Apple Hard Disk 20 (HD20) Recapping [Part 1 of 2]

[@glonch]

The FR-301 is so good... Speeds up the desoldering process so much - excellent tool and well made. Great video!

[@ncbreezy]

Yet again, another great video. I have to admit I am usually the kind of guy that justs remove old solder with solder wick. However, after watching you use this gun, I feel like I have the “need” to purchase one. Of course, my wife would say my “needs” are simply my inability to control my wants. Also, thank you for going the extra mile and building the mouser cart. It is things like this that have me coming back to watch your videos time and time again.

[@JDW-]

Brian, thank you for watching, for your kind words, and of course for being an amazing supporter of this channel! As it pertains to this hobby, your wife is correct most of the time. But of course there are other things such as “the need to go to the hospital“ that carry a greater sense of urgency, rather than just a situation of us needing to control our wants. But with regard to a desoldering gun though, I have gone without one for many years and I’m living proof you can do it. So what you are doing now is what I did until I bought that soldering gun very recently. However, if you do a fair amount of desoldering, it will ultimately pay for itself in time because “Time is money.“ :-) I start work on part II this evening after work. Stay tuned!

[@FrankConforti]

WOW! What a blast from the past! For me, this is a trip down memory lane. I acquired one of these as soon as they were available. Rodimes, as I recall got a bad reputation for “stick-sion” much like other early drives. If you take one of these apart it has a huge magnet compared to the size of the drive. I probably have the magnets on our refrigerator. A little factoid… the “tub” design for the platters came from the 14” hard drives used on super mini computers. I’ve seen many of both. It is truly a “clean room” inside these drives. As I recall there is no atmospheric pressure balance feature on this design which is also the reason the platter buckets are so beefy. This was the time before high-tech lubricants were routinely used in hard drives to mitigate minor head crashes. It is also why you NEVER move this drive when it’s running as it can cause a crash. Sorry for rambling on but I seldom get a chance to share my memories from those good old days (ha!).

[@JDW-]

Thank you very much for that wonderful historical info, Frank. Would you have any experience with lubricating these Rodime 552 drives at the two points mentioned in my video, or would you say they do not need any oil on those points at all?

[@WelcomeToMarkintosh]

I'd love to know too-I have 4 units to repair.

[@JDW-]

@@WelcomeToMarkintosh Mark, see Frank's second post, which appears separately and starts off saying "A follow-up..." He offers his advice about oil there.

[@WelcomeToMarkintosh]

@@JDW- That's awesome! This is a really great forum to find the real answers we need to keep these things running at their best! Thank you James AND Frank!

[@FrankConforti]

@@JDW- unless they are noisy-which is a whole other problem, I’d say don’t fix it if it isn’t broken. Hard drives are an amazing bit of technology especially the precision and engineering of the mechanical parts. The fact that most hard drives still work today after 30-40 years is a major mechanical accomplishment (most drives are thrown away because they are obsolete, not failure). This is only my opinion, NOT my recommendation mind you. I don’t want to start a flame war over this.

[@stephenperez3134]

This is great info. I have the HD20 and have been hesitant to work on it because there wasn't a care guide for it. Thanks. Waiting for part two.

[@wishusknight3009]

A working rodime? now that is exceptionally rare. Those drives had a "reputation".

[@JDW-]

Really? I thought it was the drive mechanism used in the GCC HyperDrive that "had a reputation" for failing. Even so, my HyperDrive still works to this day, and I recapped that one too, as shown in my HyperDrive video series here: kzbin.info/aero/PLNZ4qjMn-GHoSmk7WSWFMoHynyeye2u2P

[@mickikaufman5360]

Love those old HardDisk20’s. Still using mine, each on a Mac 512ke/Plus with a FloppyEmu

[@WelcomeToMarkintosh]

Just remembered-Thank you for showing us the hidden tabs inside the case-Apple got very tricky with their enclosure designs-I may have broken one figuring it out!

[@JDW-]

The HD20SC is much harder to open, but yes, it is important to know where those two hidden tabs are at the back of the HD20 before you trying to open the case.

