Retro Challenge 2017/04 Day 08 and 09

Now that the recap of all the critical units is complete it is time to power up!

The first VIC I tried was the newer of the two.  This one was Judy's father's VIC and it has not been used since the 90s.  The power light came on but no video.  After checking to make sure the TV was working, I set aside that VIC and went for my original.  It came right up!



The first thing I noticed was many keys were not working very well.  Research showed that sometimes a complete disassembly and isopropyl alcohol cleaning helped but others reported the conductive pads on each plunger may need resurfacing.  There are many screws and much care needed to remove the key caps. This many be my next project.  For now, I want to see if it is a simple fix for the other VIC.

I opened the case and carefully re-seated the socketed chips.  Everything seemed fine but still no video.  I got one of the spare VICs that I had not cleaned up and after a quick inspection inside powered it up.  No video with that one as well.  This VIC that I am trying to get up and going had extensive corrosion form leaky caps. This was in the video section and there maybe more damage that needs repair. This may need to be looked into with my scope but not tonight!

The keyboard on the cleaned up VIC was very nice.  It was the newer type with the rounded, less clacky keys.  Instead of trying to repair my keyboard I exchanged the two.  Now my original VIC has a newer keyboard and testing showed all keys working properly.  I am happy with this slight mod/repair.  I would have changed keyboards back in the day if it was possible.  My case is very yellowed compared to the no video VIC but for now I can live with the retro coloring.

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