6 Oct
2006
6 Oct
'06
7:52 a.m.
From: Mark Tapley <mtapley at swri.edu>
At 19:30 -0500 9/17/06, Jochen Kunz wrote:
Hi
I recommend putting silicon grease on the connectors before
reseating them. DC#4 is the purest but I've had good luck with
things like Silglyde from automotive stores. Most electrical supply
shops care DC#4.
As I've stated before, do not use petrolium greases. While
protecting the contact, it will also make the contact worse
instead of better.
Silicon grease will improve the contact, for even old oxidized
and burnt power connectors, as well as protecting them.
Dwight
Sometimes it helps this old hardware to be
"kreidlered". I.e.
disassemble the whole machine, reaseat all PCBs and connectors and try
again. (Sometimes connectors get a litle bit of corrosion etc. that is
cleand out by un- and repluging the connector.)
Thirded (1). I have a Mac Plus with Brainstorm accelerator (16 MHz 68000,
plus SCSI chip upgrade). It has been giving me fits with intermittent
operation for years. Tuning the 5V setting on the analog board *right up*
against (but not over) the crowbar seemed to help, but it'd still reset
periodically. Best diagnostic I have is (unfortunately) still a Radio Shack
Archerkit analog VOM, which does not show momentary Voltage transients.
Finally, this month, I was doing battle with it again, got the 5V setting
tweaked up and the machine running face down, but then it failed when I set
it back up on its feet. At long last, during the post-failure examination,
I took loose and re-seated the power cable from the analog to digital board
at the *analog board* end. I'd done this dozens of times at the *digital
board* end - that's a lot less likely to take out the end of the CRT when
my hand slips - but not at the analog board end.
Machine has been running without problems since then. Wife is re-addicted
to Dark Castle (and I have to put in a good word for Delta Tao on that
score, they just sold me, at a discount, the original software! (2) ), kids
getting addicted to Concertware + MIDI. Next project may be to find a MIDI
interface for the thing and start learning more about digital music.
(1) I'm curious about the etymology - where does the expression
"kreidlered" come from?
(2) Not affiliated, but if I had to choose one company in the field to hold
up as wonderful, Delta Tao would be it.
--
Mark Tapley, Dwarf Engineer
(I haven't cleared my neighborhood)
210-379-4635