[rescue] Is this machine worth a rescue? (Tales from the dumpster)

[Gerhard Lenerz]

Hello Thomas,

Wednesday, June 11, 2003, 4:38:22 PM, you wrote:

> So yesterday I pulled this Sun Ultra 10 out of a dumpster. To find out it was
> sitting in there maybe 2-3 weeks halfway to the processor filled with wather.

  that is indeed bad - 2-3 weeks is a long time.

  This is a shot in the dark and before trying it it'd wait for
  further comments: After that period of time I think it is likely
  that there is corrosion or some substance on the contacts. As this
  is a all or nothing game for free I'd try contact cleaner on the
  whole thing, then clean it again with water and leave it dry for a
  reasonable amount of time in the sun (~1 day for the system, maybe
  more for the PSU).

> You can imagine how the machine looked like especially as the wather
> was deep brown and stinky. So I took a gardenhose to the machine to
> get rid of the dirt that was stuck on the board and the machine is
> now out in the sun to get dried. I noticed today that there is still
> lot's of brown substance on the circuit board and I might end up
> taking a toothbrush to it after it is dry to get the stuff off.
> Anyone had luck rescuing a machine out of a wather befor? Any hints
> on how to handle the circuitboard and cpu.

  Me and my girlfriend we rescued an old IBM PS/2 and the system did
  look the same on the inside - don't know how long it was stuck in
  the dirt, but I still believe it has been underwater before hitting
  the depth of the dumpster. It works fine - though we didn't dare to
  try the original PSU so far.


Gerhard