on the platters to help the read/write head slide
over the platter.  After a while, the resin accumulates on the head to the
point that the head literally sticks to the platter.  The motor doesn't have
enough torque to spin the platter loose from the head, and it starts to
heat up.  The control circuitry detects this heating up and shuts the motor
off before it burns up.  Stiction can also be caused by dirt, humidity, or
exessive oil from the motor.

Does anybody knows what I can do to fix this problem?  I have access to
clean rooms and a variety of chemicals I could use to clean up the heads.
I'd really like to save this drive since is barely 2 years old.  Any
companies that specialize on repairing this type of problem would also
help.  Thanks.


Isidore Bendrihem