[@FrankConforti]

A follow-up… regarding the bearings, I’m with you. Technically, for the stepper motor “it wouldn’t hurt” except such oil attracts dust. For the anti-static ball bearing, definitely, don’t oil! James, as you said “it might interfere with the connection” is a solid yes it might. That synthetic oil is likely designed to handle more compression and it is not conductive! On the other hand, this issue is very minor because at the end of the day, by the time the oil affects the performance, we’ll be old and gray (or grayer for some). Mechanic’s choice. A tip on soldering the new components… I always bend the leads on capacitors ever so slightly to ensure good mechanical contact. I do this even to thru-hole ICs. Again, just a bit and only two pins on the IC. To make doubly sure these stay in place, I use a piece of expanded poly foam, the type you get with more expensive goodies from Amazon et al. It’s the white stuff. I place the PCB board component side down and put a healthy sized weight (I use a 3lb SCUBA weight) on the board to push it into the foam and solder away. As long as I don’t hold the soldering iron too long at each solder pad the foam won’t melt. I’ve used this technique for 40+ years not just on hobbies but doing small local contract work back in the 70s and 80s (newlywed and broke 😊). Of course, this doesn’t work for surface mount components. James, another awesome learning video. I really LOVE using a print of the board with the small labels as the work surface. Simple but effective. Your attention to detail putting these videos together is better than most techtubers! Looking forward to Part 2. Cheers.

[@philippeastier7657]

True, the idea of printing the board.... I love it to !

[@FrankConforti]

@@philippeastier7657 At the start of my adult career (late-1970s), I created PCB designs first using tape on clear mylar. At that time, it was a form of lithography printing for etching the non-tracings on a copper clad fiberglass panel. Very 1960s. I had the chance to visit a local PCB manufacturer and learned a heck of a lot about the PCB manufacturing process. It was amazing. BTW, the solder mask back then was laid on by silk screen just like t-shirts! Originally, this required the PCBs to be baked in an oven. UV curing dramatically lowered the time and cost of manufacturing. We take it for granted now. PCB technology has advanced nearly as fast as integrated circuits. I’m amazed how PCBway can make a profit manufacturing short-run PCBs at the price they do. Back then, prototype PCBs were eye-bleeding expensive, sometimes more than all of the components on the PCB. Another trip down memory lane. Ha!

[@philippeastier7657]

@@FrankConforti Hi Frank. I can remember doing my first PCBs at the beginning of the 80s as a kid, by manually making the etching-mask with adhesive tape before dripping in perchloric acid... I still have some of them fully functionnal after more than 40 years... and if you messed up, because of the cost, it was the realm of bodge wires. I will not share photos of what I did at the age of 9 to be honest :) I'm also amazed I can order PCBs from a gerber file, and get an perfect industrial result for a small batch in just a few days from China to France. Shipping cost is regularly more than what they charge for PCBs with silk screens, soldier-masks, and your own custom thickness, color... pretty unbelievable.

[@jockelill]

@11:50 : Like magic but real!!! Love your videos James!!

[@JDW-]

I was using the standard 1.0mm tip that came with the FR-301. But as you can see from the closeup, the holes and leads were much smaller, so it could be that a smaller 0.8mm tip would have sucked out the existing solder without my having to add fresh solder. Not sure, but I can buy a smaller tip and give that a try. But even with the 1.0mm tip, it works quite well, especially when you add a little solder. Cleaning hasn't been hard at all either. It was a very good purchase!

[@HarrisonFrazier]

The desoldering gun is a game changer! I can desolder a NuBus connector in 2 minutes flat!!

[@JDW-]

It really is. I was able to desolder the PICO board on my BlueSCSIv2 so I could then replace it with the PICO W. That allows you to get your vintage Macs on the internet via WIFI. Wouldn't have been possible with a regular solder wick. The FR-301 is indeed a game changer!

[@HarrisonFrazier]

@@JDW-btw thank you for your awesome videos. I have a pack of oscon caps and a spicy o clock with my mystic color classic waiting for some attention. Maybe I’ll get to it this winter. Wishing you the best!

[@JDW-]

​@@HarrisonFrazier Once you convert it to a Mystic, your Color Classic will get a lot more attention! It really makes the machine fun to use. Glad to hear you have OS-CON caps, because those are an absolute requirement to reach the higher end clock speeds. Good Luck!

