[Info-vax] Suggestions for Toshiba CD-ROM drive problem

[Steven Schweda]

> Probably not going to work well. If one spot is weak, so might be the
> rest of the "spots".

   Sure, but when the first radial crack occurs, the stress is relieved,
so I wouldn't expect more than one such crack.  The crack would normally
appear between teeth, where the gear is weakest, and that would spread
the two neighboring teeth.  The problem which I'd expect (aside from
slippage on the shaft) is that the spread teeth won't mesh well with the
mating gear.  (Working gears tend to have uniform tooth spacing, with no
exceptions.)

> [...] Older devices ain't coming back. Got to learn alternative
> methods.

   Or buy a lifetime supply of junk while it's still available.

   And store it under conditions where the plastic parts won't become
brittle or gooey.  When I was young, I bought an over-priced belt-drive
phonograph turntable.  After not using it for many years, I discovered
that the (polyurethane?) drive belt had turned into two bands of goo,
which had fallen onto the platform below.  (Plus the smears of goo which
had stayed in the pulleys.)  Polymers are wonderful, but often unstable
over time ranges measured in years.  (I chose belt-drive over
direct-drive because I was worried about the lifetime of the
electronics.  What could go wrong with a belt?  Trust no one, I always
say.  _Now_, I always say that.)