Crusty Commodore 1541-II Disk Drive Restoration

[@ifthebeltiscrackedor]

Thank you I will follow this clip by the book tonight with mine. A collegue at a factory 20 years ago (when Sweden was till a country where things were produced..) told me a story about a Japaneese engineer and repair guy that was flewn in to fix some big automation installation. He asked the employers to start cleaning the thing so he could start. Then when they thought they were ready he said "no clean some more" and then again.. And then the employees found why it was not working. I always think about this probable but good hearsay and its so true the cleaning part is the route to an interest in what happened. Goes together what Ive learned about troubleshooting electronics. Goes together with my former archaeology studies. Without that interest in that first "excavation" not much can be repaired. My list of repaired things is too long and yours is probably much longer. Cars motorbikes all kinds of consumer stuff.. Ok its about fleeing reality I know. Its strange I still have a family :).

[@JanBeta]

That's very wise. I kind of think the same way. The moment you look deeper into things and try to understand them (even if you don't know every detail) it helps a lot in understanding what's wrong with them for sure. Thanks for sharing the story and I hope your drive runs well after the overhaul. :)

[@user-wj9xq7ig2v]

In the past all the best stuff was made in Japan. Marty!

[@vhfgamer]

You're half right about the gasoline part. Zippo lighter fluid is actually Naphtha, which is essentially unrefined gasoline.

[@csgd-zq5du]

I really love This Channel! Mostly This Video, and The mps-801 restoration! So Thanks for Your Videos, and good luck in the future! Recently I Bought an mps-801 with an ALDI C64, and I Still Watching Your Videos about Commodore Machines! (I'm sorry for my bad English, but I wanted to tell You how much I love This Channel!) - A 14 Year old Boy, from Hungary

[@deg6788]

smart boy !!

[@WinLoveCry]

Just tried mine; got it from Ebay...Could never afford one as a kid. Amazing that it even still loads. I'm just trying Mayhem in Monsterland

[@WinLoveCry]

Correction was playing Mayhem in Monsterland - literally 30yr old electronics just work

[@benbaselet2026]

I just saved one of these from the dumpster, nice. Now I have related material to watch/listen while I fiddle with it :-)

[@HBAVHS]

Schönes Video Jan. Hab hier auch noch 2 1541ll. Die müssen auch noch durch den TÜV ;-). Dank dir fürs Video.

[@JanBeta]

Vielen Dank! Und viel Erfolg (und Spaß) beim TÜVen. ;)

[@WehofnerLP]

Schönes Video :-) Ich habe noch meine 1541-II, die ich mir 1991 für 350 DM bei Allkauf gekauft habe :-) Sie läuft noch wie am ersten Tag, habe sie gerade noch benutzt. Ihr steht jetzt auch eine große Generalüberholung bevor, damit sie noch lange funktioniert :-)

[@greggregson9687]

Great video. Just to let you know, there is a WD-40 Silicone lubricant spray. I am guessing most people just equate WD-40 with the oil based lubricant.

[@JanBeta]

Yes, I recently got WD-40 lithium grease. I refer to WD-40 as the classical product obviously. I'll probably have to clarify that next time. Thanks for pointing that out. :)

[@PhilipvanderMatten]

Some would say it is better not to spray IPA on your hands like that. It will get in your nervous system. Just saying. Great video BTW, I just purchased my first 1541-II and I am gonna refurbish it.

[@FrankieTheFluff]

wunderbar - well done

[@JanBeta]

Vielen Dank! :)

[@rick420buzz]

In the US, the benzine stuff is just called "Lighter Fluid".

[@JanBeta]

Ah, yes, that sounds familiar. Thanks!

[@UkSkin]

Call it "Lighter Fluid" in the UK too

[@jusb1066]

Australian Dave : dont turn it on, take it apart. Canadian AVE. Turn it on, break it, take it apart, complain. Scottish Clive: turn it on ,test it, take it apart, blow it up. German Jan: Maybe turn it on, but take it apart and give it a good clean! . :)

[@JanBeta]

Haha, I didn't realize these things are handled differently by tinkerers from different nations. ;)

[@mikelee8520]

Very well made and clear video, I enjoyed that.