[@HarrisonFrazier]

@@JDW- It’s actually already a mystic (and I did the recommended analog board mod with the trace cuts back in 2015, quite cleanly I might add!) Of course I want to squeeze that extra few mhz out with your suggested caps! (It’s still rockin the originals, which I’m sure by now are starting to leak.) Then it’s off to the races with the latest and greatest bluescsi. My how far the classic Mac mod community has come in just a few years.

[@smcic]

Perfect timing as my hd20 recently stopped working. Looking forward to part 2. Btw it seems like you should wait slightly longer to allow the solder to melt before pulling the suction trigger on the desoldering gun. Just my opinion though

[@WelcomeToMarkintosh]

That filter removes from the FR-301 the way a TOS Phaser I removes form a Phaser II! I KNEW I liked that Hakko for a reason! (love mine!)

[@stephenperez3134]

This is great and thanks so much for the helpful Mouser cart. I just ordered the drive and power supply capacitors.

[@StephenArsenault]

A few thoughts on the Hakko FR-301 from my experience - 1. The light will turn off when the desoldering gun is up to target temperature. This is a counterintuitive way of showing the temperature, particularly if you're not sure if the device is on or off. 2. I grew tired of the small pump's large decibels, especially when it's often just over a foot from my face, working on PCBs. Now I use a Metcal SP440. Among several other advantages, the pump is separate and can be placed under the desk. 3. The pump in the handle seems to cause the desoldering tip to "hammer" on the PCB, causing the PCB layers to slightly separate. I recommend holding the weight of the unit so that it gently contacts the joint rather than resting the gun on the PCB. You can tell when this happens as the pump will leave a small "halo" around the desoldered hole For item #1, I actually installed a small neon bulb in the flat face above the trigger which was connected to the unit's power switch. This way I could be sure the unit was off both before I picked it up and when I was "closing up" shop for the evening. Coincidently, just a few days ago I found a package of left over filters from when I sold my Hakko FR-301. They're yours if you want them.

[@JDW-]

Hi, Stephen. Thank you very much for having made time to offer me your personal experience and advice, and for your kind willingness to send me your unneeded FR-301 filters. I Googled "SP440" and could only find EBAY listings and an old catalog from 2006. Even so, I am aware of the Metcal brand name and reputation. Seems like you have a very nice tool. It's still very much a learning experience with my FR-301. I only know that the Good brand desoldering station we've had at the office for years (with a separate pump), never had good sucking ability, such that I almost never used it at all. That's how I became adept in using a copper desoldering wick. Even so, there are times when a wick is inadequate, and an actually good desoldering tool is important. The key benefits of the FR-301 for me is that it is popular and highly rated, costs me less here in Japan than it would overseas, and getting parts for it is quite easy and for a reasonable cost. With that said, your advice is good about not hammer the PCB. Even the FR-301 manual suggests to not lay the tip on against the PCB, although Hakko's reasoning is that you might pull the pad by accident, especially if the tip is hot. It made no mention of the vibrations causing lifted pads, although after reading what you wrote, I can see how that might be true. Of course, it is "easier" to lay the tip on the PCB rather than keep it suspended in the air while desoldering each hole. Even so, this is all part of learning the right technique, so I greatly appreciate your kind and helpful input!

[@StephenArsenault]

@@JDW- If you ever decide to revisit your "Good brand" desoldering station, it could be that the air intake filter in the pump is clogged. Also, the air lines seem to age and crack which will reduce the air pressure at the hand piece.

[@JDW-]

​@@StephenArsenault Could be a crack in the lines, as replacing the filters didn't help in the past. I can examine that a bit later when I have a spare moment. Thank you for the advice, Stephen!

[@WelcomeToMarkintosh]

Thanks James for another great topic-you know I have FOUR of these! I will TRY not to buy that Mouser cart until the next video comes out-lol-but I get it, I remember the issue with the 20SC! BTW, I used your 20SC videos, your Mouser cart AND the Hakko FR-301 for my HD20 PSU recap & it went smooth! Can't wait for part ][ so I can fix all of my HD20's.

[@JDW-]

Thank you for your kind words, Mark. The prep work for Part II begins tomorrow night after work. I need to do some voltage and scope measurements first, before I start filming. As was the case with the HD20SC recap, I need to establish what the baseline operation is for the PSU prior to recap so I can determine if anything good or bad occurred after the recap. Such isn't needed when recapping motherboards or HDD controllers, but it is important for switching power supplies. Stay tuned!

