PDP-8 Straight 8 restoration - failure modes

[Ethan Dicks]

On Mon, Mar 30, 2020 at 3:43 PM Bob Rosenbloom via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
> In restoring my PDP-8/s, diodes were the problem. Turns out they have
> steel leads that rust. Easy to see with a microscope.
> Badly rusted ones broke the glass body.

Good to know.  My PDP-8/S was stored indoors but my Straight-8 was in
a storage locker for years before I got it.

I have a stereo inspection microscope.  I'll definitely peer at the
diodes as part of the cleaning/evaluation process.

But I also have to line up a bunch of spare bulbs.  The leads on more
than half of the ones on my -8/S are fractured where they enter the
glass.

-ethan