Disk Drive Cleaning

by Larry Hawkes


Lately, members have asked me, "how often should my disk drive be cleaned and why?"

To answer the first part of that question I'll say that Commodore gives no recommended cleaning
intervals, and it seems every expert has a different opinion.  I've heard extremes from weekly to no
cleaning at all until a read/write error occurs.  My personal opinion is that with average use the drive
should be cleaned every six months with the heads cleaned more often if the drive is used in a dusty or
smoke-filled room.

You can use one of the commercial head-cleaning disks, BUT be sure to choose a non-abrasive type! 
These cleaners require you to apply solvent (generally isopropyl alcohol) to the cleaning pad on the disk
and have it spin in the drive for about 30 seconds.  While this does the job in most cases, a more
thorough job can be done by cleaning the heads manually.  Also, while inside your drive other important
maintenance can be performed, like lubrication of the read/write guide rails and disk door mechanism,
speed adjustment, and head alignment check.

As to the why part of the question, your drive has many moving parts that are subject to wear and
require periodic adjustment and lubrication.  With some/all of us using both sides of our disks, we are
defeating part of the built-in head protection system, a dust-catching liner, which sweeps abrasive
particles off the disk surface as it rotates.  By using the back side of the disks we've taken the dirt and
iron oxide build-up on the liner and redeposited it on the other side, causing build-up on the edge of the
read/write heads and potentially scratching the disk surface.

As a final note I would caution any do-it-yourselfers that your disk drive contains some very delicate
parts which could be damaged if handled improperly.  In particular there are several NMOS chips
which are very sensitive to static electricity.  A small charge from walking across your carpet is enough
to fry these chips!  This warning is not meant to frighten you; only to save you the frustration of doing
more harm than good.

(From "The Interface," newsletter of Fresno Commodore User Group, August 1989)