810 drives don't work anymore

[travischurch]

I have 2 810 floppy drives that I'd like to get working again. The last time I remember them working was probably 1990. I have several games and other software that I programmed when I was 13 or 14 that I'd like to port over to the PC. I think part of the problem is that the lubricant is gummed up, but there may be other issues. Heck, the disks my be bad after all this time, too. If anyone has any tips, I'd certainly appreciate them. My technical skills are minimal, so if you know of someplace that fixes old atari drives, that may be the best solution for me. Thanks.

[Nukey Shay]

It could be that the timing pots are out of adjustment. This is a problem that plagues one of my 1050's...it needs to be tuned every few months or so.

Basically, it's just a screw near the rear of the drive that you can turn with a eyeglass screwdriver. I'll post a diagram that shows where this pot is in the 810 drives when I get home.

Note: The way I adjust it is with Dos 2.0F (it shows drive speed on one of the menus)...but you could just as easily boot it up and turn it slowly until you can hear the "clicks" on the TV speaker...which means that sectors are being read.

As far as repairing them is concerned, there was a company that would repair a drive free if you gave them a second one for parts...was that Best? I can't remember.

[Novell2NT]

Hello Guys,

 

Sorry I am new here, but I am looking for help fixing my Atari 810. This is the first 810 that I have worked on, so bare with me.

 

My 810, seems to power on or at least the Power On light turns on. I do not seem to get any initialization from the drive what so ever.

 

It does not seem to spin and make any noise at all.

 

I have attached a pic of the drive, so you can see what I have inside this drive. I can barely see the belt on the underneath side, due to a large metal plate

that I am assuming can be removed, however there are also a couple of voltage regulators mounted on this plate as well.

 

Anyway, I would appreciate talking to someone, who has some experience with these drives, so that I may resolve this issue.

 

Thank you

[alex_79]

I can't help with your issue, but you might start by taking a look at the official field service manual.

You can find revision 1 and 2 here:

http://www.atarimania.com/documents-atari-400-800-xl-xe-technical-documents_3_8.html

[DavidMil]

I have a friend in Alabama that has fixed several drives for me if you are interested. He's very reasonable.

 

 

rwholtzhauer@hotmail.com