3 Apr
2011
3 Apr
'11
6:35 a.m.
--- On Sat, 4/2/11, Steven Hirsch <snhirsch at gmail.com> wrote:
I have two Lisa 2s in my possession that both exhibit
serious corrision from battery leakage.? One is simply
bad, the other is about the worst such situation I've ever
laid eyes on.
I was able to remove the battery packs to halt the
degradation, but before I make a bad situation worse I
thought I'd ask for some advice on how to proceed.
As I'm sure others have told you (haven't read the whole thread) the stuff to use
is vinegar. The "acid" the battery leaks is really more of a base/alkali, so a
mild acid like vinegar will neutralize it. I usually use an old toothbrush and scrub with
the vinegar to get rid of the blue/green corrosion crud. Once it looks pretty good, give
it a good rinse in alcohol to clear away any flakes of crud and vinegar. I have, on
occasion, even used a dishwasher for final rinse, if the board is really bad. (stupid
pinball machine MPU board design...). If you used water to rinse, you can air dry, or dry
in the oven - just set it as low as it will go, usually 150 degrees, and let it bake for a
half hour or so - that's usually enough to drive away any remaining water.
I'm also trying to work out what the units might
be
worth.? The deal with the seller is that I'm free to
evaluate their condition and attempt to get one working unit
out of the two.? Assuming a nominally functional Lisa 2
with functional 10MB ProFile and fair cosmetic condition,
what do folks think is a fair price for that unit (the owner
wants whatever is left back, functioning or not)?
Depends - but a Lisa, in good (non-working) condition seems to go for around $400/500, and
working ones even more - closer to $600/$700, and with a working hard drive? I don't
know. Usually the ones on eBay are in as-found condition. But, a broken one with battery
damage... probably closer to $250/$300. Again, observation - I am not an expert.
Another important question - do you have the keyboards? Are they working? The Lisa uses
the capacitive foam disc keyboards, and most of them are now non-working due to the foam
rotting. I've been able to fix this sort of keyboard by making a sandwich of the
plastic/foam/mylar materials, and using a little punch (a machinist friend made it for me)
to punch out replacement discs. It's very tedious.
A minor point would be the mice. The Lisa uses the same mouse (electrically) that the
Macintosh 128/512/Plus used - and this was what shipped with the Lisa 2/10. But the Lisa
2/5 (with the battery pack and the external ProFile port) shipped with a different looking
mouse, with a thin button and sharper corners. The difference is purely cosmetic, but some
collectors are picky. :D
-Ian