Cleaning a floppy drive head with a cotton swab is a terrible idea

I was trying to fix a 1992 Macintosh LC and read a forum post saying to use a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol on the drive head. Did it, and it left tiny fibers that jammed the whole thing. The repair manual I found later at the library said to only use a foam swab, which I had never heard of. Now I have to find a whole new drive mechanism. Has anyone else ruined old gear by following bad online advice?

3 comments

3 Comments

stone.evan1mo ago

A foam swab catalog in 1992 sounds like spy gear.

nathan_patel2mo ago

Foam swab" is the part that got me. I've never even seen one of those for sale. Where were you supposed to get that in 1992, a special lab supply store? No wonder the wrong advice spread everywhere.

noahchen2mo ago

Remember my uncle trying to clean a VCR head with a cotton swab in like '94. He just shredded the cotton tip inside the machine. Had to take it to a repair shop where the guy showed us the proper foam ones he ordered from some weird catalog.