8 Oct
2004
8 Oct
'04
7:39 a.m.
On Fri, 2004-10-08 at 12:03 -0700, Marvin Johnston wrote:
In rummaging through classic computer stuff I
haven't seen in a while, I
saw several things that are definitely a problem. What other things need
to be added to the list for collectors to watch out for?
Sunlight's a real killer for certain types of plastic and causes it to
change colour - if you must leave equipment in the sun for long periods,
at least make sure it gets the sun evenly :-)
Some plastics react badly with each other when left for extended periods
of time too and can stick together. Unfortunately there seems to be no
way of knowing which types (power cables and polystyrene don't seem to
do very well; we've also had an Amstrad PDA at the museum that had
welded itself into its protective wallet...)
Oh, watch out for rodents too. There's a TRS-80 at the museum which has
had half its keys eaten...
Be careful with laser-printed documentation in ring binders too; the
text has a habit of sticking to the underside of the binder's cover for
some reason - stick a blank sheet of paper in there to protect it.
* Leaky nicad batteries that will "eat" the
circuit board traces
The early computers that come quickly to mind are the TRS-100, Lobo
Drives Max 80, NEC 8201A, 286 and later motherboards, and S-100
CompuWatch Clock/Calendar boards. Any others that should be added to
this list?
Won't *any* batteries cause corrosion over time? E.g. anything in pocket
calculators etc.