22 Jun
2016
22 Jun
'16
10:49 a.m.
I picked up a DEC VR201 display today, it was leaking a highly corrosive
brown liquid. So corrosive it burned my skin painfully / immediately and
I had to wash hands thoroughly. Anyone come across a display that leaked a
corrosive liquid like that? The display was stored in its original box, so
I don't think the brown liquid was from something stored on top of it, but
I don't know for sure.
Bill
--
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22 Jun
22 Jun
10:57 a.m.
On 22 June 2016 at 16:49, william degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com> wrote:
I picked up a DEC VR201 display today, it was leaking
a highly corrosive
brown liquid. So corrosive it burned my skin painfully / immediately and
I had to wash hands thoroughly. Anyone come across a display that leaked a
corrosive liquid like that? The display was stored in its original box, so
I don't think the brown liquid was from something stored on top of it, but
I don't know for sure.
Capacitor electrolyte?
--
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11:04 a.m.
On Jun 22, 2016, at 10:49 AM, william degnan
<billdegnan at gmail.com> wrote:
I picked up a DEC VR201 display today, it was leaking a highly corrosive
brown liquid. So corrosive it burned my skin painfully / immediately and
I had to wash hands thoroughly. Anyone come across a display that leaked a
corrosive liquid like that? The display was stored in its original box, so
I don't think the brown liquid was from something stored on top of it, but
I don't know for sure.
Electrolytic capacitor? That's about the only component I can think of you'd find
in a monitor that might contain corrosives. (Batteries also do, but a VR201 is not likely
to contain one.)
paul
11:10 a.m.
I picked up a DEC VR201 display today, it was leaking
a highly corrosive
brown liquid. So corrosive it burned my skin painfully / immediately and
Ouch, in more ways than one. If it attacks your skin like that, I wonder what
it has done to the insides of the monitor.
I had to wash hands thoroughly. Anyone come across a
display that leaked a
corrosive liquid like that? The display was stored in its original box, so
I don't think the brown liquid was from something stored on top of it, but
I don't know for sure.
If it does come from inside, just about the only thing it can be is electrolyte
from one of the capacitors. I'd remove the case [1]
and have a look. Possibly
wearing gloves...
[1] Very easy on the VR201. Extend the 'leg' fully. Put the unit screen-side
down. Prise (pry) off the circular cap on the back, over the screw. Undo that
screw (#2 phillips). Slide off the case.
-tony
11:41 a.m.
On Wed, Jun 22, 2016 at 11:10 AM, tony duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
wrote:
The screen rot is so bad, I am not sure I even want to mess with it.
--
@ BillDeg:
Web: vintagecomputer.net
Twitter: @billdeg <https://twitter.com/billdeg>
Youtube: @billdeg <https://www.youtube.com/user/billdeg>
Unauthorized Bio <http://www.vintagecomputer.net/readme.cfm>
I picked up a
DEC VR201 display today, it was leaking a highly corrosive
brown liquid. So corrosive it burned my skin painfully / immediately
and
Ouch, in more ways than one. If it attacks your skin like that, I wonder
what
it has done to the insides of the monitor.
I had to wash hands thoroughly. Anyone come
across a display that
leaked a
corrosive liquid like that? The display was
stored in its original box,
so
I don't think the brown liquid was from
something stored on top of it,
but
I don't know for sure.
If it does come from inside, just about the only thing it can be is
electrolyte
from one of the capacitors. I'd remove the case [1] and have a look.
Possibly
wearing gloves...
[1] Very easy on the VR201. Extend the 'leg' fully. Put the unit
screen-side
down. Prise (pry) off the circular cap on the back, over the screw. Undo
that
screw (#2 phillips). Slide off the case.
-tony
12:42 p.m.
Well, screen rot. Why didn't you say so in the first place!
The nasty substance that you came into contact with is almost certainly the
decomposed RTV silicone leaking out.
Gross stuff.
On Wednesday, June 22, 2016, william degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com> wrote:
On Wed, Jun 22, 2016 at 11:10 AM, tony duell <ard
at p850ug1.demon.co.uk
<javascript:;>>
wrote:
box,
--
Ian Finder
(206) 395-MIPS
ian.finder at gmail.com
> I picked up a DEC VR201 display today, it
was leaking a highly
corrosive
brown
liquid. So corrosive it burned my skin painfully / immediately
and
Ouch, in more ways than one. If it attacks your skin like that, I wonder
what
it has done to the insides of the monitor.
I had to wash hands thoroughly. Anyone come
across a display that
leaked a
> corrosive liquid like that? The display was stored in its original so
The screen rot is so bad, I am not sure I even want to mess with it.
--
@ BillDeg:
Web: vintagecomputer.net
Twitter: @billdeg <https://twitter.com/billdeg>
Youtube: @billdeg <https://www.youtube.com/user/billdeg>
Unauthorized Bio <http://www.vintagecomputer.net/readme.cfm>
I don't think the brown liquid was from
something stored on top of it,
but
I don't know for sure.
If it does come from inside, just about the only thing it can be is
electrolyte
from one of the capacitors. I'd remove the case [1] and have a look.
Possibly
wearing gloves...
[1] Very easy on the VR201. Extend the 'leg' fully. Put the unit
screen-side
down. Prise (pry) off the circular cap on the back, over the screw. Undo
that
screw (#2 phillips). Slide off the case.
-tony
6:34 p.m.
* On Wed, Jun 22, 2016 at 09:42:25AM -0700, Ian Finder <ian.finder at gmail.com>
wrote:
Well, screen rot. Why didn't you say so in the
first place!
The nasty substance that you came into contact with is almost certainly the
decomposed RTV silicone leaking out.
Gross stuff.
Seconded and thirded. This is exactly what the problem is.
