VIC 20 with an extreme tan - new repair/restore project

[USA_Joe]

I recently acquired this VIC-20 off of ebay as a repair/restore project. To my surprise, the system booted. But several of the keys don't work. This isn't surprising given its condition. I've included a photo of this VIC-20 with one of my "normal looking" VIC-20s. What a tan this one has! I also found that several of the screw standoffs in the top of the case are broken. The board was attached with only half of the screws at best. The inside is filthy, and the port connections are very ugly. The shield has been removed at one point as proven by the disconnected solder points between the board and the shield. The case also had what appears to be part of a "document holder" attached to it. I already removed that, and I'm soaking the case to help remove the adhesive.

Lots of things to do on this one:
1 - Remove all of the keycaps, clean the key stems, keycaps, springs, and keyboard PCB.
2 - Desolder the shield from the main board, and clean the main board including the port connectors. Pull he socketed chips, clean the sockets, lubricate them, and reinstall the cleaned chips.
3 - Brighten the case with Salon Care 40 Volume Creme under plastic wrap, and placed in the sun for several hours over time (too hot here to leave out in the sun too long at one time).
4 - Repair the case mounts by using threaded nylon spacers and E6000 with Super Glue. Repair the hairline crack in the back of the top of the case.
5 - Remove the rust from the shield using apple cider vinegar, rinsing with white vinegar, and treat the shield with WD-40 while wiping off as much as possible. Might need to use Dawn dish soap and water to remove if necessary.
6 - Reassemble and install missing screws.
7 - Run full diagnostics and see what needs to be done next.

Joe

Photos below:

[fishhack66]

The fact that it booted is amazing, judging from the pictures! Nice find, and best of luck on the restoration.

[USA_Joe]

Thanks!

I've already made good progress.
- I got the adhesive from the document holder off of the case. The case is ready for brightening tomorrow.
- I took the shield off of the main board and cleaned it. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But only two points on the shield were soldered to the main board.
- I cleaned the main board, pulled the socketed chips, cleaned and lubricated the sockets, cleaned and reinstalled the chips. The edge connectors came really clean.
- I took apart the keyboard, cleaned the key caps and springs, cleaned each key stem, cleaned the keyboard PCB, and cleaned the metal piece that all of the keys go into. I'm waiting for the metal piece to completely dry overnight before I reassemble it and test.
- I decided to run the diagnostics on the main board with the harness components connected. At first, the VIC-20 didn't like the connection it was getting in the expansion port. So I lubricated it with Deoxit, and let it sit for a while. Then I re-inserted the diagnostic cartridge and tried again. It gave me the same garbled screen. So I pressed RESET on the cartridge, and it booted fine. It ran without errors. Tomorrow, I'm going to keep trying to get the VIC-20 to boot the diagnostic cartridge on its own until I can get it to fail (if at all). I'll clean and lubricate the expansion port again tomorrow as well.

Joe

[USA_Joe]

Another update:

- The shield has been cleaned and re-soldered to the main board (with the paper insulator between the two).
- I have not been able to recreate the initial issue with inserting a cartridge since cleaning/lubricating the cartridge port (twice) with Deoxit. The system still passes all of the diagnostics.
- The keyboard has been completely reassembled and tested. Each key works as expected now.
- The case is out in the sun now for brightening. I'm keeping an eye on it since it's rather hot today. Not too bad, but it still needs to be watched. I can already see a difference, but it has more to go.

Once the case is done brightening, I will start making the parts to repair the case.

As an aside, while I'm waiting for the case to brighten, I opened up a Plus/4 that I recently acquired. It gave me a quick flash on the screen, then nothing (blank, not black). Luckily I have another Plus/4 and a Chip Tester Pro V2 to help. I tested the TED chip and the CPU in the chip tester, they both passed. One of the ROM chips for the 4 built in programs was getting really hot, but it tested fine and stayed cool in the other unit. The ROM from the other unit did not get hot in the problem Plus 4. I swapped PLA's and discovered that the PLA was the problem. I ordered a new modern version off of ebay. It will take three weeks to get here.

Off to clean more VIC-20 keyboards that have problem keys.

Joe