[@JanBeta]

Thank you. Glad you liked it. :)

[@MindFlareRetro]

Another great video, very informative. This is why you surpassed 700 subscribers today! Nicely done.

[@deg6788]

now at 48.3K ////pretty neat

[@waldevv]

For some reason my 1541-2 had a 7 pin header for the 5 pin connector, was confused because I made sure to check the orientation of them but I never paid attention to the extra pins and had to double check from this video, but in your case it wasn't like that. But I assumed since the first 2 on yours are blank I should also ignore them Got a good deal on a 64C that came with the drive, but it seemed to leave a mark on my floppy after I tested it even though it formatted the first floppy fine so I cleaned it up and have to see if it works now, amazing deal for 90€ though as I got a Defender 64 light gun and a TAC-2 and a datasette along with it, plus manuals for the C64 and floppy drive

[@BendingInTheWind]

Great video! Thanks for sharing!

[@patkelley8293]

I'm working on one of these right now. No I think I have the first version. Doesn't stop spinning. But has power. So I'm cleaning it then see what I can figure out .

[@JanBeta]

If the ICs are socketed, try swapping the 2 6522 chips, they commonly fail. If you swap them and the fault changes, you can tell that one of them is bad. There may be all kinds of different things causing the fault though, just a guess. ;) Hope you get it working again!

[@patkelley8293]

@@JanBeta Thanks Jan. I'll let you know how it goes. I wonder if that Jiffy DOS chip acts up?

[@patkelley8293]

@@JanBeta Great news! I just discovered what was wrong with MY Commadore. Aside from all this other stuff I have been working on. The broken Commadore that started this whole journey. It has a burnt VCO Oscillator just right of the Vic. I'm staring at this smoked chip in disbelief. I had just thrown it in a box after giving up. Thanks for inspiring us! Super happy!

[@bwack]

I love your channel, Jan. You have all the interesting hardware contents :) Lovely 1541-II

[@JanBeta]

Thanks so much! I love your channel, too. Have yet to watch your recent Amiga videos. :)

[@retronexusnet]

can you share the programs you used at the end?

[@discoHR]

Nicely done. Hopefully you'll have more luck than me with making a PSU for it. Initially, I purchased a +5V and +12V 2A AC/DC adapter on eBay but the ripple was terrible and was causing random issues with 1541-II. Ended up using modded ATX PSU. It is a powerful one (1 kW) so I installed some fuses in the two drives it was powering, just in case a short appears in them in the future. 40 amps wouldn't be a pretty sight. :) Now I feel it was a bad idea to install the fuses into the drives because I had to cut some traces. PSU would be a better place for the fuses... Telling you all this so you don't repeat my mistakes.

[@JanBeta]

Thanks for sharing! I ordered a pretty cheap little 12V/5V PSU that was recommended in a forum. Hope it works alright (seems to do for some people at least). I was thinking about using an ATX power supply, too, at first. Don't have a spare one though so I ended up buying the cheapie. I'll make a vid on if/how it works I think.

[@oz1sej]

Thank you SO MUCH for this video - I really learnt a lot!

[@JanBeta]

Oh, thanks for your kind words. Always glad to help. :)

[@refractionpcsx2]

That petrol stuff is called petroleum spirit, or if you're a commoner like me, "lighter fluid" lol. Great fix up and tidy up!

[@JanBeta]

Thanks! "Lighter fluid" sounds okay to me. Very confusing to get the vocabulary right sometimes. ;)

[@refractionpcsx2]

Hehe no worries, you do an excellent job! Your English is probably better than mine (and I am English lol) Just glad to help you find the words, so you know what to call it in future vids :)

[@SianaGearz]

Lithium soap grease should be a better lubricant than silicone and shouldn't work as a solvent. And yeah, say no to WD-40. This appears to be an amazingly well designed drive. Didn't have ones like this in the Soviet Union, the only one i could get had really nasty points of metal to metal contact where it wore out very rapidly. I was 9 back then, so i didn't think of lubricating it.

