26 Aug
2010
26 Aug
'10
11:14 a.m.
On 2010 Aug 26, at 10:49 AM, Jules Richardson wrote:
Tony Duell wrote:
Maybe HP's QC isn't quite what we like to believe it to be. I've
mentioned in the past an HP9815 calculator (1970's) in which a power
supply filter electrolytic capacitor was factory installed with reverse
polarity. It has never presented a problem however, so in that instance
I didn't correct it, just noted it in my log for the machine.
When you are cleaning up and restoring a piece of
classic computer
hardware, would you correct any minor mistakes made in the original
production?
"It depends" (doesn't it always?)
I love finding stuff like that when investigating a machine - it's
part of the machine's "story", I suppose. On the other hand, the
perfectionist in me would likely want to fix it.
Maybe the solution is to document your change somehow and fix it, but
only if it's possible to back out of the change at a later date - that
way you're not harming the "story" but still fixing the fault while
the machine is part of your own collection for your own enjoyment.
I suppose the magnitude of the problem comes into play, too; for
something small like a solder joint that was currently working, I
might be tempted just to leave it as-is until it did break properly
(which might never happen).