I've removed (as of tonight) all the parts out of the chassis,
documenting
where everything goes. I cleaned the chassis very carefully. Once the
card cage/
backplane was out, it was obvious that these parts were in beautiful
condition,
if not more than a little bit dusty. A couple of bent pins in back were
easily
corrected, and the entire assembly sits waiting to be reinstalled in the
chassis.
The TU58, unfortunately, did not fare quite as well, as the mice had
chosen
it as their nesting place. After finally managing to get the tape that
was in it
loosened up, it came out coated with mouse fur and mouse droppings etc.
The rollers are entirely wound up in this stuff. It sits in a box
awaiting later
attempts at cleaning. I hold out little hope.
The power supply, which seems to consist of a controller and two
actual PSUs, looks solid from the outside, and also what I can see of
the inside.
It appears to have large battery packs in the bottom of it. These,
certainly,
would be dead after all this time. Are they important? Maybe theyre not
even
batteries...
The H7112A looks solid, but again, I haven't explored inside.
Everything in the system
has a light coating of New Mexico red clay dust.
The blower/motor assembly from the bottom of the cabinet awaits
cleaning.
The blower itself turns freely, which I'm taking as a good sign.
The cards are pristine, L0002, L0003, L0004, L0008, L0007, L0016. There
are 8 memory boards (M8750), several bus grant cards, a card labeled
"M9313"
and one labeled "M9202." I also found in the bottom of the system an
M9014 Unibus to H854 adapter that wasn't plugged in. I also have a
DELUA.
-----Original Message-----
From: Zane H. Healy
Sent: Tue 10/29/2002 9:35 PM
To: cctalk_at_classiccmp.org
Cc:
Subject: Re: Bringing up a 10 years dormant VAX 11/750
> I just a couple of days ago picked up a VAX 11/750. This machine has
Cool!
> been stored
> in a damp shed for ten years or so, has had mice living in it, and the
> usual assortment of spiders, etc.
Oh, SHUDDER! It sounds like you're in for an interesting restoration
process.
> to the control panel and TU58 tape drive. I'm in the process of
cleaning
> all the components,
> but am in search of some advice on this process, especially the power
> supply. How long
> should I let the power supply dry out from its prior damp condition,
and
> what should
> I do to bring it up for testing without risking damage to other
> components? I wish to
> do this methodically and carefully.
Unless this is a powersupply that needs a load on it when you power it
on
(anyone know?), I'd recommend having it totally disconnected when you
power
it on. I'd also recommend you have someone else standing by with a C02
Fire
Extinguisher for safety.
As for how long it needs to dry before powering up, I'm not really sure,
if
you've got it in a warm, heated location, I'd say a week or two should
be
plenty (probably doesn't need that much but it's better to ere on the
side
of caution).
Something to do in the mean time is to look for corrosion and to get
everything good and clean. I'm most concerned about your powersupply
and
backplane. Also take a look at the rollers in your TU58. While the
following is for a PDP-8, you might find it useful.
http://pdp-8.org/revive.htm Definitly read up on what Aaron has to say
about Backplanes.
Zane
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/ms-tnef
Size: 4442 bytes
Desc: not available
Url :
http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/attachments/20021029/e9b1ae28/attachment.bin
Received on Tue Oct 29 2002 - 23:47:00 GMT