[@WelcomeToMarkintosh]

@@JDW- James, I appreciate the time, effort, and expense you go through to make sure everything you show us is correct. I love your Best Practices Approach to everything too-it shows, the ones like me who aren't as experienced, the correct way to do something-and WHY. I'm glad you have the Oscilloscope and know how to use it. That is above my pay grade-lol. I know I can trust whatever you recommend. When I get to my 512Ke/HD20 on "Welcome to Markintosh" I'll be referencing and providing links to your videos!

[@vaelenorg]

Great tutorial! Thanks for providing these. It was also great to see how to use the desoldering iron. I just bought one of these too so I can recap my SE/30 but haven't used it yet. (I'm also in Japan, btw.)

[@JDW-]

The key is to add solder to the existing joints when needed. But it also could be helpful to use a tip with a smaller hole. As you can see in the closeups, the 1.0mm tip I was using is quite a bit bigger than the holes. Could be with a tip with a smaller hole like 0.8mm that the solder could have been sucked out without my having to add fresh solder, but I will need to buy an 0.8mm tip to find out. But even with the stock 1.0mm tip, it does an amazingly good job on thru-hole desoldering. It will due well on the axial caps on your SE/30 board. Not sure about those SMD caps though, which are the majority of caps. I tend to use either hot tweezers or hot air for SMD.

[@philippeastier7657]

@@JDW- From my own experience with old soldier, adding fresh soldier and even flux is nearly mandatory. I also sometimes use low melt soldier to ease the process further. Especially if you don't want to heat the board a lot and risk damaging nearby components.

[@JDW-]

​@@philippeastier7657 I suppose adding flux could help suck out the existing solder better, but of course, the more flux you use, the faster those round, white, paper filters will need to be changed. The metal pre-filter grabs the sucked-in solder, but all the flux flies around that pre-filter and hits the white paper filter. Anyway, thank you for the advice. The FR-301 is a new tool that is a learning experience for me.

[@philippeastier7657]

@@JDW- True. I use a ZD-915 by the way, and the filters become nasty very quickly. Also using flux means always slightly more cleaning. In any case when desoldering, you need to try, I have seen very different beahviours even on the same board.

[@vaelenorg]

@@JDW- I'm mainly planning to use it for the analog board and power supply caps.

[@philippeastier7657]

Thank you again for this quality video. Your question on oiling the drive is a very good one. I only have experience with Miniscribes, where it is defintely a game changer. On the Rodime, I would have tried the head motor, but would have had the same relunctance as you with the drive motor itself. Curious to see what others say about that.

[@DavidStahlOLDHAPPyMACs]

Great Video JDW I use Sewing machine oil then go over it with a Q tip to get some of the Excess oil off I never use Lithium grease after years it gets like concrete and in time will cause device issues. when you have brass or bronze bearings they are designed for oil only and soaks into the bearing ,when using Lithium grease it just sits on top never soaking. into the bearing and the bearing will wear out and cause device issues

[@JDW-]

For the stepper motor, I can see how oil might help, although my motor is working fine right now (and has been for the last 37 years). But for the ball bearing in the middle of that large, round spindle, I am concerned the oil would get on that anti-static pad and cause issues. Dog Cow never replied about that in the private email I sent to him, which is why I appealed to people in my video to see if anyone out there has put oil on that particular bearing and found it not to create any issues over time. Not really sure how important that anti-static pad is in the first place though.

[@janquieldapper]

Hello my friend! It`s awsome upgrade for Macintosh!

[@JDW-]

Yes, the FR-301 is indeed an upgrade over a copper desoldering wick, to be sure. I still need more experience with this new desoldering gun, but so far, it's done a fine job of removing those capacitors, and I was even able to desolder a PICO board from a BlueSCSIv2 so as to swap it out for the PICO W (for the sake of WIFI).

[@2dfx]

Well James my wallet is now several hundred dollars lighter after seeing you demo this FR-301. What a terrific gun! Going to make future desoldering projects much easier. Do you have an LCR metre? Would be interesting to see how much those old caps drifted, if any.

