Welcome to the Mutant Caterpillar Guide to repairing your poor worn-out Microdrive cartridges!

Please note that we are not responsible for anything which you do as a result of this guide, use it entirely at your own risk.
You will need:
  • A Microdrive without the supporting sponge.
  • A Donor audio or data cassette like a C90.
  • A sharp implement like a scalpel or a craft knife.
  • Double-sided sticky-tape, preferably good quality like Sellotape.
  • Clean hands.

    • 1. First, find your patient.

    This is an ex-cartridge. Now the sponge has gone south, if you try and use this cartridge it will almost certainly jam up entirely, and completely wreck the data on it. DO NOT use a microdrive like this! Seriously, don't!

    2. Next step is to carefully remove as much of the sponge from the metal brace as possible. I use a scalpel, but a sharp craft knife will do also.

    You probably won't be able to get it completely clean, but it should look more like this:

    Note the lack of fluff and sponge remnants. There's still some left, but it's fairly flat now.
    You may find the metal holding the sponge has come loose - if it does, wrap the end of the metal over the plastic post. Use one end to see what both sides should look like. It should be loose, but not so loose it can fall out.

    3. Now you need to find the sacrificial victim. Any cassette should do, but try and find one with a clean sponge. Good candidates are Scrabble, Horace Goes Skiing, Chequered Flag, Survival and Make-A-Chip.
    Alternatively, any audio cassette will do.

    Interestingly, you may well find the cassette will continue to work afterwards, but not necessarily. If you try it or not is up to you, and be warned bad things may happen (you never know).

    4. The sponge behind the tape is what we need. Remove this carefully - just pulling it will usually work, as it's just bent metal.

    5. Remove the sponge from the metal brace holding it. If you're lucky, it'll just peel off using a finger nail, but you may need to use a knife. Try to get the whole sponge if possible.

    6. Reel off a small amount of double-sided tape, and place your sponge on the end. Then cut off the part with the sponge on, like this:

    7. Remove the excess tape from the sponge, so you just have a small taped sponge.

    8. Cut the sponge in two to make a short oblong sponge roughly the depth of the metal brace on the microdrive where the sponge was.

    9. Carefully pull the tape out from the microdrive to make a small loop, allowing you to see the metal brace clearly. Then, carefully peel the backing off your taped sponge, and push the sponge onto the brace where the old sponge was.

    10. Push the sponge gently against the brace to make sure that the sponge has attached itself correctly, holding it for a short time.
    Using your thumb or finger, gently spool the tape back into the cartridge by turning the wheel with tape on at the top left of the front of the cartridge. You should now see this:

    11. Stick your cartridge into your microdrive, and CAT 1! If it works (hooray!) backup everything off this cartridge immediately just in case!


    I hope this guide helps! As usual, any questions, just ask me at "ian at mutant-caterpillar dot co dot uk"