Apple IIc love: Cheap 12v power supply, ROM 4X upgrade and lots of cleaning
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- Опубліковано 24 сер 2024
- Time for more Apple IIc goodness! In this video I'm the dishwasher to clean the Apple IIc keyboard, building an adapter cable so I can use any off the shelf 12v power supply to run the IIc and installed a very cool ROM mod of the Apple IIc ROM 4.
--- Time Code Jumps
1:06 - Washing the Apple IIc Keyboard
14:46 - Apple IIc 12v PSU adapter
20:48 - ROM 4X for the Apple IIc
--- Video links
Reviving a dead Apple IIc:
• What's keeping this Ap...
IIc Power Connector Pin Out:
www.raphnet.ne...
ROM 4X (and 5X) information:
github.com/mgc...
--- Tools
Deoxit D5:
store.caig.com/...
Jonard Tools EX-2 Chip Extractor:
www.jonard.com...
Wiha Chip Lifter:
www.wihatools....
Elenco Electronics LP-560 Logic Probe:
www.amazon.com...
Hakko FR301 Desoldering Iron:
www.amazon.com...
Rigol DS1054Z Four Channel Oscilloscope:
www.rigolna.co...
Head Worn Magnifying Goggles / Dual Lens Flip-In Head Magnifier:
www.amazon.com...
TL866II Plus Chip Tester and EPROM programmer: (The MiniPro)
www.aliexpress...
TS100 Soldering Iron:
www.ebay.com/i...
EEVBlog 121GW Multimeter:
www.eevblog.co...
DSLogic Basic Logic Analyzer:
www.ebay.com/i...
Magnetic Screw Holder: (also on eBay and Amazon)
www.harborfrei...
Universal ZIP sockets: (clones, used on my ZIF-64 test machine)
www.ebay.com/i...
RetroTink 2X Upconverter: (to hook up something like a C64 to HDMI)
www.retrotink.com/
Plato (Clone) Side Cutters: (order five)
www.ebay.com/i...
Heat Sinks:
www.aliexpress...
Little squeezy bottles: (available elsewhere too)
www.amazon.com...
--- Links
My GitHub repository:
github.com/mis...
Commodore Computer Club (of Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington)
www.commodorec...
Tivoo Pixel Art Display seen in my videos:
www.amazon.com...
--- C64 Stuff
JaffyDOS:
blog.worldofjan...
C64 Test Harness I use:
• Building a Commodore 6...
C64 Homebrew cartridge PCB: (used for the DeadTest / Diag Cart I use)
www.ebay.com/i...
EasyFlash 3 Multi-Cart:
store.go4retro....
--- Instructional videos
My video on damage-free chip removal:
• How to remove chips wi...
--- Music
Eveningland - Nimbus
Francis Preve - Stranger Danger
Intro music by:
Nathan Divino
@itsnathandivino
Outro Music:
Abyss by | e s c p | escp-music.ban...
Music promoted by www.free-stock...
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
creativecommon...
![Apple ][ plus extreme cleaning + testing the Panasonic Monitor](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1iCLdbF1sgw/mqdefault.jpg)
My can of De-Oxit got kind of rusty so I used some De-Oxit on it and now it's working much better.
Haha -- that's like Artificial intelligence reprogramming itself to make it better. (And then to take over the world?)
Now if we can only solve the problem of the cap on the bottle of glue getting glued on.
@@DavePoo You could always try de-oxit. 😉
I think you add peanut butter.
@@DavePoo I like peeling the dried glue off the bottle tops... Something satisfying about a gummed up top, now appearing clean.
Great video! I am glad that I found your channel. Thank you!
Wanted to add this as well: What I enjoy about these types of channels is the fact that I can watch someone enjoy their hobby, which I share, and not have to listen to any of the politics, debate, and argument that I hear so many other places in life these days. This kind of video makes my day go so much better and I appreciate that very much.
Thanks for saying good things about ROM 4X. I'm glad you find it useful!
Hi Michael! Thanks for making it. I realized that the one I used (a binary a viewer sent me) was from 2017 -- and your Github repo has stuff from 2019, so time to patch a new ROM and burn copies to all three of my IIc machines. Thanks again!
Rom 4x saved my //c. I had a rom 255 in mine, and it didn't work... burned 4x, ran diagnostics, finally figured out the ram issue! :D
@@adriansdigitalbasement The IIc is a machine full of compromises, but it's really hard to argue with how small the thing is, then or now. Some might argue there's not much point to ROM 4X without the memory expansion, but as you've noted the ability to control your boot device is reason enough. Besides, you _can_ get a 1MB RAM expansion board for the older IIc, it's just got a(n only slightly) more complex installation procedure since you can't just plug it into an expansion connector.
Getting that installed leaves only the original keyboard in terms of "really wanna fix that" issues. Sadly, a replacement doesn't yet exist in the wild AFAIK. Prototypes (now) exist, but the finished product will probably be very expensive, and you'll have to ask yourself if you'd prefer the keyboard to be stock or reliable. I vote reliable. 😉
I realize this video is 4 years old but UA-cam just recommended it and I'm glad it did. I have my original Apple IIc that I got new in 1985 that came with one of these keyboards and it's now in about the same state as the one in this video. I've long wondered what to do about it without making things worse, but I've often thought about just removing that rubber mat as one remedy. I do think I will do the dishwasher thing to knock off any dried lubricant (I think there probably was some from the factory) and then try the Deoxit trick. Never thought of that.