[@JDW-]

Congrats on the FR-301 purchase! I had held off for a long time too because these tools aren't dirty cheap, but it's another case of "you get what you pay for," so I doubt you'll have any regrets, so long as you put the tool to practical use. I have a DE-5000 LCR meter, which is about the best hand-held LCR meter you will find. I added it just now under the "BUY" section in the text description so you can see where to but it. I did check ESR off-camera but decided not to film that part to keep the video length shorter. Another reason is because ESR measurements can confuse people without a lot of explanation. You will sometimes fine brand new capacitor ESR to be higher than old capacitor ESR, especially of your new caps are 105°C and high-hour rated (e.g., 5000 or 10,000 hours). New caps which are rated 85°C and low hours like 1000 or 2000 tend to have lower ESR. It's not always so, but often is the case. Also, most people measure ESR and totally forget about the FREQUENCY used to measure, but the DE-5000 allows you to choose 100Hz, 120Hz, 1kHz, 10kHz and 100kHz, which is nice. Simply put, the 10µF 35V stock caps measured only about 7Ω while the replacement 10µF 35V caps measured almost 12Ω at 120Hz. However, the stock 47µF 16V caps measured about 1Ω more than my new, replacement caps (I forget what the OHM rating was, but it was significantly less than the 10µF caps, which makes sense on a 47µF capacitor).

[@philippeastier7657]

Also, about the ESR of capacitors, we are always tempted to use "better" capacitors. And it shows it's not always a good idea. Thanks !

[@JDW-]

Interestingly, the 10µF replacement capacitors I used measured higher ESR than the stock capacitors, although the replacement 47µF caps were lower ESR. I didn't intend it to be that way, it just how it turned out. When you buy 105°C with a high HOUR rating, they almost always seem to have higher ESR than 85°C capacitors rated for 1000 or 2000 hours. I've long known this to be true, but I put the priority on long life for capacitors, so I didn't pay too much mind to ESR. But that was because I recapped a hard drive in this video. The PSU is different. Much more care needs to be taken in those recaps. I plan to start preliminary voltage testing on the PSU tomorrow night after work, laying the groundwork for the Part II video. It's important to know the voltage levels and noise levels before and after recap to ensure you are not making things worse with the recap.

[@computerhobbyshop]

Great job James, I have the HD20SC version which will spin up, but will no longer be recognized, so I shelved it for now, but your cap esr tip at approx time stamp 30:20 might just be my solution too. Oh ya, I've never lubed my hard drive bearings after the noise level has gotten really loud, in fear of making it worse, as I have had other drives get really loud, (like when the bearings are already dying), and I wondered if there is a possibility the oil may soak past the bearings now worn out bearing seal and get into the drive platter area, which would be really bad. But maybe before the noises started, it could have prevented the problem to begin with? So watch out for that excessive noise level, indicating it might be too late to oil the spindle bearings.

[@JDW-]

That's why I think it's best to only oil the stepper motor, and even then only when absolutely needed. If you oil the motor, there's no fear oil would ever touch the platters. The big issue with oiling the bearing in the middle of that big spindle is that it touches a grounding pad, and it doesn't make a lot of sense to me that would be a good idea. Oil would hamper electrical conductivity, not improve it. But in the case of the HD20SC (SCSI version drive), my enclosure originally came with no drive at all. I added a fast spinning platter SCSI drive to it, which I bought off EBAY many years ago. That's the nice thing about those enclosures. You can swap drives easily -- even a BlueSCSIv2, if you like. Not so with the HD20 serial drive, as that is made for exclusive use with the Rodime drive. And currently, there are no modern replacements for those, other than the replacements for the HD20 itself, like the FloppyEMU and Tash20.

[@michaelmullett7327]

JDW I Love it!

[@GarthBeagle]

Well done!

[@insanedruid3143]

Small tip: you seem to rather immediately (i know its a fast forward, but still noticeable) pull the trigger after putting the gun on a pin. With that you often don't give the solder time to melt fully. You then suck out the molten part and thus loose thermal contact to the rest, resulting in a unsuccessful desoldering. If you wait for 2 seconds longer, especially when dealing with larger ground planes and then pull the trigger, your results will be better.