[@JanBeta]

I used Lithium grease for similar stuff before and it indeed works very well. I only have silicone here at the moment so I used that. Also works very well for me so far. The 1541-II came in different versions that had a variety of drives built into them. I think this one is a particularly well-made one. It still runs very quietly and smoothly and it also seems to have no important parts prone to wearing out anytime soon.

[@fiber0ptichell452]

I put dip switches on all my drives so I could change the device number 8, 9, 10 or 11 that was one of my first hardware hacks.. i did not want to cut my new drive up but i'm so glad I did.. one summer I took apart dads brand new snowblower (after he told me no!) for the 15hp engine to replace the 3hp engine on my go kart.. now I know why riding on the road is illegal, that low, that fast.. ...s

[@JanBeta]

Haha, 15hp on a go kart made for 3 is probably going pretty fast. Glad you survived this hack...

[@XolaresTiberius]

Nice vid! You need a filter on the audio due to the CRT. It does a number on my head due to Autism sensory issues. I need to do my drive and was told lithium grease also is good.

[@ReverendLinc]

We just call it "Lighter Fluid", Jan.

[@JanBeta]

Makes sense! :)

[@JesusisJesus]

We moonshiners call it “heads” or “Molotov” It’s great for cleaning anything. I give my wife a jar of it every run I do, she can’t use it fast enough.

[@DiePixelspieler]

i said you will have fun with it. The c64 does not look better. ;)

[@JanBeta]

Haha, hope you get it cleaned up well. Thanks again for giving me the disk drive. It was a lot of fun to tinker with it. If I can be of any help with the C64 let me know. :)

[@foxman362]

I use had one these disk drives back in 1987.

[@GadgetUK164]

Excellent =D

[@JanBeta]

Thanks! :)

[@geekyprojects1353]

Jan, what have you sprayed on the PCB in connection with brushing? Was it isopropyl alcohol? If yes - which grade (98%)?

[@JanBeta]

Yes, it's isopropyl alcohol. I use it to clean off the flux after soldering. At the moment, I have a bottle of 99.9% but any grade will do for this purpose.

[@geekyprojects1353]

Thanks Jan! If you fancy you could do a video recommending the tools / liquids you use for fixing the hardware. I'd love it.

[@mistube]

Nice guide. How can I tell the performance tester and the exesisor tool to test drive 9 instead of drive 8

[@JanBeta]

As far as I know it only works with drive 8 unfortunately.

[@JesusisJesus]

DOS”9

[@jeffm2787]

WD40 is not a lubricant, yet sooo many people think it is. Good call on the silicone.

[@brooknet]

You did a really nice job. That was a great repair; the drive sounds so much quieter & smoother after. How do you keep track of the screws and where things go? I often lose things if I am repairing something. Cheers, from Lex.

[@JanBeta]

Thanks! I usually put the screws in a small container (or multiple containers for more different screws), sometimes I take notes about which screw goes where. With very tiny screws (think smartphones) I sometimes attach a little magnet to the screwdriver and "catch" the screws on there.

[@DOSBoxMom]

My first laptop's keyboard got sticky from being too close to the spray starch while I ironed my husband's shirts, and I'd read a suggestion online about using WD-40 to remove the spray starch residue, so I tried it. It didn't work (too much gunk on the keyboard & probably under the keys, too -- and then the key caps started popping off!). I made do with desktop computers until I got a free laptop to review for Walmart a couple of years later. Don't think I've ever had Commodore hardware that crusty -- although the last monitor we used with a C64 we nicknamed "the Screamer," because it would make such an ear-piercing whine when it was operating (it still worked fine otherwise, though).

[@JanBeta]

Haha, that's one use of WD-40 I've never heard about. I've actually seen worse than this drive. Especially some really crusty keyboards. Mostly the external PC kind though and not Commodore ones.

