VOGONS


First post, by Vipersan

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So I have aquired on of these Flip Disks ..
Branded Toshiba it allows an ancient laptop to access an external drive of ..6.4gb via pcmcia
Sadly the case is covered in some sort of neoprene rubber which is decomposing ..and no amount of cleaning will stop it being tacky to touch ..
It is most unpleasant because it sticks to and leaves a sticky residue on your hands.
So I took it to pieces and hopefully can construct a new case/mount for it...unless someone knows how to clean and stabilise this rubberised case..
Anyhow ..here are some pics of this interesting legacy device ..and I think is going to be very useful as it takes standard 44pin laptop ide drives..
At least that is what is currently fitted.
The drive is good..and tests ok.
Interestingly you can externally power the unit...and it has what looks like an LPT port at one end.
rgds
VS

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Reply 1 of 8, by Scali

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Oh, I had an entirely different idea with "Flip disk"... I thought it was going to be about "Flippy disks", which are disks for single-sided floppy drives, which can be flipped over, so both sides can be used.
Note the second index hole, and the write protect notch on both sides:
disk-banana-inside_size1600.jpg

Not all drives needed such floppies though. The Commodore 1541 for example, didn't use the index hole. That meant it was enough to just use a simple cutting tool ('disk notcher') to cut a write protect hole on the other side, and you were fine with regular double-sided floppies.
These 'flippy disks' are very rare.

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Reply 2 of 8, by adalbert

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Palmrest of my Presario 1800 notebook was covered with sticky rubber, but I was able to remove it with isopropyl alcohol. I rubbed it with a cloth with some alcohol, and the coating dissolved, it sticked to the cloth.

Repair/electronic stuff videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/adalbertfix
ISA Wi-fi + USB in T3200SXC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX30t3lYezs
GUI programming for Windows 3.11 (the easy way): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6L272OApVg

Reply 3 of 8, by Vipersan

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adalbert wrote:

Palmrest of my Presario 1800 notebook was covered with sticky rubber, but I was able to remove it with isopropyl alcohol. I rubbed it with a cloth with some alcohol, and the coating dissolved, it sticked to the cloth.

Already tried ISO ..
It appeared to work briefly ..and within an hour went sticky again..
I dont think it's a coating ..I think the entire case is made of the same rubber stuff ..and that which is exposed to the air ..is decomposing.
So ..looks like I'll have to improvise a case.
It will no longer be genuine ..but should be useable.
rgds

Just had another idea ..
I'll tryit tomorrow..
another thorough cleaning with ISO ..then quickly laquering it before it's exposed to the air for too long..

Last edited by Vipersan on 2018-01-25, 00:18. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 4 of 8, by adalbert

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So, maybe try to clean it again, and after that spray some transparent, non-glossy varnish onto it? Maybe it would work, should block the air 😜

Repair/electronic stuff videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/adalbertfix
ISA Wi-fi + USB in T3200SXC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX30t3lYezs
GUI programming for Windows 3.11 (the easy way): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6L272OApVg

Reply 5 of 8, by Vipersan

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adalbert wrote:

So, maybe try to clean it again, and after that spray some transparent, non-glossy varnish onto it? Maybe it would work, should block the air 😜

we are thinking alike buddy ..
just had the same idea..
😉

Reply 6 of 8, by cyclone3d

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The best stuff to clean that tacky crap off is Lemon essential oil.

If you don't have that available, any citrus based furniture polish will work as well.

I've had to clean the sticky crap from the decomposing rubber off of mice, joysticks, throttles, etc over the years. Have not found anything better.

If using essential oil, just spread it on an area and wipe it off pretty much immediately. If you don't, you might end up melting the plastic underneath the sticky a bit... depends on how good of plastic it is.

If using furniture polish:
Basically just spread a thin layer on whatever you are trying to clean and let it sit for a few minutes. It should come right off after that with a rag. You may have to do a second treatment as the first round will probably not get it all off or at least leave a tiny bit of tackiness because it basically just dissolves the sticky stuff and then when you wipe it off with a rag it leaves a bit behind.

You should end up with a nice smooth plastic case after getting the sticky stuff off.

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Reply 7 of 8, by Vipersan

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Really pleased how it turned out..
Finally got the rubberised coating stable enough for 2 coats of clear spay laquer..
Used a combination of neat Hydrogen peroxide 11% ..and engine degreaser ..plus much rubbing with a abrasive kitchen sponge.
Also repaired a crack in the case with epoxy..
rgds
VS

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Reply 8 of 8, by chinny22

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pretty cool! I can see it been useful for old Win9x laptops as USB sticks aren't reliable and laptops of that era don't come with networking.
Good job on the cover as well.