Leaky nicad battery

From: Richard Erlacher <edick_at_idcomm.com>
Date: Fri Apr 30 12:36:23 1999

did you try out this PC with a KNOWN working keyboard?

I've had a few experiences with keyboards which would work with some systems
and not others. I've got one, for example, which works fine, except . . .
it is not recognized on power-up. I don't know why this is, but since it's
the only problem I've encountered with it, it's on the server, which doesn't
go through power cycles that often.

Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark <mark_k_at_iname.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, April 30, 1999 11:35 AM
Subject: Re: Leaky nicad battery


>Hi,
>
>A few days ago I posted about an old PC board which had a leaky battery. I
>followed Allison's advice and neutralised the stuff with lemon juice. The
>fizzing/bubbling that happened when I did this suggests that cleaning with
>alcohol alone (say) is not really adequate.
>
>Anyway, after cleaning it up I checked all affected PCB traces with a
>multimeter. It turns out that none of them were corroded all the way
through,
>so repairs weren't necessary.
>
>Cleaning the board didn't solve the problem that this PC has. On power on,
it
>says (something like) 2A Keyboard failure. I can boot the machine and get
into
>the setup menu by pressing Alt-Esc. However, the cursor keys and space bar
do
>not work. At the DOS prompt, typing letter keys causes them to print twice
>(ddiirr, and so on). This is using a known good keyboard to test with.
>
>Does anyone have an idea as to what the problem might be? If it's in some
>custom-programmed keyboard controller or other custom chip, obviously the
>prospect of repair is slim. But the majority of chips on the PCB look
fairly
>standard (PC is made in 1989 or 1990).
>
>
>-- Mark
>
Received on Fri Apr 30 1999 - 12:36:23 BST