Commodore 64 Disk Drive Repair: Easy Head Cleaning for 1541 & 1571 Floppy Drives

[@deganza11]

Great! Thanks! I can now read again disks from 1986!

[@FloppyDeepDive]

That's awesome! I'm so glad the video helped you bring those 1986 disks back to life. Enjoy the nostalgia!

[@justinsharum1223]

Great video! I bought my c64 for my game collection and was getting frustrated with errors. Fixed the problem! Appreciate you!

[@FloppyDeepDive]

That's awesome, glad it helped! Thanks for watching!

[@Kleiner82-tf8bz]

i was literly a second from throwing my 1541-II drive to the Garbage , then i said to myself : why not to try to "open15.." command you showed in 06:51 and viola!! it's back on track again !!! thank you so much Tom!

[@FloppyDeepDive]

That’s awesome! Always glad to help a fellow C64 user. Thanks for sharing!

[@Charleshawn66]

Thank you for this! Great Video!! I still have my two 1541 from 1984 and 1985 and they work great. I need a SID chip for this SX-64 I bought a few months ago. After changing the MOS PLA to a much more reliable Phillips PLA it stared working only to find out it had a very sick sound SID missing at least one full octave of the three when you run a diagnostic cart. I then ordered three used working (well sold as!) 64's to try for a good SID. SID chips were almost the same price so I tried this route to get a working SID. Well two of them were small lots each with a 1541that I haven't tried yet, but will now after I service them first. I also bought last month what was called huge C128 lot. I bought the whole lot to get five items (1351 mouse, 2 - 1764 RAM units, 1571 and a 1581 drives) for my C128D. First thing I did was try the 1581 and it works great and now with your video I'll service the 1571 also when I do the two new 1541's and my two from the 80's.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Great, glad it helped

[@lifesummit73]

Wow, this is great. Last time I pulled my 1541 out of storage and it wouldn’t read, I assumed it was an alignment issue and stuck it back in storage. I’m hoping it’s just an oxidized head and will give this a try. Thanks for your time putting this video together!

[@lifesummit73]

I meant to add, seeing Pogo Joe, Pole Position, Qix, and SAM on that disk really took me back. 😁 Great channel!

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks! Welcome to the channel. I hope your 1541 works for you! Thanks for watching!

[@galaxymaster]

Found you over the Facebook C64 group. You got a new fan

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Welcome! Thanks for subscribing

[@aussie_retro_dude9253]

Thanks Tom I will try this command on my drives ! I have this issue on a couple of my drives even after cleaning . Thanks for the tip .

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Sure, hope it helps

[@sleepytigerproductions2169]

Great video, easy to follow 👍🏻

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks!

[@vittekantilles4178]

Great video! Just 2 things: Some people have reported getting gunk off the drivehead with windex/glass cleaner, instead of pure IPA. Also while the drive is open, why not regrease those rails? Clean the old gunk off and oil, regrease, the writinghead will be greateful.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Great tips!! Thanks for watching!

[@rbs1889]

Thank you so much! I will be doing this next time I hook up the old 64 again, referencing this video. Cheers!

[@FloppyDeepDive]

You are welcome. Thanks for watching.

[@thisisrob8750]

Thank u. Helped me out big time.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

You are welcome! That is awesome!! Glad it helped!

[@kite666G]

It's been a few years since i used mine. Great video, maybe i'll need this some day.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks, time to get it back out!

[@0wnage718]

Another great informative video Tom, keep up the good work!

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Appreciate the encouragement.

[@androskris]

Thanks for this. I've got a $40 ebay special coming (untested) and I'm hoping it works!

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Awesome, I hope it works out for you.

[@mistermark8755]

thanks helped me out

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Great, glad it helped.

[@bryanminugh9680]

the first thing to remember is, don't reach for any screwdriver ..the Cleaning Diskette just needs 2Cents worth of IPA to do the job.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Yes it you have one.

[@RetroShowCaseGr]

A very handy video mate! Great job. +Sub +Like.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thank you! Glad you liked it.

[@lovemadeinjapan]

20 second answer: watch 3:00, isopropyl, cotton swab. Done.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thanks for Watching!

[@lovemadeinjapan]

@@FloppyDeepDive It did not help though.... Bummer. I'll try downgrade the 1570 to a 1541, that one seems more reliable.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

That is a bummer! Good luck

[@lovemadeinjapan]

@@FloppyDeepDive Fixed it, the problem was the head cable was in the lower position on the connector, where it should be at the top. The bottom connector is for the second read head in the 1571.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Glad you got it fixed!

[@lovemadeinjapan]

please disable machine translations of title and description.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

It's almost 4 years old so no need to change it now.