[@JDW-]

Thanks. I've been doing that more lately. Speaking of "small tips" I also ordered a 0.8mm size, which is actually nicer for smaller holes than the standard 1.0mm tip. In my Part II video, which I am still filming, I also make use of the 1.6mm tip I ordered, which is nice for desoldering the largest capacitor on the PSU.

[@TaijanDean]

I have both an original SCSI Hard Drive that came with my Mac Plus, but I also got in December last year, a Floppy Emu. Before I got the Floppy Emu, I was admittedly sceptical as I was more of a purist, getting only floppy disks and using the Hard Drive for a more vintage computing experience, but after almost a year of using the Floppy Emu, I will likely never go back. It's been a game changer as I can store virtually every piece of software I want all in one place. That and I don't want to wear down the ageing Hard Drive with extended use. The only thing that's been done to my Hard Drive was a recap. I don't believe it was oiled and even if you could, I personally wouldn't risk it given how sensitive these old Hard Drives are when it comes to debris and gettinf gunked up, almost like they use any excuse NOT to work. If it works, it works that's more than can be expected for drives of this age.

[@JDW-]

Is your SCSI drive an Apple HD20SC? I agree about the FloppyEMU being bullet-proof; however, it is slow because it connects to the FloppyDrive connector. For any vintage Mac with SCSI, I prefer a SCSI based SD card solution. MacSD used to be the speed king, but now BlueSCSIv2 takes that crown. Not only that, but BlueSCSIv2 equipped with a PICO W will allow you to browse the web via WIFI! Yes, I've tried it, and it's pretty amazing. You can read more about that here: tinkerdifferent.com/threads/bluescsi-v2-daynaport-wifi-beta.2857/page-3#post-25791

[@TaijanDean]

@@JDW- My Hard Drive is a PowerDrive (according to the greatly faded and scratched up sticker on the front). with both a red and green light inside to show power and disk transfer action. A quick search online came up short, but according to another sticker on the front, it was at one point used by The Open University here in the UK, which is surprising given how this machine was probably used back in the day. Despite this, no data was on the disk when I first booted it up along with my Mac. From what I remember, since it has been almost a year since I used it, it shows up as an external Hard Disk Drive with a shortcut logo that looks like a planet with the number 1 inside, presumably to mark the drive number. I would love a BlueSCSIV2. the only problem is (like the first iteration) I don't know where to get them in the UK. The WIFI feature sounds awesome. I do have a WIFI Modem from TheOldNet that doubles as a wireless ethernet adapter and a Hayes Compatible Modem for connecting to Telnet and BBSes and such. I've been desperately trying to get TCP/IP and PPP working properly on System 7.1 but no-matter what I do, I can't get it working. which is a real shame as I would love to get MacWeb working so I can browse the web somewhat normally instead of through a text terrminal.

[@JDW-]

​@@TaijanDean Not sure about the "planet with the number 1 inside" description, but I can only assume that is a "SCSI ID" selection, and you should be able to push a button somewhere to have it change to other numbers too. Never use the same SCSI ID more than once when you have multiple SCSI devices attached. And the first and last device must have termination of some sort, whether a resistor pack or active termination. That part gets messy because sometimes you may not know, and if the drive has active termination, then of course you wouldn't want to add a resistor terminator on it. I see a UK seller on this page (Derek): bluescsi.com Kay Koba of Kero's Mac Mods is the seller local to me here in Japan: en.infinityproducts.co.jp/product-page/bluescsi-v2-desktop I don't wish to show any favoritism among BlueSCSI vendors, especially when it makes the most economic sense to have it shipped to you from a local source. But if you were in need of items not related to BlueSCSI that someone like Kay Koba sells, then it would make sense to buy from that vendor because you could get a BlueSCSIv2 with WIFI too. But all BlueSCSI vendors should offer the WIFI option now, which means the board has a PICO W installed. As to your networking woes, I myself use Open Transport 1.3 with success under System 7.1. For some reason, I'm not able to get it to work under 7.5.3 or 7.5.5, but 7.6.1 works just as great as 7.1.

[@TaijanDean]

@JDW- Hmm, I'll give OpenTransport another go. Last time I tried it, it threw up an error message saying it was not compatible with the M68000 of the Mac Plus.

