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<\/a>That’s more than a little harsh and frankly isn’t an option.<\/p>\nTake a look inside.<\/h2>\n
When I unscrew the rear cover on the bottom disk drive I am greeted with this image..<\/p>\n
There is nothing so obvious looking in to the top drive but on removing the drive I get a similar story.<\/p>\n You can clearly see that both drive belts have fallen off their respective pulleys.<\/p>\n So what has happened is that the belt have lost their condition over the thirty or so years that they’ve been on the drives and just don’t grip any more.<\/p>\n Snipping through one of the belts and measuring gives a length of 588mm and so a diameter of 558\/pi which equals 188mm.<\/p>\n Record deck belts are available around that diameter and I have one on order but the suggestions on-line say they aren’t a good option as they tend to be stretchy.<\/p>\n I have also found a flat industrial belt at 590mm length and so I’ve ordered a couple of those.<\/p>\n I’ll let you know how I got on.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I am now at the point where the disk controller is passing the RAM test but is hitting another fatal error. The Manual says there is a problem seeking to track 0 and I should replace the defective drive. That’s more than a little harsh and frankly isn’t an option. Take a look inside. When … Continue reading DEC PDT-11\/150 \u2013 Part 6. Looking at the disk drives.<\/span> <\/a>It seems unlikely that someone packed a spare drive belt \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<\/a>This is the top drive bay with the drive removed.<\/p>\nWhat to do next?<\/h2>\n
<\/a>As you can imagine, new belts from DEC are not an option, so I need to improvise a little.<\/p>\n