One of my ADM-3a terminals had an identical issue with the broken down
adhesive between the CRT and the implosion protection screen. It
leaked down onto the motherboard and it was only cured by fixing the
screen rot.
If I remember correctly, I used both isopropyl alcohol and Goo Gone
(citrus adhesive remover) to clean up the spilled gunk.
-Seth
1:41 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctech [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of william
degnan
Sent: 22 June 2016 16:42
To: General Discussion: On-Topic Posts <cctech at classiccmp.org>
Subject: Re: Leaking DEC VR201 monochrome monitor?
On Wed, Jun 22, 2016 at 11:10 AM, tony duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
wrote:
> > I picked up a DEC VR201 display today, it was leaking a highly
> > corrosive brown liquid. So corrosive it burned my skin painfully /
> > immediately
> and
>
> Ouch, in more ways than one. If it attacks your skin like that, I
> wonder what it has done to the insides of the monitor.
>
> > I had to wash hands thoroughly. Anyone come across a display that
> leaked a
> > corrosive liquid like that? The display was stored in its original
> > box,
> so
> > I don't think the brown liquid was from something stored on top of
> > it,
> but
> > I don't know for sure.
>
> If it does come from inside, just about the only thing it can be is
> electrolyte from one of the capacitors. I'd remove the case [1] and
> have a look.
> Possibly
> wearing gloves...
>
Nasty! I have a couple of working VR201s that I want to check for impending problems, this
has prompted me to plan to do that sooner rather than later.
Regards
Rob
3:19 p.m.
>
> If it does come from inside, just about the only thing it can be is
> electrolyte from one of the capacitors. I'd remove the case [1] and
> have a look.
> Possibly
> wearing gloves...
>
Nasty! I have a couple of working VR201s that I want to check for
impending problems, this has prompted me to plan to do that sooner rather
than later.
Regards
Rob
11:42 a.m.
On Wed, 22 Jun 2016, william degnan wrote:
I picked up a DEC VR201 display today, it was leaking
a highly corrosive
brown liquid. So corrosive it burned my skin painfully / immediately
and I had to wash hands thoroughly.
PH test it, if you can. If it's caustic, then I'd suspect condensate mixed
with electrolytic capacitor gunk. If it's acidic, I'd suspect either an
industrial cleaner or again condensate that had mixed with acid from
solder flux, then partially evaporated, leaving a concentrated acid ready
to burn you. That's my cockamamie theory.
If it tests acidic, put on some gloves and eye protection and pull the
boards out you can, leaving just the (discharged) tube and the case. Then
flush everything with a mix of water and baking soda. If it's caustic,
clean it out with vinegar (ie.. 3% diluted acetic acid). Then flush the
whole thing with purified water, clean the boards, and reassemble it. It
might be a lost cause if that stuff has got down into the flyback
transformer or ate all the solder mask off your logic board.
-Swift
12:14 p.m.
Yes. It's the PVA compound leaking out of the picture tube, from
between the faceplate and the tube itself. I see this on lots of
terminals and monitors. You need to remove the picture tube, heat the
faceplate and separate it from the tube, and clean up all the brown
goop, and put everything back together. It's corrosive, and it will
eat traces (this is a big problem on ADM3A terminals, since the goo
leaks onto the circuit board).
This is definitely fixable.
-Ian
On Wed, Jun 22, 2016 at 10:49 AM, william degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com> wrote:
I picked up a DEC VR201 display today, it was leaking
a highly corrosive
brown liquid. So corrosive it burned my skin painfully / immediately and
I had to wash hands thoroughly. Anyone come across a display that leaked a
corrosive liquid like that? The display was stored in its original box, so
I don't think the brown liquid was from something stored on top of it, but
I don't know for sure.
Bill
--
@ BillDeg:
Web: vintagecomputer.net
Twitter: @billdeg <https://twitter.com/billdeg>
Youtube: @billdeg <https://www.youtube.com/user/billdeg>
Unauthorized Bio <http://www.vintagecomputer.net/readme.cfm>
1:56 p.m.
On Wed, Jun 22, 2016 at 10:49 AM, william degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com> wrote:
I picked up a DEC VR201 display today, it was leaking
a highly corrosive
brown liquid. So corrosive it burned my skin painfully / immediately and
I had to wash hands thoroughly. Anyone come across a display that leaked a
corrosive liquid like that? The display was stored in its original box, so
I don't think the brown liquid was from something stored on top of it, but
I don't know for sure.
I've had brown liquid emit from a VT220 - I think it was the goo
between the CRT and the implosion shield decomposing. I tore it all
apart and cleaned it and put it back in service (it was my first VT220
from 1984...) It's a messy job. I happen to have
working guts of a
VR201 from when I dropped one and busted the CRT 20 years ago...
if
you don't want to deal with the cleanup/refurb, I can always use
another VR201 (to replace the broken one!). PM me. If you want to do
it yourself, it can be done, but it's a multi-night project, I'd say
(one tip: I used a silicone-based double-stick gel-like "tape" to
remount the implosion protector (with an air gap) because the naked
CRT didn't fit the VT220 housing well enough to make me happy - I'd
approach the VR201 restoration with the same expectation).
-ethan
3:24 p.m.
(one tip: I used a silicone-based double-stick
gel-like "tape" to
remount the implosion protector (with an air gap) because the naked
CRT didn't fit the VT220 housing well enough to make me happy - I'd
approach the VR201 restoration with the same expectation).
As far as I know, the front of an implosion-protected CRT works
like a laminated windscreen (windshield). There are 2 (normal)
glass layers bonded together by the 'goo'. If you've refitted the
outer layer with just fixing tape at the edges, you do not have
any implosion protection. And I certainly would not sit in front
of a CRT like that!
-tony
2933
days inactive
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