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From: bmug@garnet.berkeley.edu (BMUG)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: LaCie disks -- "Well, how are they?"
Keywords: disk drive, Macintosh, SCS,noise
Message-ID: <22253@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 29 Mar 89 18:39:47 GMT
References: <11176@tekecs.GWD.TEK.COM> <671@marion.cvedc.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@agate.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 32

In article <671@marion.cvedc.UUCP> mpease@cvedc.UUCP (Mark Pease) writes:
(citation deleted)
>
>I was under the impression that the "tag" was there to ground out any static
>buildup (Maybe they should have used some "Bounce" sheets :-) If this is true,
>bending the tag away from the spindle could cause the spinning disk to develop
>a large static charge that could "arc" over to some place in the disk (like
>maybe the head assembley ?-). In any case, the arc could cause some lose of 
>data on the disk.
>
(more stuff deleted)
>
>-- 
>Mark Pease                      ..tektronix.csnet!ogccse.uucp!cvedc!mpease


What I've heard is that the static brush is more of a vestige (on 5.25"
drives and smaller) than a necessary component.  At one time, on the
hard disks that had the diameter of hula hoops, it was crucial to damp
the static that would accumulate with use, else all kinds of spectacular
but annoying events would occur.  An engineer told me that the amount
of static which is generated by a well-built small hard disk is
negligible to none, and that the brush is probably more trouble than
it's worth (like the human appendix).

John Heckendorn

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