[@JDW-]

​@@TaijanDean Sorry, I overlooked that point. Open Transport version 1.3 won't even work on a 68020. It requires a 68030. Not sure about older versions of it though. MacTCP should work no your Mac Plus though, and that is described in the BlueSCSI v2 w/PICO W documentation.

[@LFOSyncToo]

I think I would put a few tiny drops (maybe two) of very light machine oil to the bearings. I can understand your concerns, but I think it holds down to the quality of the oil, the quantity you use and with which precision you're able to put it in. A syringe with a very fine shaft would be ideal...

[@JDW-]

So you think it is worth doing even though the drive is currently working fine, not sounding too loud or making any unusual noises? I think some people who oil their drives tend to do it ONLY because they had issues getting their drives to work before they added the oil. So for them, the oil was a repair trick, rather than preventative maintenance. Because my motor and spindle work great, I am more hesitant to use oil, especially on the bearing in that single, because it must make electrical contact with that anti-static ground pad.

[@LFOSyncToo]

@@JDW- well yes I think it is worth it. I mean you are already doing some preventive maintenance on your drive in that you are recapping even if the drive works... On the other hand, -and please don't get me wrong when I write this-, it is your drive. So you are of course free to decide what to do with it. 🙂 I just thought that if there are enough concerns and a need to change 37 years old caps, it would make sense to renew the 37 years old bearings lubrication. I do personaly think that with enough care when applying new lubrication , there shouldn't be problems with that anti-static ground pad making good contact as it should.

[@JDW-]

@@LFOSyncToo Fluid-filled electrolytic capacitors all have a finite life. After about 20 years, they are on borrowed time. And while you would think all moving parts would need oil of some kind, I am an EE, not an ME, so I need to defer to the mechanical experts about that. This is why I appeal for feedback in the comments, and thankfully kind folks such as yourself replied. I am taking all this into consideration as I consider whether or not to lube the two points I mentioned. All said, caps absolutely needed to be replaced, but oil is a bit less clear. Thanks!

[@tenminutetokyo2643]

Also do one on a Jasmine drive.

[@JDW-]

When someone donates a Jasmine drive to my channel, I surely will! 🙂 I am guessing you mean the Jasmine backpack for compact Macs? I remember when those were advertised back in the day, and I always thought they were interesting because they put the drive out of sight, which I really thought was a great concept.

[@DatBlueHusky]

funny so i got a scsi external drive other day and when i tried to power it up, i heard a bang then it spun up, guess it blew the short out lol

[@JDW-]

"blew the short out"? 🙂

[@citronski]

Great video as usual. As others said, let the heat transfer to the solder for a second, then start the pump and wiggle the wire. I always wanted a desolder gun to retire my copper braid method, here is my excuse to finally buy one. Is there some service that allows you to link to a device so that people land in their countries Amazon shop? I suspect most of your viewers come from the US, Japan, UK, Germany and some more European places, all of which have their own Amazon sites.

[@JDW-]

Thank you for your kind words. If you have the budget for the FR-301, I think it is worth it. Makes your life much easier as compared to the copper braid, and I should know having used the braid for most of my soldering experience. I put links to Amazon USA and Amazon Japan (for the FR-301) in the text description. I don't use a service that auto-switches to different Amazons mainly because it is a lot of extra work for me to confirm the products are available in various countries. And that's important because I try to maintain good Amazon links over time, swapping out bad links in old videos as I come across them. It's a huge amount of work, actually. So that's why I tend to focus on US Amazon links almost exclusively. Looking at KZbin Analytics for the last 365 days, I see that most of my viewers are from the USA (35%), UK (5.3%), Canada (4.6%), Germany (3.0%), Australia (2.2%), Brazil (1.9%), France (1.6%), Italy (1.5%), India (1.1%), Netherlands (0.9%) Spain (0.9%), and Japan (0.6%). There are other countries too, but in much smaller percentages.

[@ramencurry6672]

I wish he was my dad

[@destrierofdark_]

for crying out loud, why do you cut and resolder the fan wires? you can poke a pushpin into the holes in the connector and pull the leads out, and just move them to another connector, and yes, they will fit, all these fans use the same exact connector family, which also means it's the same exact ends.

