5.25 micro peripherals 52sa troubleshooting

[Seanbar]

Hello,
I recently aquired a 286 clone with a micro peripherals 52sa 5.25 disk drive. The drive whirls at boot up and the head seems to be ok. However I can't get too far with it. The spindle pully will spin freely only until I shut the drive door which lowers the cone assembly into the spindle assembly. It bites down so hard that the spindle assembly and belt freezes in place while the motor still whirls. . Even if I try to spin the cone assembly with my hand to get it going I'm met with a lot of resistance and nothing moves beyond the small push I give it. So I'm thinking its a problem with the cone assembly. I found the manuel on the thread "5.25 Ibm pc floppy aleignment" posted by retrogear on these fourms a few years back.

http://www.osiweb.org/manuals/MPI_B51-B52_Product_Manual_Long.pdf

The manuel states that the cone assembly was held together by snap rings and shims and to remove these to remove the assembly.

I wish they had given a little bit more information but unfortunately that's all the information I have about the assembly. Has anybody ever worked on a cone assembly like this? If so, what could i be looking for that could have gone wrong with it? I have a huntch that perhaps the spring is bad, but im not sure. Would I be able to find replacement parts or do you think it might be an adjust problem? Or do you think that the problem rests with something else rather than in the cone assembly at all?
Id rather not start working on it before knowing exactly how to work on it and what to look for so any information would be a big help!
Thanks!
Sean

 

[Chuck(G)]

I don't think it has anything to do with the hub cone/clamp assembly.

Here's another post that describes a problem similar to yours

I suppose you could disassemble the spindle assembly and examine it, as described on page 5-21 of the product manual.

 

[Seanbar]

Hey chuck
Thanks for getting back to me! So i tested the drive by turning it upside down. It kind of spins a bit more freely but then ultimately stops. If I gently push the belt to the side, the spindle pully will spin. Not as fast as it should to read anything but it does spin until the stripped pattern that tests speed on the spindle pully become a bit blury. So at this point do you think I'm leaning toward a belt problem?

 

[Chuck(G)]

It's definitely a possibility. Of course, the only way to determine this is to locate a replacement belt. Unfortunately, the old flat rubberized fabric belts are pretty hard to come by these days...

 

[Seanbar]

I saw some replacement belts on ebay. Mostly for mitsubishi. Were they all universal or did different drives have different sizes? I would asume they are close to tne tandon drives because they look almost identical but im not sure. Ive heard of people using a ruber band as a temporary solution. Do you think that might suffice or should i start looking for band or another drive?