Best Drives and Cleaner for MPC 60

What's up everyone. I just wanted make a query about the MPC 60 Floppy Drives. Mine is playing up at the moment, and I am looking to initially get a cleaning kit, and if that doesn't work, a new drive. I have found a cleaning kit on lindy.com, but I have a few questions;
1) How do I "run" the cleaning kit as per the instructions in the MPC 60? Do I just try to format the disk?
2) Will it work in the DS-DD drive?
3) Does anyone know where to get these in Australia (preferably Brisbane)?

Also, I have seen used drives available on mpcstuff.com, and (I assume) new drives at route66studios.com - Does anyone know if DS-DD floppy drives for the 60 can be purchased in Australia?

Thanks in advance for your experienced advise.

I also had a bad drive recently, and mailed Route 66 twice over the last few months; they never got back to me, though.

Since my MPC was in bits while I fixed the encoder (see the my earlier thread) and I didn't have a cleaner floppy to hand, I ended up removing the drive, popping the case off (it's an FD-235HF, and it just pulled off), then cleaning the heads thoroughly with a swab dipped in isopropyl alcohol. It works fine after reassembly, even if it's a slightly drastic solution - you might want to try the cleaner first.

FWIW, Roger Linn recommends inserting the cleaner, then hitting DISK and 7 about 20 times - see http://www.rogerlinndesign.com/mpc60-software-faq.html.

Route 66 have gained a pretty poor reputation for responsiveness and customer service.

I would not recommend purchasing a used floppy drive especially at MPCStuff's prices.

There are many floppy drives that can be purchased brand new and modified to work inside the MPC 60. The bible thread and a few other threads here have the information on what to change on the floppy drive.

MPCHunter wrote:I would not recommend purchasing a used floppy drive especially at MPCStuff's prices.

There are many floppy drives that can be purchased brand new and modified to work inside the MPC 60. The bible thread and a few other threads here have the information on what to change on the floppy drive.

Agree. Would consider it only in case where no other option exists.

If you're in Europe, or If you don't mind the shipping costs from Europe to where do you live, then I have 2 suggestions for you as well:

I'd highly recommend our friend Jazzcat. Find him on FB as "Jazzcat's Akai parts & repairs". He is also a fellow forums member. He is a one talented and very skilled guy and dealing with him is nothing but a pure pleasure. He is based in the UK. I love how this guy is serving the community and what is he doing for us. Cheers Matt.

If Jazzcat won't be able to help you, than you can probably try and hit back Andrea Zuppa. You can find his personal profile on FB, check his FB group "Akai S950 / S900 User Group" or you check his eBay account "dope_shht_only". He has also some very nice deals on used / refurbished / new parts for vintage samplers (mainly AKAI). Andrea is very helpfull and dealing with him is a pleasure as well. He is based in Italy.

Thanks so much for your specific instructions and advice, it has been very helpful!
¡PeAcE¡

No worries.

Hey everyone,

I got a floppy disk cleaning kit. The strange thing is, as soon as I put the cleaning disk I the drive, it started making a sound like it was spinning. I haven't experienced that before and I'm wondering if it is;
A) supposed to do that
B) because the cleaning disk is a HD-style as opposed to the DSDD-style, and I didn't put tape over the hole on the bottom right of the disk.

I assumed it was normal and continued with the process of pressing "Disk" then "7" 20 times as per Roger Linn's instructions.

I would really appreciate some education around this, because I'm not sure what is correct and incorrect.

Thanks guys!

A: Yes, something in the floppy cleaner has to spin to clean the drive head. You can't wipe something clean with out any movement .
B: Irrelevant as your not accessing any data.

What you described is normal and all good.

Ok, thanks so much for clearing that up!

I just got a floppy cleaner too. Bought one after getting the "oops, bad memory on disk" more lately on my S950 when using brand new floppies.

I already did the "hit 7/format 20x" on my MPC60 today, and also my S950 (and she works/loads/saves like a champ again thank goodness)...

...but wanted to know...what's the proper/correct procedure using a floppy cleaner for the S950?? Similar to the mpc60? I think it may be different. I ask because when you hit "format" in the S950, the floppy cleaner doesn't "spin/clean" for as long like on the mpc60 - only 1 sec or less, or it sounds pretty short. But I also noticed, simply hitting the S950's "disk" button on the front panel, the "spin/clean" is much longer than hitting "format" on the s950. So what's the proper way to use a floppy cleaning disk for the s950??

So long as the cleaner spins your fine.
Your best using the shortest spin as the cleaners aren't actually good for floppy drives and cause wear, but i think the effects will be marginal and it's probably not worth worrying about.