XF551 not getting power

[austodd]

I recently purchased an SDrive-Max with the hopes of archiving some of the data on my nearly forty year old floppy disks.  Sadly, when I pulled out my XF551 and hooked it up to my 130XE, the drive didn't respond when turning on the power nor when inserting a disk and booting the 130XE.  I know the power supply is fine because it powers my 1050 without any trouble.  And, as far as I can remember, this drive worked perfectly fine when I put it into storage all those years ago.  

 

So I took the drive apart and measured the voltage at the molex connector, and, nothing.  No 5V, no 12V.  Now I'm not sure what to do.  What can/should I check next?  Is there something I can replace to give this awesome drive life again?  

 

And I don't know if it matters, but this drive has the "XF551 Enhancer" mod by CSS installed on it.  My friend and I installed it back in the eighties.  As far as I can tell, all of those solder connections look fine after all these years.

 

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[tjlazer]

Did you check for bad solder joints on the PCB?

[austodd]

38 minutes ago, tjlazer said:

Did you check for bad solder joints on the PCB?

I did.  Didn't see anything that looked bad.  I've attached a picture if anyone wants to take a look and see if they notice anything I didn't.

 

[+Nezgar]

Do both SIO ports on the XF551 behave the same? What if you daisy chain the 1050 after the XF551 - leave the XF551 off, does the 1050 still respond/boot? Is the XF551 set for drive 1?

 

Edit: erm, most of the above was targeting common sio port issues - but you mentioned no power at the molex connector... can you do a continuity test on the power switch to see if it is working on/off, and if so further down the line - bridge rectifier diodes, capacitors, 5V and 12 voltage regulators etc. I'm assuming an XF551 has those - I'm more familiar with the 810 and 1050...

[+bob1200xl]

Run wires from the power connector into the XF551 at the appropriate points. I have seen the power plug pads lift off the PCB a couple of times. (put pressure on the connector while it is plugged in and the pad lifts right off)

 

You usually can't just re-flow the connection - you have use jumper wires)

 

Bob

 

[austodd]

IT LIVES!

 

Even though the solder joints looked OK to my novice eye, I decided to reflow the ones near the power connector anyway.  And, voila! A working XF551.  

 

Except the U-shaped metal shield that sits above the drive head has come off.  My understanding is that it's an important piece and must be re-connected.  I've heard that using hot glue to reattach it is an option.  I don't have a hot glue gun.  Any other recommendations for re-attaching this thing?

 

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond to my plea for help.  

[cwilbar]

Haven't done it on an XF551, but I've cut strips of double sided sticky foam tape.  its a harder foam than the original stuff, but I've had good luck with it.

 

I also don't think that that shield is important to operation.  It protects the head (delicate connection wires are often exposed with that missing), and blocks stray signals.  But I have a PC drive or two where the shield is missing, and no issues in them operating properly.

 

Maybe someone can comment on XF551s in particular in regards to this piece.