Data recovery and disk repair questions and discussions related to old-fashioned SATA, SAS, SCSI, IDE, MFM hard drives - any type of storage device that has moving parts
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Spray for Heads and Surfaces

April 14th, 2015, 10:53

Hi,

Does someone use 3M Novec to clean heads/ surfaces? What is the best reference from 3M for this type of worK?

Thanks

Re: Spray for Heads and Surfaces

April 15th, 2015, 5:34

3M Novec is overpriced and under-effective in my opinion. We have used it previously and the results were poor.

Re: Spray for Heads and Surfaces

April 15th, 2015, 7:10

Instead of the 3M product what do you use CK?

Re: Spray for Heads and Surfaces

April 15th, 2015, 10:36

For heads, we use >70% medical-grade alcohol wipes.

Re: Spray for Heads and Surfaces

April 16th, 2015, 7:45

I agree with using medical grade alcohol. Though I use 99% or higher to leave less residue behind. Just as a thought, I wonder if anyone has ever tried one of those ultrasonic jewelry cleaners along with a solution to clean heads... I'm gonna have to try it. Hopefully it doesn't make the alcohol explode. :)

Re: Spray for Heads and Surfaces

April 16th, 2015, 8:23

I've tried a small "jewelry" type ultrasonic cleaner. Don't waste your time & money.

IMHO, heads have to be spotless. Often there is contamination on the sides of the slider and on adjacent surfaces. Ideally, your method should remove that as well.

I've seen, when using IPA, that the slider surface can develop a discolored film -- perhaps it dissolves some of the protective coating and lubricant from the contamination?

Re: Spray for Heads and Surfaces

April 16th, 2015, 15:51

Thanks for the insight Jono. Great minds must think alike. That or we both just had the same stupid idea LOL.

So do you know of a solution that works better than alcohol? I've personally never had much success with any solution to clean heads, though I have tried in some cases when replacement heads were hard to come by.

Re: Spray for Heads and Surfaces

April 16th, 2015, 17:19

The method matters more than the solution.

Re: Spray for Heads and Surfaces

April 30th, 2015, 7:11

Thanks for all your suggestions.

My question is: the wipes do not damage the head as it is a type of fabric ???

Can you just put alcohol over the heads and let them dry?

Re: Spray for Heads and Surfaces

May 5th, 2015, 13:58

Well, alcohol may partially erode the surface of the head piece. But as everything in DR, if you do it with care, knowledge and experience, it's usually helpful. Heads are frail, but maybe not that frail. Have you ever ripped off H2-5 from an 8-head, 2.5 inches drive? :wink:

Re: Spray for Heads and Surfaces

May 5th, 2015, 21:48

deftrue wrote:Well, alcohol may partially erode the surface of the head piece. But as everything in DR, if you do it with care, knowledge and experience, it's usually helpful. Heads are frail, but maybe not that frail. Have you ever ripped off H2-5 from an 8-head, 2.5 inches drive? :wink:


Well,
Wowwww Thats quite a task .

Re: Spray for Heads and Surfaces

May 9th, 2015, 18:37

Miss Di wrote:My question is: the wipes do not damage the head as it is a type of fabric ???

Can you just put alcohol over the heads and let them dry?


They are more resilient than you think. It's all about technique so don't drink any alcohol before :lol:

Pouring alcohol over them to dry will do nothing so don't waste your time...or alcohol.

Re: Spray for Heads and Surfaces

May 11th, 2015, 6:09

Hello CK,

Which brand of wipes do you use? Can you post a link for them on the web?

Thanks & Regards,
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