VOGONS


First post, by Planet-Dune

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Hello everyone

Today I mustered up the courage to strip down my wang machine. I did a first pass to get rid of the worst dust piles inside the system (trust me it was a LOT).

Now I removed as many components as possible, all the pcb's except the bottom plate with all the connections that everything plugs on to.

I never cleaned a PCB before besides with a brush to get rid of some dust. I presume these will take a bit more work. I looked online and saw two suggested methods. One was using demineralized water, the other some sort of contact spray. Which should I go for? (or both??). Again, never did something like this before or used any of these methods.

Second question, that power supply doesn't look like a standard ATX power supply to me (understatement). Does this looks "savable" or should I find an alternative way to give it juice?

Thank you for any suggestions on how to proceed, I included some pictures!

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Last edited by Planet-Dune on 2020-04-03, 09:29. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 1 of 16, by Anonymous Coward

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Are you at least going to tell us who makes it?

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

Reply 2 of 16, by Merovign

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Personally I would try to get specs for the PSU (should be pretty simple for that vintage) and get a new switching PSU which would be a fraction of the size and weight, mount it inside the enclosure.

But that would definitely not be original. It is a simple PSU so you could also start looking up part numbers.

As far as cleaning, it's not so much what you clean it with (obviously not gasoline or lemonade or something) as making sure it dries properly and thoroughly. You should probably go with recommendations if they're specific to very old hardware. Be very careful with complex components like what looks like UV-active EPROMs or the like, and contact cleaner would be great for when you remove and replace socketed chips (which you should if you can).

Also reminds me to tear down and check stuff on my Kaypro, though I have a long line of stuff waiting for my workbench right now.

*Too* *many* *things*!

Reply 3 of 16, by JidaiGeki

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Looks like an ancient Wang of some description. If it's not running, your best bet is going to be posting over at Vintage Computer Federation - http://www.vcfed.org/forum/forum.php - you might get more information over there on the specifics of the machine you're rebuilding.

Reply 4 of 16, by gdjacobs

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JidaiGeki wrote on 2020-04-03, 01:39:

Looks like an ancient Wang of some description. If it's not running, your best bet is going to be posting over at Vintage Computer Federation - http://www.vcfed.org/forum/forum.php - you might get more information over there on the specifics of the machine you're rebuilding.

So, he's been cleaning his Wang?

I'll see myself out...

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 6 of 16, by hwh

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Very cool. It's mid 80s though. Possibly an 83, though that tan colored board which sort of looks like an add in was apparently made in May of 84.

Also nice copy of Caesar II :p

Reply 7 of 16, by Anonymous Coward

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It's definitely not S-100.

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

Reply 8 of 16, by Horun

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At first thought it could be an Intel iPDS but is totally wrong board types. Then thought about a Four-Phase System mini mainfame and that is not right either. So show us a pic of the front and back of the case please.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 10 of 16, by Planet-Dune

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Anonymous Coward wrote on 2020-04-03, 00:42:

Are you at least going to tell us who makes it?

It's a Wang, changed the OP to add this information.

Merovign wrote on 2020-04-03, 00:45:
Personally I would try to get specs for the PSU (should be pretty simple for that vintage) and get a new switching PSU which wou […]
Show full quote

Personally I would try to get specs for the PSU (should be pretty simple for that vintage) and get a new switching PSU which would be a fraction of the size and weight, mount it inside the enclosure.

But that would definitely not be original. It is a simple PSU so you could also start looking up part numbers.

As far as cleaning, it's not so much what you clean it with (obviously not gasoline or lemonade or something) as making sure it dries properly and thoroughly. You should probably go with recommendations if they're specific to very old hardware. Be very careful with complex components like what looks like UV-active EPROMs or the like, and contact cleaner would be great for when you remove and replace socketed chips (which you should if you can).

Also reminds me to tear down and check stuff on my Kaypro, though I have a long line of stuff waiting for my workbench right now.

I'll keep it in mind, I naturally would prefer to keep it all original but I never seen such a power supply before and not sure if it is salvageable. So you would go the demineralized water wash method followed by contact spray for and if chips are replaced (maybe also for the pbc/card connections to the motherboard?) .

hwh wrote on 2020-04-03, 02:59:

Very cool. It's mid 80s though. Possibly an 83, though that tan colored board which sort of looks like an add in was apparently made in May of 84.

