26 Sep
2006
26 Sep
'06
9:25 a.m.
At 19:30 -0500 9/17/06, Jochen Kunz wrote:
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
26 Sep
26 Sep
2:03 p.m.
On Tue, 26 Sep 2006 11:25:27 -0500
Mark Tapley <mtapley at swri.edu> wrote:
(1) I'm curious about the etymology - where does
the expression
"kreidlered" come from?
Once upon a time there was the legendary German
brand "Kreidler" of
motorcycles (mopeds). Kreidlers had the habit of faling for no reason.
You dissassembled your Kreidler in the hope to find somthing broken that
you could fix. Usually there was nothing broken to find. So you
reassembled it again without any specific repair applied and the
Kreidler worked again magicaly.
--
tsch??,
Jochen
Homepage: http://www.unixag-kl.fh-kl.de/~jkunz/
2:46 p.m.
At 19:30 -0500 9/17/06, Jochen Kunz wrote:
Fo(u)thed :-) I've cured many problems in all sorts of machines by
removing and replacing connectors, socketed ICs, and the like. Thsoe of
use with HP41s will know the ritual of taking the machine apart and
cleaning the inter-PCB connectors when it malfunctions...
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
This reminds me of the hard disk problems I had with my PERQ 3a. The
previous owner had turned the PSU output right up to try to get rid
intermittant disk problems, I was not happy with this _at all_. So I
set the PSU back to the right output voltages, then decided to check the
voltages at the hard disk connector. One of them, I forget which, was
about 1V lower than it should be. It turned out that there's an in-line
fuse in that supply wire, it's in one of those holders you'd use in car
wiring with clamp screws holding the wires in brass collars. Well, one of
those screws was loose, there was a high resistance conenction there.
Tightening it up cured the disk probles -- the right way.
-tony
6 Oct
6 Oct
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
6423
days inactive
6433
days old
3 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
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ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
dkelvey＠hotmail.com -
jkunz＠unixag-kl.fh-kl.de -
mtapley＠swri.edu