[@JDW-]

Because at the time I didn't think the Noctua fan terminals would fit the stock connector; and honestly, for crying out loud, I had many other things to ponder when shooting this video! Most people don't think about that. Indeed, some things viewers of videos consider to be "so obvious" are not obvious to everyone, and certainly not a busy-minded person. So while your suggesting NOW has merit, in retrospect, I don't feel bad or have regrets because my solution worked, and I am satisfied with it, especially because nobody's going to be taking a peek inside to see that two different colored wire pairs were used. But anyone else who comes along and reads your comment can of course be benefitted by your suggestion. You can take pleasure in knowing that. Thank you for your feedback.

[@destrierofdark_]

@@JDW- it's not the first time, very much not the last, but it's happened often enough to cause me endless frustration, plenty expressed in the above comment. it's to the point I've seen not one single person anywhere in a youtube video just move the leads.

[@JDW-]

@@destrierofdark_ Well, I can tell you that I have tried to move terminals from a new connector to an old many times, only to find the shapes and/or fins differ such that I cannot do the move, and it always pisses me off. So after experiencing that a lot of the time, you grow to rely on other, less desirable solutions. But like I said, I did that without closely examining the terminals of the Noctua to see if they'd fit the stock red plastic connector. It's always good to check, so thank you for the suggestion!

[@destrierofdark_]

@@JDW- of course. it's the same family of connector, so if they don't fit, then there's a violation of the design spec somewhere.

[@slomacuser]

Like for shirt :)

[@JDW-]

Thanks. I printed another shirt you will like even more because it's a recreation of a vintage shirt. It's very cool. I will show it in a future video at some point.

[@philippeastier7657]

@@JDW- Thinking about some JDW merchandising ?

[@JDW-]

@@philippeastier7657 Funny. I always laugh when I see other KZbin channels selling their logo on T-Shirts or coffee cups because I don't really understand why anyone would want that. Why would anyone want my channel JDW name on a T-shirt? Even if I had 500,000 subscribers, I still wouldn't understand it. Seems so funny to me. Now, it's a different story when we talk about vintage T-shirt recreations. Those are in serious demand. The only problem is, despite my having recreated more than one vintage shirt, I don't own rights to the content. So it could be I would get into trouble if I start sell them. Even so, I believe vintage shirt recreations would sell well. That is an absolutely fact! And like I told Slomacuser, I will wear one in a future video and you can tell me your thoughts at that time. I will probably get a lot of requests for it. I probably could just give the design I created to the public, and then everyone could print it for themselves. That would likely avoid copyright trouble. Anyway, I think some of the old shirts are awesome and wish they were still sold today. That was my inspiration for recreating a couple.

[@philippeastier7657]

@@JDW- In fact, this was more a joke. Some big KZbin channels appear to be living more with sponsoring and merchandising, and honestly, the quality of their content suffers, even when serious money is in action (see LTT story...). I'm much much happier to sponsor your channel directly, because the quality of your channel is just not comparable. And yes, copyright issues, selling shipping; etc... I'd rather see you focusing on your content (and family !) than loosing time on merchandising. :) This is what you do, at your own pace, and I guess this is why we all come back. Thank you so much.

[@JDW-]

@@philippeastier7657 Thank you for your kind words, Philippe, and especially for your faithful support of my channel. It really means a lot to me, and it helps me to acquire things like the Hakko FR-301. I also was able to acquire a Mac IIci recently (cost me a fortune in shipping from Canada), which I will show at some point in the near future. I am still testing and having fun with it first. I'm one of those people who like to make sure a thing will make a good video before I start filming it. But with all the upgrades it now has inside, I feel confident it will make a good video. It's been a long time since I've owned a Mac II series machine, and it's really a nice vintage Mac to own.

[@copblock5793]

you lost me at plus and minus screw drivers. Please tell me you know what these are actually called.

[@JDW-]

That is what they are called here in Japan. 🙂 The reason why is because when you closely examine the tip of screwdrivers, you tend to have some shaped like a "+" and others shaped like a "-". So a Flat-Head screwdriver is a "minus driver" and a Philipps-head is a "plus driver" in Japanese. It's come to make so much sense to me through my 29 years of living in Japan that I've come to use the terminology used here sometimes. Sorry for the lack of clarity.

[@joseluisarenasperez3855]

Excellent video thanks for all the info 😉👍🦾