Cleaning HDD Heads & Platters

Blizzard

Member
I just wanted thank 300ddr for turning me on to the Texwipe TX758MD. This is the best solution I have tried so far for wiping platters. They are small but they remove/absorb, rather than move, contamination. It's like a micro cloth wipe on the end of a stick. I purchased them from SOS and they shipped fast. You can read the description at SOS Clean Room
 

pclab

Moderator
Blizzard":2pjaatfd said:
[post]5801[/post] I just wanted thank 300ddr for turning me on to the Texwipe TX758MD. This is the best solution I have tried so far for wiping platters. They are small but they remove/absorb, rather than move, contamination. It's like a micro cloth wipe on the end of a stick. I purchased them from SOS and they shipped fast. You can read the description at SOS Clean Room

Hi Blizzard

Can you confirm if it works well between platters of 2,5" drives? Do they fit well?
Thanks
 

Blizzard

Member
pclab":20mya17m said:
Hi Blizzard
Can you confirm if it works well between platters of 2,5" drives? Do they fit well?
Thanks

On a WD10JPVX they only slide in 1/4 of an inch and then it's too wide where it bonds to the stick.
 

xavior007

New member
Hello All,

I have a 2.5 that had been exposed to the elements for two years. Water eventually infiltrated the chassis of a 2.5" single platter Toshiba IDE drive. There is a lot of stuff on the platter (I say stuff because I don't know if its part of the filter, calcium build up or something else). Its white crystalline and I was wondering if anyone has ever used CLR (Calcium Lime Rust) remover? A friend told me that he had a similar drive and used CLR and it worked. I have used CLR on household items but I have witness it staining stainless steel too. So far I utilized my ultrasonic cleaner with Elma Tec Clean A1 (https://www.amazon.com/Elmasonic-Clean- ... k+clean+a1) and it removed a lot of the crystals but there is still a hard coating. I'm hesitant about using any clean room wipes at this point because of fear it will break off a piece and scratch the platter. 99.9% alcohol does nothing, and I have the Novec 7100 cleaner (also did nothing) and the Novec contact cleaner (may work as a final cleaning step). I have not tried Acetone and don't know if it will damage or remove any needed coatings. If one was to use Acetone do you use it straight or cut it with another liquid? Thanks, Glen
 

Jared

Administrator
Staff member
Personally I'd be hesitant about anything that removes rust as that means it's capable of breaking up iron (and potentially other metals).

I think pure acetone is good to use without cutting the mix, but it evaporates fast so you'll probably have to flood it quite a few times before it's clean enough to start wiping down.
 

LarrySabo

Member
If it's salt or calcium, it might be interesting to try vinegar or diluted acetic acid. Kind of hard to try it without risk.
 
Top