The Commodore 1541 disk drive is a classic piece of retro computing hardware, but it has one major flaw: it gets really warm. In this video, Jeff investigates why the 1541 gets so hot, and then tries out a few modern remedies to see if he can cool it down.
Jeff starts by taking a look at the 1541’s power supply. The original design uses a single 5-volt regulator to power most of the chips in the drive. This regulator gets very hot, especially when the 1541 drive is under a heavy load.
There are a few ways to cool down the 1541. One option is to replace the original regulator with a more efficient model. Another option is to add a heat sink to the regulator. He’ll try both of these methods and see which one works best.
Jeff also takes a look at some other potential causes of the 1541’s heat problem. For example, the drive’s motors can also generate a lot of heat. He’ll see if there’s anything we can do to reduce the motors’ power consumption.
By the end of the video, we’ll have a better understanding of why the 1541 gets so hot, and we’ll have some tips on how to cool it down. So join Jeff on his quest to solve the case of the warming 1541!