[@DOSBoxMom]

The new laptop is still usually next to the ironing board; however, it's one of those touchscreen convertible models, so I keep it in touchscreen mode (with the keyboard folded under and touching a laptop riser (looks like a lap desk) ), so the keyboard isn't exposed to spray starch while I iron. The laptop is over 2 years old now and still in good shape, so I seem to have hit upon an effective way to protect it. But I'm never using WD-40 to clean a laptop keyboard again!

[@JanBeta]

Ah, good idea. So even if some starch gets on the laptop it won't get into the keyboard. :)

[@DOSBoxMom]

Exactly. The starch hasn't seemed to affect the touchscreen yet, although I should probably gently clean it every so often (with the power off, I imagine).

[@danielgallant9794]

I have 4 discusting drives like that... cigarette stain and all... but all 4 work.

[@CobraTheSpacePirate]

You could use some salon peroxide cream and set it outside in the sunlight for a few hours to get the white back.

[@borismatesin]

I can confirm this - I just peroxided a C64C and a 1541-II last week and it literally pulled out all the yellowing off the cases.

[@JanBeta]

I'm definitely going to do that. My Amiga 1200 also needs some retrobrighting some time soon. I want to make that an extra video. :)

[@JanBeta]

Now that there's a little bit of sun here I'm definitely going to do that soon.

[@borismatesin]

In my case it was 6 hours of sunlight, and I rotated the parts by 90° every 30 minutes, so it would get exposed very evenly.

[@JanBeta]

Ah, thanks, good to know. I think I'll use a similar approach with rotating the parts.

[@00Skyfox]

For these single-sided drives, do you know where to get replacements for the felt pad that rides on the disk on that springy arm opposite the head?

[@JanBeta]

Oh, no idea. I'd guess you could DIY something together. Don't know if you would have to use a special material or anything though. It looks like one of those little felt pads you put on the legs of your furniture, really.

[@TheHighlander71]

Hi Jan. Wonderful to see another job well done. This drive seemed to benefit very much from a little lubrication. I was just wondering what it is you use exactly to gain access to the disk commands on the C64. Have you installed a different ROM or is it a cart perhaps?

[@JanBeta]

Thanks. :) I'm using a Final Cartridge III -- mainly because that's what I had when I first had a C64 back in the day so I still know how it works (mostly). Plus it's one of the carts that work very well with the SD2IEC.

[@TheHighlander71]

Cool. I think I can start with that cartridge on my 1541 Ultimate 2. Thanks. I have to look closer into how to make that work. I looks very handy.

[@JanBeta]

Oh, I would love to have a 1541 Ultimate some day. The FC III is a very versatile cartridge. Has a graphical environment (looks a lot like Amiga workbench) and a pretty good freezer. Fastloader and nicely enhanced BASIC as well. :)

[@andrewdupuis1151]

nice I have 1571 . Whats deterrents in them ?

[@JanBeta]

The 1571 is pretty much fully compatible with the 1541 in C64 mode. In C128 mode, it can use both sides of the disk and has more capacity, also it's quite a bit faster than the 1541 iirc. Never had one, but it's a very nice disk drive.

[@AiMR]

Can the logic board be cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner?

[@JanBeta]

+Eric Blair That supposedly works very well. I never had one so I can't tell from personal experience.

[@alynicholls3230]

is there a dolphin dos board for this version of drive?, doesn't look like there is much room in there.

[@JanBeta]

There wasn't one back in the day, but a couple of years ago, somebody designed one: e4aws.silverdr.com/projects/dolphindos3/1541_ii/ I haven't tried it myself though (although I am a huge fan of DolphinDOS).

[@douro20]

I don't know how many tube radios I took apart in the past which had cigarette TAR condensed on the tube envelopes.

[@JanBeta]

The drive sure was dirty but most of the yellow tint comes from the bromide used as a flame retardant in the plastic I think. Most computers from the 80s and 90s suffer from it.

