Magnetic Card failures

[Thott]

I got a batch of old magnetic cards. Unfortunately about 50% are not usable. With VER they either have the failure message MALFUNCTION or CARD Err.
Even when I write them new.

With my cards I get also sometimes a failure message, but quite seldom.

From a Facebook user I got the advice to wipe the magnetic side with alcohol.

I did it with Methanol.......and it works!

Out of 20 obviously defect cards are now after cleaning 19 card recordable and 100% readable.

Failure messages of the card reader is not always caused by the reader itself but maybe caused by the magnetic card.....

[Sylvain Cote]

Great idea, I will try it.

On my side, I have used for many years a Staedler white gum eraser that I rub over the magnetic side to remove the oxidation.
To prevent magnetic card bending I have made a small jig to keep the card in place.
The jig is made with a small piece of wood (where I place the magnetic card) and two clips (to hold the magnetic card in place).
I have one jig for HP-65/67/41 cards and one for HP-71/75 cards.

[Thott]

(07-25-2019 11:09 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  Great idea, I will try it.

On my side, ......
[......]
..... Staedler white gum eraser ....
[.....]

Good tip !
I will try it......

[Sylvain Cote]

A picture of my HP-71/75 card cleanup jig.

[Thott]

(07-26-2019 12:03 AM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  A picture of my HP-71/75 card cleanup jig.

That is a good arrangement. It’s much more better than to hold it by hand....

[Thott]

(07-26-2019 12:03 AM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  A picture of my HP-71/75 card cleanup jig.

Inspired by your idea, I made the following.
Cards at the side are double, one upon the other.

Now I can easily wipe the card with a lint-free
moistened cloth without touching the magnetic layer.

[Sylvain Cote]

(07-26-2019 02:49 PM)Thott Wrote:  Inspired by your idea, I made the following.

Very nice!

[CY-CL]

Hi Thott

You are still using magnetic cards. Respect!

If you buy a PIL Box, you can store any HP-41 program on your PC or MAC.

PIL Box

Regards,
Patrik

(07-25-2019 09:11 PM)Thott Wrote:  I got a batch of old magnetic cards. Unfortunately about 50% are not usable. With VER they either have the failure message MALFUNCTION or CARD Err.
Even when I write them new.

With my cards I get also sometimes a failure message, but quite seldom.

From a Facebook user I got the advice to wipe the magnetic side with alcohol.

I did it with Methanol.......and it works!

Out of 20 obviously defect cards are now after cleaning 19 card recordable and 100% readable.

Failure messages of the card reader is not always caused by the reader itself but maybe caused by the magnetic card.....

[Thott]

(07-26-2019 05:18 PM)CY-CL Wrote:  Hi Thott

You are still using magnetic cards. Respect!

If you buy a PIL Box, you can store any HP-41 program on your PC or MAC.

PIL Box

Regards,
Patrik

Thank you for very interesting link......
I will study the possibilities with the PIL Box.

[rprosperi]

(07-26-2019 05:18 PM)CY-CL Wrote:  Hi Thott

You are still using magnetic cards. Respect!

If you buy a PIL Box, you can store any HP-41 program on your PC or MAC.

PIL Box

Regards,
Patrik

I could not agree more, the PIL-Box is absolutely the best way to use media with any HP machine that supports HP-IL. It is easy to set up, easy to learn and easy to use. Definitely check this out when you can. The author, Jean Francois Garnier, is an active member here, as are the authors of the 2 PC client s/w tools that interface with the PIL_Box, Christoph Giesselink (ILPer) and Joachim Siebold (pyILPer).

[Thott]

(07-26-2019 11:44 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  I could not agree more, the PIL-Box is absolutely the best way to use media with any HP machine that supports HP-IL. It is easy to set up, easy to learn and easy to use.

[.....]

You are right, to have the programs stored save in the PC.
I will check it......

It’s sometimes gambling with the cards :-)

Just cleaned old ones which has failure messages with alcohol and a lint free cloth.
Now they are working all faultless.....

[hth]

I used rubbing alcohol back in the days for this purpose and it seemed to help.

These days I do not dare to use the card reader anymore and it is probably gummed up. I use the HP-IL module with a Pil-Box instead.

[Thott]

(08-03-2019 02:57 AM)hth Wrote:  I used rubbing alcohol back in the days for this purpose and it seemed to help.

These days I do not dare to use the card reader anymore and it is probably gummed up. I use the HP-IL module with a Pil-Box instead.

That’s the best way.....but I love this vintage stuff :-)

Thomas

[Sylvain Cote]

(08-03-2019 11:45 AM)Thott Wrote:  That’s the best way.....but I love this vintage stuff :-)

Same here, even though I have all the recent equipment, I am still using the card reader frequently.
I always have an HP-41 with me and it is my main offline storage when I am not at home.
Sylvain

[Thott]

Hello Sylvain,

after several tests, I found your cleaning procedures with the Staedler white gum eraser more effectively.
Cards were I got errors and alcohol cleaning didn’t help, the gum eraser brought it back :-)

Thanks for the tip......

Thomas

[Sylvain Cote]

(08-04-2019 08:11 AM)Thott Wrote:  after several tests, I found your cleaning procedures with the Staedler white gum eraser more effectively.

and your solution is faster for the majority of defective cards.

(08-04-2019 08:11 AM)Thott Wrote:  Cards were I got errors and alcohol cleaning didn’t help, the gum eraser brought it back :-)

Great news!

... we both wins!

[[kby]]

Pentel makes (or used to make; haven’t checked recently) eraser “pens” made of a similar if not identical material as the Staedler white erasers. Havn’ Tried them on cards but they are somewhat easier to handle on other tasks I have used the Mars erasers for.