Ah, yes. IBM was big on hydraulics for mechanical bits that had to move
fast. In 1965 I used to tend to an IBM 1301 disk storage unit which was
<http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/storage/storage_1301.html>
used in one of IBM's manufacturing lines to store data for numerical
control machines. If you look at the middle section of the image you'll
see the hydraulically actuated read/write head assembly which moved all
heads as a unit. When the system was accessing data for particular part
numbers it could cause sympathetic vibrations which would cause the
entire unit to start rocking back and forth and it would start walking
across the floor if it continued long enough. One time it happened when
I was out for a coffee break and the machine walked away trying to drag
its power cable. The 400 volt cable broke and started a small fire.
This same machine also caught fire one day when contaminated water
started dripping through a crack in the concrete floor above into the
cooling vents at the top of the machine. I saw that happening but
couldn't get it shut down in time.
Chuck Norcutt
Michael Collins wrote:
>
> More trivia. The drum containing the cells (10 of them?) was rotated by
> 150psi hydraulics, which made rather a mess if there was ever a hydraulic
> oil leak. At U of W, the IBM CEs would take the data cell out of service for
> a full day every month to strip it down and clean it. I can't begin to
> imagine what was done at the insurance companies that used rooms full of
> those things.
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