[@SpearM3064]

douro20 I've taken apart a computer with cigarette tar condensed over almost every circuit. The employee who used it was a chain smoker... he noticed that the (front-mounted) fan did a good job of sucking in cigarette smoke, so naturally he placed his ashtray next to the fan and used it as an ad hoc "smokeless ashtray". He never once thought about what all the tar would do to the insides, until I showed him. I've also taken apart a PlayStation 3 with the same problem... the two people who played it most often were chain smokers. They bought it to me for repair... when I opened it up, I can only describe it as a brown EPOXY covering everything. I couldn't even chip it off with a screwdriver, that's how solidified the tar was. They were not happy when I explained that the tar from their cigarettes qualified as "deliberate abuse", and therefore repairs would not be covered under the warranty...

[@douro20]

SpearM75503 I personally have never seen that except in old tube radios. I have had one computer which came out of a smoker's house which was choked with dust containing tobacco smoke particulates.

[@StizzedOut]

Is that a mod that youre using for the single key load command? Little rusty, last commodore was back in 90s :)

[@JanBeta]

I'm using a Final Cartridge. The function keys have commands mapped to them. I'm really used to it still because it's the same cartridge I used back in the day. :)

[@Nikki.Penguin]

Where do I get the program you are using?

[@flowinsounds]

what software did you use at the end?

[@GabrielAndroczky]

Benzin = smply Lighter fluid or Fuel :))

[@CB3ROB-CyberBunker]

can just swap the 6522's for 65c22n's which obviously use less power and generate less heat. and depending on wether it uses the 6502's clock out line or not, (did not check the schematic but do see an external oscillator circuit far away from the cpu) also the cpu for a 65c02. potentially change the firmware to just switch off when it's not doing anything. oh and instead of replacing elcos with other elcos that'll no doubt screw up again, just replace smaller elcos with metal film caps. same goes for most of those logic chips in as far as they're not part of the serial port (there are no hc or hct equivalents for open collector) but just address decoding stuff or something -> hc... other stuff -> hct as it still needs to talk to the fdd controller chip. probably some brand new din connectors would not hurt either as that goo on the outside of the case is ofcourse also in the din connectors on the contacts. and reflowing the power one and the switch too.

[@nilaya80]

Nice video! What monitor is that Philips ?

[@JanBeta]

Thanks! It's a Philips CR 8833-II. Very similar to the Commodore 1084-S inside.

[@nilaya80]

Alright thanks for the reply. How does the picture quality compared to a modern lcd with foe VGA ?

[@JanBeta]

+Mikael Karlsson The picture is not as sharp as on an LCD but that makes the old system's graphics look a lot smoother. Colors are very vivid and the animations/scrolling look incredibly smooth as they are made for the exact framerate of the monitor. Highly recommended for retro computer stuff. It's very hard to capture on camera (obviously) how good the picture really is. :)

[@nilaya80]

Perfect! Then i will be looking for a crt like this :) Is it S-video or composite ?

[@JanBeta]

Mikael Karlsson Mine is composite and RGB (it's aimed at Amigas, really) only but there is another version of this monitor available that has S-video in (which is best for C64).

[@Mr_ToR]

how does that F7 do that? what is it?

[@JanBeta]

You mean showing the directory? I use a Final Cartridge III cartridge which has some disk commands on the function keys.

[@quertize]

Are elmex toothbrushes ESD safe? Also you could use some wearable microphone. There are parts of video when it's hard to hear you.

[@JanBeta]

No, toothbrushes are not great of course... I got a bit better with ESD safety lately. Still learning all the time. Sorry about the sound. I don't have much money to spend on this stuff and using an elderly mobile phone for recording the videos. I'm gradually improving my setup though so there's going to be better sound some time for sure.

[@Dirk-Ulowetz]

WD 40 is the worst, you can use in a discdrive. WD 40 primarily is a thick grease with a lot of thinner in it. What the thinner do to plastic parts, I don't know, but when the thinner is gone, then all parts will stick together. And clean this grease is a real pain in the rear. Believe me, I know this from personal experience.

[@hollgo626]

Hexenküche - Witches Kitchen 😁

[@AiMR]

The lighter fluid is called butane in America.

[@JanBeta]

+Eric Blair Ah, thanks! Now I'll only have to remember that for the next time I use it. ;)

[@carpediem673]

The liquid lighter fluid is naphtha. Excellent stuff for cleaning delicate components. I use it for cleaning watch parts because it won't harm shellac, acrylic, plastic, etc.

