Altair-what do I do first

Good move -- don't plug it in yet. The biggest danger is that the electrolytic capacitors have depolarized. In that case, they could heat up and explode when you turn it it on. Search Google for "reforming electrolytic capacitors" and you get a lot of links. In any case, detach everything from the power supply and check it out first. Unfortunately, Altairs have no connectors for this, so you will have to desolder the wires. Some suggest powering it up slowly on a variable transformer, but I have not tried that. After checking out the power supply voltages, unplug all of the cards and power up the front panel only. Then do the same for the CPU, etc. -----Original Message----- From: cctalk-admin(a)classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-admin@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Ron Hudson Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2002 8:51 AM To: Classic Computers Subject: Altair-what do I do first I have just been offered an altair computer, it's been sitting in the back of a garage, unused for some time. I don't want to just plug it in and power it up right away do I ? Inspect -- what am I looking for? Clean -- best method? It is described as "not having switches or blinking lights", having floppy disks, having been used for somthing to do with ham radio. This is in advance of actually getting the computer,