Famicom World

Family Computer => Technical & Repair Assistance => Topic started by: zmaster18 on December 21, 2016, 05:28:36 pm

Title: Disk System stops working after a while
Post by: zmaster18 on December 21, 2016, 05:28:36 pm
I have a disk system that just stops working after a day of not using it. Why does it suddenly stop working, even though I haven't touched it? I'm starting to think that maybe the oil I put on it dries up after a few hours and then that causes the system to get stuck.
Title: Re: Disk System stops working after a while
Post by: famifan on December 22, 2016, 05:57:13 am
if i were you i would avoid guessing anyway. It's almost mechanical system, thus it will be better to open it and see what happened.
Title: Re: Disk System stops working after a while
Post by: zmaster18 on December 28, 2016, 08:48:21 am
So after trying many different things, I found out that there was a bit of old black rubber belt pieces between the motor and the gold pulley.

I never unscrewed the motor when fixing FDS drives, so this was my first time needing to do it. I carefully unscrewed the motor and used a piece of floss to floss out the gunk in between the motor and gold wheel! Then I used another piece of floss with oil on it to lube up the axle on the motor.

Now the Disk System works, even after not using it for a while. :) Before when I hadn't properly cleaned the motor, the drive would usually get stuck on the first and second tries, and then work perfectly afterwards. Then when I test it a few hours later, the drive doesn't work at first and then ends up working after that.

I also noticed that screwing the bottom metal plate on the drive too tight or slightly miss-aligned causes the drive to get stuck.
Title: Re: Disk System stops working after a while
Post by: famifan on December 28, 2016, 12:21:32 pm
glad, you finally fixed it! kudos!  :) great job  :bub:
Title: Re: Disk System stops working after a while
Post by: zmaster18 on December 28, 2016, 02:19:35 pm
Never mind, the disk system is not working again. I have a few other drives that just keep getting stuck after a while, no matter how many times I keep aligning them.
Title: Re: Disk System stops working after a while
Post by: zmaster18 on January 06, 2017, 09:18:44 pm
Ok, NOW I have it figured out. It was a power issue with my Famicom. Fixed the power board and now my disk drive works perfectly.
Title: Re: Disk System stops working after a while
Post by: theoakwoody on January 08, 2017, 03:11:28 pm
What Are the specs of your power source as that may be my issue as well.  Also what brand.
Title: Re: Disk System stops working after a while
Post by: Syco54645 on January 10, 2017, 05:32:01 am
Quote from: zmaster18 on January 06, 2017, 09:18:44 pm
Ok, NOW I have it figured out. It was a power issue with my Famicom. Fixed the power board and now my disk drive works perfectly.


Was it the famicom or the fds power issue?
Title: Re: Disk System stops working after a while
Post by: zmaster18 on January 10, 2017, 01:23:22 pm
It was my Famicom console. I made my own power/AV board and my original design was shit. I remade the power board portion accurate to how to AV Famicom was built and now it works smoothly. I am using the official Nintendo AC adapter for both the Famicom and the FDS.

Before when I was using my shitty design the red LED light on the FDS drive wouldn't even come on. And the console also overheated and turned off after like 20 mins of usage with the FDS RAM adapter.

So I have found out that if you're using a poorly modded Famicom or a clone and the power board isn't sufficient for the load of the FDS, you'll get weird errors. At first I would keep getting error 2 just after turning on the console. After the capacitors charged up or whatever it would work ok, but the drive would sometimes just stop or freeze up. This was probably because the signals in the drive weren't getting enough power.