Don't Give Up on Pre-Built

[JCitron]

Although I am skilled at repairing vintage model trains, I wouldn’t trust myself repairing keyboards.

Hehe. Why? They both come with break and snap fittings and a gazillion tiny screws that manage to roll off the table and end up in the living room snagged in the carpet even if you are working in your workshop in the basement.

 

[AFdude06]

Agreed, John, but back then there were no circuit boards or bunches of little tiny capacitors, diodes, etc. Also, manufacturers were actually really helpful and provided plenty of DIY repair manuals in those days.

 

[JCitron]

Agreed, John, but back then there were no circuit boards or bunches of little tiny capacitors, diodes, etc. Also, manufacturers were actually really helpful and provided plenty of DIY repair manuals in those days.

Yup! Now everything is stuffed into the keyboards and the parts are the size of ant footprints and can't be replaced easily. Documentation is hard to find unfortunately for most devices. Dell though, is the exception when it comes to their systems.

Speaking of user manuals... I have a 1983 Visual Commuter Computer that came with a fully detailed service manual with schematics, and two hard-bound operations guides complete with a full ASCII table in one of them. Gone are those days indeed.

 

[MasterTracklayer]

They don`t have to be entirely gone, @JCitron, as long as you still have functional hardware.

 

[AFdude06]

I know I try to keep them alive, MasterTracklayer. I put every effort into gaining all the knowledge I need to be the best repairman I can be.

 

[MasterTracklayer]

I fondly remember the last big project I did for my old C= 64. It greatly simplified the use from BASIC of a particular class of machine-language (sub)routines. Anyone want the general outlines of the project?

 

[autodctr]

Woman that I worked with asked me to take a look at her machine because it kept shutting off. She had multiple cats and the PC sat on the floor. This woman was NOT someone concerned with neatness: the inside of her car looked like the inside of a garbage dumpster. Anyway, pulled the side cover and the dirt (some of it anyway) literally fell out. What remained was about 6" deep.

 

[JCitron]

Woman that I worked with asked me to take a look at her machine because it kept shutting off. She had multiple cats and the PC sat on the floor. This woman was NOT someone concerned with neatness: the inside of her car looked like the inside of a garbage dumpster. Anyway, pulled the side cover and the dirt (some of it anyway) literally fell out. What remained was about 6" deep.

That's really scary and could be a fire hazard too.

Did you peel the fur off the fans?

 

[autodctr]

I peeled fur off of everything. Actually used a shop vac.

I argued forever at work about getting the machines off of the floor. It took them about 5 years before they finally realized that that was a good idea and had little stools made. It was amazing how many fewer problems we had then.......

 

[JCitron]

I peeled fur off of everything. Actually used a shop vac.

I argued forever at work about getting the machines off of the floor. It took them about 5 years before they finally realized that that was a good idea and had little stools made. It was amazing how many fewer problems we had then.......

I can actually picture that in my mind. I use a Hippo vac (by Shop vac) to clean PCs. I got that way back when the family business had the Varityper. The vacuum is meant for computer equipment and the motor is grounded unlike a home vacuum cleaner to prevent static build up. Where I used to work in the computer room, they had one to clean out the DEC LP27 printers.

Keeping computers off the floor if possible is the best thing in the long run. In addition to dust and dirt, I had someone drop/spill a full cup of coffee with cream and sugar into the vent on the top of the computer cases. They didn't kill their PC because they hadn't turned it on yet, but boy was that a mess to clean up. I ended up giving them another machine and deep cleaned their old one in the sink.

 

[jeffmorris]

I bought a new computer shown at https://www.microcenter.com/product/668529/powerspec-g235-gaming-pc and it's better than my old computer.

 

[JCitron]

I bought a new computer shown at https://www.microcenter.com/product/668529/powerspec-g235-gaming-pc and it's better than my old computer.

Congratulations, Jeff!

Microcenter sells nice prebuilt computers. Unfortunately, they're located very far from where I live, otherwise I would've gotten a machine from them myself.