Re: Apple IIe - 2nd floppy drive acting up

[Polymorph <polymorph69@hotmail.com>]

On Jul 6, 10:47 am, Jcarlson1701 <jcarlson1...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I have an Apple IIe with 2 of the "new style" Apple floppy disks
> attached to it (19 pin cable). I have no problems with the first
> drive, but the 2nd drive is acting oddly. Sometimes I can format, read
> and write to it. However, other times it can't read what it just wrote
> a couple of minutes ago. I have tried switching the drives, and it
> just seems to be the secondary drive that is doing this. Could this be
> a controller card issue?
>
> Thanks - Josh

Josh,

The problem is more likely to be dirty heads in your second drive, as
using old dusty disks will leave nasty deposits on your drives heads.

There is a document floating around the internet explaining the
process of cleaning the heads - I know, because I followed it some
months back to clean the heads in my drives. Although not difficult to
do, it is handy to have the document at your side, as it has fairly
detailed instructions on pulling the drive apart and what  to actually
clean for the uninitiated.

If I can't dig this document up, I'm sure someone else here will know
what I'm referring to.

By the way, once I had cleaned the heads in my drives, they worked
flawlessly.

cheers,
-p