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From: nyet@nntp-server.caltech.edu (n liu)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Re: how to lubricate noisy hard drive?
Message-ID: <1991May19.090412.4032@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Date: 19 May 91 09:04:12 GMT
References: <1991May17.172019.10342@nntp-server.caltech.edu> <1991May18.124744.4158@anomaly.sbs.com> <1991May19.054711.21719@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Lines: 47

gwoho@nntp-server.caltech.edu (g liu) writes:

>mpd@anomaly.sbs.com (Michael P. Deignan) writes:

>>gwoho@nntp-server.caltech.edu (g liu) writes:

>>>would lubricating it somehow make it quieter?

>>Yeah, in a way it would...
....
>>>is motor oil fine?

>>I find that Quaker State 10W-30 works best.

>i tried removing the casing and squirting motor oil on the platters and
>other parts.  the oil was in one of those brass oil cans, so i dont know
>what brand it was or what viscosity.

>the problem i have now is that the drive does not seem to work right
>anymore. when i turn on the computer, it spins, and is not as noisy
>as it was before, but the computer does not boot anymore.

>when i first tried the drive after oiling it, it sprayed the oil all over
>the place (i did not put the cover on until after trying it out),
>and some got on the circuit board. could the oil have harmed
>the curcuit board?

>could it be that i used the wrong viscosity?  
>how would i fix such a disk drive?  is there any way to recover the data
>on the drive?

Ah. I think i see the problem now. What you SHOULD have used was not
10W-30 right out of the can. Clearly, you must use oil drained from the
pan of the car (Pre-used oil has better lubing properties, since the
oil has had a chance to mix around inside the engine under extreme heat).

Now you have to carb-cleaner the entire thing (Gunk's is the best for this)
and soak the platters in molten paraffin. This will help the heads read
the information with fewer read errors. A green magic marker around the
edge of the platter will help tracking as well. Now, go ahead and reapply
the broken-in oil (again, 10 weight is best). The blacker the oil is, 
the better, since clear oil is a sure sign that it has not been broken in
properly. Now, drop the thing off a 9-story building (10 is too many).
This should boot fine now. (Steel tipped only).

Good luck, and happy hunting!
nye