If not for the fact that this information is so vital to preventing the extinction of the Famicom Disk System, we probably would have just linked to it in a post and be done with it. However, it's best not to be reliant upon the continued existence of some ephemeral website for such important information, so we are re-posting the entire guide here. As the servers which host this website are locked away in the inner most sanctum of the Pink Gorilla fortress and fiercely guarded by the Pinky G Ninja Suppressors, the information should now be safe for all eternity.

Simply NES's Famicom Disk System Belt Replacement Guide
Edited for grammar, typos, clarity and brevity.

This guide is for replacing the band or belt as some people call it which is almost always the cause of a non-working systems. This guide is for the stand alone version rather than the Twin Famicom but since they use the same drive it can be used for that as well.

I am NOT RESPONSIBLE [neither is Pink Gorilla] for any damage you do to yourself or Famicom Disk System. If you are worried about opening your FDS then don't as you could end up damaging the system beyond repair.

Stuff you will need:
1. A philips screw driver.
2. A flat head screw driver, knife or something similar.
3. A replacement rubber band of the correct size.
4. A lot of patience - getting the band in place without damaging it can take a while.

STEP 1

First turn the Disk System over and remove the six screws holding the case together. STEP 2 Now turn the system over and remove the top cover. At the back of the system there is a rectangle tray. This is being held down by two screws. Remove these two screws and move the tray. Now you should be at the stage in the picture above, take your thumb and index finger and slowly move the plug in the back of the disk drive from side to side. If you are having trouble removing the cable you can remove the four screws holding the drive to the base of the case and move the drive forward a little. STEP 3 If you didn't remove the four screws holding the disk drive to the base in the step 2 do that now. When removing the disk drive don't worry about the front plastic bar, that just slots out. Once the drive is out look for the two wires which are circled in the picture above. Each wire has a bit of metal holding it in place. This metal needs to be bent using a flat head screw driver or something similar so the wires can move. This is very important. If you skip this step, the wires could end up breaking off in step 5. STEP 4 Turn the disk drive over and remove the three screws shown in the picture above. Ignore the top left one for now. STEP 5 Now that the base is removed you can see the band (belt) that is causing the problem. In this case it hasn't broken but it has stretched so it will still need to be replaced. Remove the four screws shown in the picture above and carefully lift the circuit board. Now under the circuit is where the gray wire is connected with a four pin connector. You can either leave this connected or try and remove it.

I have found trying to remove it is more trouble than it's worth and since the band can be replaced without removing it, I chose to leave it. However, if you do unplug it you have more space to play with so I'll leave this decision up to you.

STEP 6

Remove the three screws shown above then turn the metal triangle clockwise and carefully lift it out under the circuit board as shown in the second picture above.

STEP 7

Now that the metal triangle is out the way you can attach the band. Because the band goes between one of the legs on the metal triangle (the one with two screw holes) you cannot attach the band and then the triangle. Instead you have to install them together, which is the trickiest part. What I like to do is start by putting the band under the correct leg as shown in the second picture above. Then put the triangle back in the top right corner and slowly slide the whole triangle back into position.

Now holding the triabgle up a bit so that it doesn't drop into place, carefully move the band so it goes around the white, circular cog shown above. Once the band is around the bottom half of the cog carefully stretch the band to the top left hand corner around the motor. Check to make sure the bands are correctly aligned, then slide the triangle back into place.

STEP 8

Now that the band is in place, the circuit board needs to be put back into place. If you are experiencing difficulty, check the other side where there is a bar that slides up and down. This bar is used to read the disks and the circuitboard sometimes gets caught on this when you attempt to reinstall it.

All that is left to do is to screw everything back together and attach the disk drive. Before you put the case together you may want to test it first as there are some reports of having to tweak the motor a little to get it working. If it works, then you're done. Otherwise, move on to step 9.

STEP 9

This is the final step and is not required if the system works after step 8.

Because you can no longer get bands from Nintendo there is no way to guarantee the one you have is exactly the same size as the original. Luckily, the motor usually has a variable resistor (Potentiometer) for adjusting the voltage (speed). To adjust it you will need a very small flat head screw driver. Adjust the control screw very slightly then try to load a disk. Keep adjusting the motor and loading a disk until you get a result.

If you still cannot get the system to work make sure you are using a disk that actually works.