Task: Clean the Heads of an Amiga 1010 Floppy Disk Drive
Needed: Q-tip / cotton bud, isopropyl alcohol, screwdrivers
Time: 30-60 minutes
Introduction
All floppy disk drives need to have the drive head cleaned from time to time or they stop working. The drive head is the part that touches the magnetic media of the disk and reads the data.
I recently acquired an Amiga 1010 floppy disk drive that did not work. Cleaning the heads brought it back to life.
Instructions
First, remove the bottom four screws and lift the top part of the case off.
Second, remove all the screws holding the unit down. There are four on the sides and some in the back. Note that these are different sizes. Remember which ones go where for reassembly.
Third, you should be able to gently remove the drive from the bottom case. As you lift up and slide it forward you should able to slide the back metal cover off revealing the circuit board. You will need to unplug the power and data cables from the circuit board.
Fourth, remove the top cover revealing the drive underneath.
Fifth, it is time clean the heads. In the above photo the heads are located on and under the grey object in the middle with the label 6D2. Gently lifting the top piece will revel both heads as shown below. Squirt some isopropyl alcohol (I use 99% IPA but 70% should be fine) on a cotton bud or Q-tip and gently rub each head to clean. Make sure no cotton fibers remain when you are finished. You might see a little grey dirt on the Q-tip if it is really dirty. If that is the case, you might try again with a fresh Q-tip to make sure it is indeed clean.
Sixth, reassemble the case and give it a test! Make sure you get the screws back in the same place. You will need a pair of tweezers or a magnetic screwdrivers to insert them into the hard-to-reach places.
Comments
I was able to fix my 1010 by cleaning the heads. It now works great. Also cleaned the internal drive in my Amiga 1200. Similar process with fewer screws.