[@JanBeta]

Ah, wouldn't have thought that it doesn't damage all those materials. Good to know for future cleaning operations. Thanks for pointing that out!

[@JapanPop]

Another name for “benzin” is a brand-name called Ronsonol

[@JanBeta]

Ah, interesting. I've seen that brand name before but never would have thought to use it as a synonym. Thanks! :)

[@Maudio303]

Tested an old 1541-I... plugged it and 5 minutes later there was smoke comming out of it :(

[@JanBeta]

Yeah, the power supply circuitry often fails in the old 1541s because it constantly gets very hot in use. Have you looked at the components? Most likely it's easy to see what needs to be replaced.

[@Maudio303]

It was my fault not to look at the components BEFORE i've powered it up... the circuit board was completly burned so i just stays with the mechanical part and the case for further repair parts. BTW where do you buy the capacitors? I like to solder new ones in my 64 and/or in another 1541 i have currently. Think CONRAD is too expensive but good in quality? Please let me know. Danke!

[@luis46coco]

Please active subtitles

[@Jammer858]

try lighterfluid ;-)

[@mjp29]

The only way to restore a Commodore disk drive is to trade it for an Atari 1050 drive

[@ZauberdesMondes]

gibt es das video von dir auch in deutsch? lf

[@JanBeta]

Leider nicht. Als ich den Kanal gestartet habe, habe ich noch mit dem Gedanken gespielt, einen deutschen Parallelkanal zu machen, aber dafür fehlt mir leider die Zeit. Sorry! :/

[@Lachlant1984]

You pronounced Benzine correctly.

[@klausnielsen1481]

jeg købte en i 1986 for 2200kr ca og har den inu

[@BaumInventions]

Brauchst du noch eins in etwas besserem Zustand? Sollte auch gereinigt werden, hat aber keine Brandlöcher wie das hier. Die liegen mittlerweile seit 2010 einfach bei mir in der Ecke, weil ich damals eine Midibox Sid bauen wollte und 12 C64 gekauft habe... damals gabs die noch für nen zwanni im komplettset... Brauchst du eventuell noch originale Netzteile? Ich kann dir da eine schöne kiste mit altem Kram zusammenstellen... Ich habe Berge von dem Kram ungenutzt rumliegen. Ich entrümpel grad meine Sammlung die in letzter Zeit etwas aus dem Ruder gelaufen ist... Ich werde mich auf IBM kompatible PCs, Yamaha Keyboards und Hifi Geräte beschränken... Die c64 Gerümpelecke muss leider gehen... Du kannst den Kram entweder abholen wenn du nicht zu weit weg von 58119 Hagen wohnst, oder ich kann dir alles für die Versandkosten zuschicken. Aber Vorsicht, das Paket wird eine tonne wiegen durch die Netzteile etc...

[@JanBeta]

Oh, ich bin definitiv interessiert! Leider wohne ich in Kiel, also nicht gerade in fußläufiger Entfernung... Magst du mir eine eMail schreiben, dann können wir das mal aushandeln. thejanbeta at gmail dot com.

[@BaumInventions]

Ich habe schon angefangen zu entrümpeln , ABER ich hab extra noch was schönes für dich zur Seite gelegt.Ich meld mich per Mail.

[@tenminutetokyo2643]

DOOOOOOD! We call it ‘lighter fluid’.........

[@JesusisJesus]

Who blew on their iPad screen at 9:32 ??? Fkn dust bunnies.

[@SianaGearz]

Clearly a girl's disk drive. Gold paint, a rose, and an acetone smudge that distorted the plastic at the right part of the bezel. Can't claim to be better really, my PC keyboard has acetone smudges on it too, but at least it's just a 20€ throwaway item.

[@JanBeta]

Ah, that explains the strange smudge. Didn't think of that. :)

[@sonjadohring7369]

Ret Deutsch OK ich möchte dich verstehen du bist deutsche

[@tomjoad1363]

Boring beginning ! Real video starts à 2:42.