23 Dec
2024
23 Dec
'24
12:42 p.m.
For the people who worked at IBM, what was the difference between an “FE” and “CE” ?
Sent from my iPhone
On Dec 23, 2024, at 07:47, Paul Berger via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
On 2024-12-23 05:11, Nico de Jong via cctalk wrote:
When I was an operator, we once had a visit from a CE who had to repair the
carriage control mechanism. In order to do that, he had to use a big screwdriver, and of
course he lost it. It hit the 1403 N1's power supply, blew all fuses. This was not
enough; the screwdrive hit obviously the plus and minus pole of the main capacitor
(it's about 55 years ago), so the current was so large that, after the things had
cooled down, he could lift the capactor out of the printer just by lifting the
screwdriver
It was by the way the same CE that got his tie wrapped up in the print chain....
The same company once had a bunch of visitors who were allowed to visit the machine room,
which normally was a bit nono. One of the guests took his coffeecup with him, put it on
top of the 1403, and while things were explained to the crowd, the cover lifted and ....
well you can guess the rest. He was quite pisssed off, but it was his own fault
Another thing I'll never forget, was the 2540. It had 5 bins, and the middle one
could be used for accepting read cards and punched cards. Once an operated started to read
cards while cards were being punched, and both routines used the middle bin. That is not
to be recommended !
/Nico
My experience with a capacitor occurred early in my time as a CE. Before the days
of switching regulators IBM used a lot of power supplied that where regulated by a
resonant winding on the input transformer. If the capacitor on that winding goes short
you get no output from the transformer. I was working on a banking terminal that had no
power. Where I was working I was behind a row of machines and cabinets for things like
signature cards, in a narrow isle against the windows, so no one in the branch could see
me. I had already been caught once by a shorted resonant capacitor so first thing I did
pop off one of the leads to the capacitor and sure enough it powered up, but I didn't
leave it at that I started to second guess it so I turned off the machine and reattached
the wire to the capacitor, and it powered up again. Then I started thinking that it
probably went short due to heating up, so I thought it best to leave it disconnected until
I could get a replacement, the machine would work fine without it for a day or two. It
was then that I made the mistake, I thought I should discharge the capacitor, so I shorted
the leads with the shank of a screwdriver and there was a load crack and a bright flash
and next thing some of the banks staff where looking over the machine and asking if I was
OK. I still have that screwdriver some 45 years later.
You quickly learned to tuck in you tie and roll up your sleeves not just to keep them out
of the mechanisms, but also to keep them out of the oil and grease. The worst things I
worked on for getting dirty was proof machines. The endorsers used a purple indelible ink
and they would get gummed up with a mixture of ink and paper dust and working with gloves
was impossible so you would end up with your hands stained purple. Later someone stumbled
on the idea of using a ultrasonic cleaner which we could use to clean everything except
the endorsement plate, the ultrasonic cleaner would cause the endorsement plate to
delaminate, but it was easy to clean by hand.
Paul.