1541 repairs

[nfuller]

I need to have my 1541 heads re-aligned. Does antone know how I can do it myself or were I can get help?

[administrator]

Welcome nfuller!

You may find http://www.commodore.ca/manuals/Tips/1541_tips.htm useful and I beleive you will need a drive alignment disk and you will find http://www.kmoser.com/bbs/philes-1541-alignment.php to answer the alignment problem directly.

Ray Carlson also explains: http://personalpages.tds.net/~rcarlsen/cbm/fix1541.txt

To properly realign a drive, you need special software. I use "1541/1571
Drive Alignment" by Free Spirit Software. The flipside of the program disk is
the alignment disk, and as such, should not be copied (a copy is only as good
as the drive that made it). The program provides a menu screen that indicates
what track you're on, drive speed, etc. You make adjustments to the drive
while watching the screen. The instructions even tell you how to load the
program when nothing else will load. You can -check- the alignment of the
drive without taking it apart, but of course realignment requires disassembly.
I always final-check my drives with several different program disks to verify
alignment... any commercial program disk can be used to do that.
Drive speed can drift over time, but it's rather rare to find it off far
enough to cause problems. Spindle speed (Note: some drives have no adjustment)
is reset with a small screwdriver adjustable control on a small PC board near
the spindle motor. On older belt-driven spindle motors, the belt may be
slipping. On all drives, the spindle collar (clamper) can get sticky and a
tiny bit of lube helps. Don't overdo lubrication. Excess oil will be thrown
off and could get on the disks.
Make sure the latch clamps the disk properly. Without a disk, move the
lever down and see if the spring presses the collar against the spindle to
clamp it securely. You can bend the tab down -slightly- (Newtronics drives
only) so it makes more firm contact if necessary. A slipping or stalling
disk will produce random read and write errors, a problem that's very hard
to track down. Some disks may work better than others. The DD ones without a
hub ring seem to slip more easily. HD disks should never be used in a 1541.
Bad (sticky) old grease on an ALPS drive can stall the spindle motor. If
that is suspected, you must remove the metal bar that the hub lock is mounted
on (two screws in the back) and take apart the clamper assembly by removing
the C clip. It has half a dozen assorted washers, a brass bushing and a
spring along with the plastic hub. Don't allow any of the spring-loaded parts
to fly off when you remove the C clip. These parts need to be cleaned with
solvent and put back together in the same order as before. A bit of moly lube
or light oil finishes the job. Make sure the hub clamper is centered on the
spindle before you fully tighten the rear screws.

[rbernardo]

Ray Carlsen also explains: http://personalpages.tds.net/~rcarlsen/cbm/fix1541.txt

Also, Ray provides repairs on all 15xx drives. He recently repaired six 1571s and one 1541 for me.

All I have to do is pick them up,

[Rimfire]

the disk is the best way....you can manually adjust the alignment
by hitting 8directory...and moving the head untill you get a reading...
speed can be a major problem...
id follow the advice of the privious post!
or buy a new one.