Also nice copy of Caesar II :p

Thanks for the information, some of the chips and boards inside have late 70's dates on them so that is where that comes from, guess they completed the entire unit in the early 80's using a mix of 80's and late 70's components. Caesar is a great game 😉

Errius wrote on 2020-04-03, 04:50:

But can it run Colossal Cave?

I wouldn't mind testing it if it ever runs but not sure if it is enough of a compatible.

Reply 12 of 16, by maxtherabbit

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Anonymous Coward wrote on 2020-04-03, 03:47:

It's definitely not S-100.

yeah I was expecting S-100 when I read the original thread title, obviously it's not when I looked at it

Reply 13 of 16, by Horun

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Planet-Dune wrote on 2020-04-02, 23:40:

Second question, that power supply doesn't look like a standard ATX power supply to me (understatement). Does this looks "savable" or should I find an alternative way to give it juice?

Thank you for any suggestions on how to proceed, I included some pictures!

Your PSU looks like many of the 70's power supplies used in High wattage Audio amps. Typical Transformer, full wave type with probably Zener diodes or Op Amp working with the hefty power transistors for voltage regulation. Most likely the only part that would fail is the electrolytic capacitors. I would not power on the PSU until you check to make sure the caps are not shorted. It should supply +5, +12 and -12 volts.. Maybe you can post some better pictures of it.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 14 of 16, by JohnnyV

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We went on with the cleaning Yesterday (softbrush first to get rid of all the extensive dust) and with Photographing all cards found inside the System. 8 in the slots, 3 double sided cards for Terminal, Disk , Printer, tape deck and one for the PSU... As by request I add some more here. Found out now its the Wang 2200 MVP and by the stickers inside it was last time serviced in 1984. It has a 2336 Terminal, a 2275 Disk/Floppy Drive and a Tape Drive. It also has the original Keyboard. (I include a full System Picture). Going over all reply's here and elsewhere I taped the Eeproms to protect them from UV light and include a few other pictures (stickers ). Again all information is more than appreciated as we are fairly new to this and this is not the easiest project to start with. It's easy to do something wrong and we would not want to damage the system trying to make it working again so it's gonna be a slow train coming this one. Next to dust clean is the Hard Disk/Floppy and the Terminal...

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Reply 15 of 16, by JohnnyV

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As for the Request for more picture of the PSU... I had to take it apart to be able to clean it and take readable Photographs Hope these work out... The question remains the same. What is our best way to go. Go with the original , what should we do then before even thinking bout powering up. Can someone for example mark on the pictures everything that needs changing (capacitors and so on). That would be useful as a way to start... And if the advise is to go for a new one are there any recommendations from people who already did this before as to what model to look for. If (If) I put in a new one I would def try to relocate it to a not used space within the case so I can leave the original "unhooked" inside. That old PSU is part of the original system so it should stay were it belongs I think...

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Reply 16 of 16, by Horun

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If you have a Digital Voltmeter would make sure the two big caps are discharged (am sure they are as they had bleed/surge resistors) and measure the Ohms making sure to observe polarity of leads to cap terminals (+ to +, etc) and using "auto ranging". Should be very high in 100k ohm or higher range in a matter of seconds after you start measuring. Next I would use a small battery source (like 3x AA batteries for 4.5-5.0 volts) and charge for 15 seconds, again observing proper polarity. Remove the batteries and measure the voltage of the capacitor, it should be close to your battery source but will fall over time. If you used say 4.5v of batteries and after 30 seconds of measuring, the cap started at 4.5v but trickled down to above 3.5v over 30 seconds then it is more than good enough to use ! The one 161k mfd cap is a whopping huge thing and you probably will never be able to get anything like it at a price you would like (a similar 150k mfd runs $215 new !!) so hopefully it is good. The 27k mfd is more easily obtained..
Those two big cap are the most important in a full wave power supply as they are the main filters. On the little circuit board would also measure the ohms of the two big caps.
If the caps check OK then I would put a load on the PSU (a couple failing HD would work well) and power it up and check all the voltages. Good luck !

Edit: DO NOT use Lithium AA batteries, use Alkaline or regular. The initial charge in rush current will be like a direct short on the batteries for first few seconds or more and could cause them to over heat or a blow up if Lithium based.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. https://archive.org/details/@horun