Rodents plus New Mexico red clay = a high probability of haunta virus
being present.
Hopefully your using a good dust mask while working on this find. Be
careful.
John Willis wrote:
>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
>
>
Received on Wed Oct 30 2002 - 15:29:00 GMT