Hi, a few months ago I bought a couple of Mac 800k floppy external drives. Both were pretty stuck, and didn't eject the floppies. in one found that a gear was broken inside the motor that moves the eject mechanism, the other one just ejects half off, and as much as I have lubricated and cleaned it still does not eject completely. Any suggestions or guidance please?
Thanks
Javster
Fixing Apple 3.5 floppy drive eject mechanism
March 22, 2013 - 10:42pm
#1
Fixing Apple 3.5 floppy drive eject mechanism
Javster,
I had the same problem and just fixed mine over this past weekend.
1. The gear one is gone, the only thing you can do here is buy another drive mechanism on eBay and very carefully replace the motor assembly. This is what I did and it fixed it.
2. The other one that ejects half way sounds like it has a motor that is worn out or partially worn out. Same advice as above.
However, if you feel like microsurgery you may be able to take the gears out of the worn out motor assembly and transplant them into the broken gear motor Assembly and maybe get one of them working.
Jay
Thanks Jay, after a lot of tinkering I finally opened the motor and found the broken gear. There is no way to find a replacement for it, too small. I also doubt it can be recreated in a 3D printer. The issue is to find another drive, will be easier to buy another drive.
For the half eject, I disassembled all the metal and springs, cleaned them and grease them, now it works.
Thanks
Javster
Have you tried this miniature gear supplier? www.sdp-si.com
Otherwise PM me. I have one of the drives in question that ejects perfectly, but has a dying main spinning motor.
Also if still needed, I think I have an 800k drive in the closet. It was erroneously paired with a IIgs I got some time ago. It even had a 1.44mb disk inserted....
I had the same issue with my floppy drive. Found that the smallest gear had broken because it became brittle over time. Since these are impossible to find, I created my own. I am making them available to anybody who wants them...
https://www.shapeways.com/designer/VesperWorks
Order 2 tonight, thanx for offering them