Solder Problems (PDP-8/m related)

From: Lawrence LeMay <lemay_at_cs.umn.edu>
Date: Thu Dec 2 15:53:44 1999

>
> >This machine sounds as though it's full of bad connections, alas. Have
> >you cleaned _all_ the edge fingers on all the boards? Have you cleaned
> >(and tightened if necessary) the PSU connectors. Have you cleaned the
> >backplane slots?
>
> I cleaned the edge fingers before even turning it on, though I think I'll
> clean them again. I'll have to take a look at the PSU connectors. I blew
> out the backplane slots with canned air, how can you do a better job of
> cleaning them?

I just vacuumed my backplane, but most of the gunk in my pdp8/e appears to
be a result of deteriorating foam. I forgot, what was generally
considered the best compound to use for cleaning pdp8/e edge connectors?
I think it had 'gold' in its name...

I used what I thought was a good quality contact cleaner once on some Terak
boards (LSI-11 based computer) and though it worked, the boards sort of
glued themselves into the backplane or something, making it extremely
difficult to pull the boards at a later date. Obviously I wouldnt want
to repeat this problem on a PDP8/e, it was bad enough with only a 4-slot
quad backplane...

-Lawrence LeMay
Received on Thu Dec 02 1999 - 15:53:44 GMT