Misc Computer Help <---- :)
---Repairing HP-85 Capstan Gooey wheel <
::: ---{Repairing HP-85 Capstan Gooey Wheel}--- :::
The Hewlett Packard 85 used a capstan in the disk drive to move the DC100 tape wheel forward and backward. The original rubber used on the HP-85 computer capstan becomes gooey and soft after 30+ years. (Below)
Below is a picture of the wheel on the DC100 tape that the capstan turns.
To make the capstan grip the wheel of the HP-85 capstan I used a 3/8 OD surgical tubing to create a new capstan wheel grip.
The inside of the tubing has more traction to it so I turned it inside out and cut a piece roughly 3/16ths wide to fit onto the capstan.
The wall of the surgical tubing is thicker than the original capstan rubber but it is far softer so it does not put too much stress on the wheel of the DC100 tape cassette.
There are other ways to fix the HP-85 capstan gooey wheel but this is fast, easy and works like a charm :)
Below is a video of the process.
I am surprised to discover that many of the original tapes like the Hewlett Packard Demonstration Tape and the Math Pac tapes work after 31 years (2011). Thanks really needs to go out to the people who created sites for the early Hewlett Packard computers. Listed below are the sites that have helped me out in restoring this computer.
http://www.vintagecomputers.freeserve.co.uk/hp85/
http://www.classiccmp.org/hp/9800.htm
http://www.series80.org/Manuals/index.html#Section-MainframeManuals
http://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hpmuseum/archv013.cgi?read=34540
http://www.hpmuseum.net/collection_document.php
http://www.kaser.com/hp85.html
http://www.voidware.com/calcs/hp85rep.htm
...I am in the year 2011...for all of you who find me in the future there was and maybe still is a website where you can find old websites. It is/was called archive.org and it held a search engine that had collected and archived websites from the very beginning of the internet. It was called "The Way Back Machine" If you do not find these websites by clicking on them then try the Way Back Machine ...maybe it is still around.
If it is not around, chances are that there is a community of people who have retained and/or discovered ways to access these sites...
