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

[Thomas Gallaway]

> > 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).

The good thing the Power Supply was not covered. Just the lower part
about halfway to the processor. I might take some pictures later on.

> > 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.

For free I mean I definately will give it a shot. I will try contact cleaner
maybe
for the whole mainboard :-) Going to head over to the electronics store now.