I will say that these keyboards actually *were good* when new. I remember thinking that my IIc keyboard at the time was the second best keyboard I'd ever used, next to the original IBM PC that a friend of mine had and its Model F. It was very light in typing feel, with a short throw and springy click. Over time, they get heavier, mushier and scratchier. Some of it definitely seems due to that mat; these were totally flat against the PCB when new but they all seem to get wavy like that over time and then interfere with the normal pressing of the keys. The rest is probably just dirt and worn out lubricant combined with that design that relies on the key rubbing against a metal spring for its click. Anyway, definitely plan to try your method of restoration, plus removing that mat.
The super fast key action was one of my favorite parts of this video. :)
Am I the only non-american fangirling over that kitchen! American kitchens are awesome!
I put an HP 140 oscilloscope that had spent most of its life in the workshop of a heavy smoker through a couple of wash cycles. Worked perfectly after I dried it all out!
Recently removed my Apple IIc from storage. The Systems disk is missing but all the other components are there and are assembled. I have forgotten the steps in starting it up and playing a game I created but that will be re-discovered. Your presentation was excellent and helpful in cleaning the unit and the 12 volt battery option was also excellent. Very insightful. Ron H.
Great video. I've two IIc computers with that same keyboard. Those switches are linear switches with an external spring to provide feedback to the user. The problem is that with use, the stems ware out and the feedback becomes awful. I removed all the springs in my IIcs and now the keyboards are usable. Not the greatest, but at least not horrible. By the way, the Caps Lock, 80/40 and the Keyboard are Alps switches. They are almost identical to the ones used in one variation of the Atari XL family of computers. Those switches are serviceable. You can pry them open very easily and, almost always, they can be fixed.
The IIc was my first computer at the age of 11. A few years later, I upgraded to an Amiga 500. Still miss both of them.
Grab a new Amiga 500 PCB mobo off Tindie and build a new one out of new parts.
O-ring grease. Sold in hardware stores, it's what plumbers use to protect rubber parts like gaskets and O-rings from deteriorating. It's food safe because it has to be, and this helps with fingers typing on keyboards too. It's what mechanical keyboard enthusiasts use where plastic rubs against plastic or plastic against (mechanical, not electronic) metal.
The correct viscosity is between ketchup and mustard (soft but not runny), and a grain smaller than fine cat litter is enough and will stay where it's applied. Temp ranges are typically fine for all these.
For metal touching electronic metal, always use lubricating contact cleaner. This leaves a thin film which cleans and protects the metal from corrosion.
Keyboard switches are metal against metal inside, but unless the switch is damaged the switches are sealed to protect dirt etc from coming in there. But don't use O-ring grease on e.g. a Tac-2 anywhere near the contact plates. For keyboards with conductive rubber, don't use any O-ring grease, or a contact cleaner that dries out the rubber.
Who let Adrian out of the basement?
His mom... to be honest he's a cool dude and makes kick ass videos... so don't give him to much shit.
He's allowed out every 3rd thursday, with SWAT supervision
Out of the Digital Basement straight into the Analog Kitchen
lmao
Sung to that Baha Men tune:
_Who let the dorks out?_
_Who? Who? Who? Who?_
PS: Don't worry Adrian, we love you really.
Great video! Now, retrobrite that machine! I've noticed that the IIc machines seem to look fantastic once they are run through the retrobrite process.
wow you mentioned LTT and I was like wooooot..? that guy doesn't know retro like you do bro, YOU are a master
I like modern computers too :-)
Great video Adrian, but I’d be hesitant to use one of those all-in-one dishwasher tablets if it includes salt. Salt and water are a great corrosive combination for metals, and even though a dishwasher has a rinse cycle at the end I wouldn’t personally risk it.
I know the video is a year old but I have used sewing machine oil. Easy to get at any fabric store and will not gum up at all. Same oil works well on most electro-mechanical equipment.
Aaaahhhh.... still envious of you Apple //c-s Adrian... so nice to see.
Maybe it sounds weird, but for old keyboards and creaking plastic loops, vaseline fits very well. It is most convenient to use it with a syringe. I’ve done it myself many times. Protects from dust. It does not dry out. It is cheap. No changes or degradation of plastic over time. He also very well cleans copper oxides and contacts.
"APD Asian Power Decices Inc." I've got to say, power supplies with spelling errors don't inspire confidence that much quality control was done.
All it has to say to not inspire confidence in my mind, is either "Made in China" or "Made in PRC".
I have freaked many folks out with boards in the dishwasher. But it works very well. I've gotten silt from flood damage, corrosion residues, and all sorts of nasty junk from nasty PC owners out with the dishwasher. It works really well. And I've not once had any issues afterwards either.
Not only did you show me how to clean my keyboards, but now I know what the air dry does on my whirlpool dishwasher. Thanks.
I always use a small karcher pressure washer with DI water. First spray a general circuit foam cleaner leave it then clean then spray a lot of contact cleaner and clean it with pressurized DI water steam with karcher. I also work on specific points with an old tooth bursh as required.
I’ve washed keyboards, mice and other PC things in the dishwasher, it’s great if you just need stuff cleaned.
Great video, finding your channel has really rekindled my interest in old PC stuff. Now I’m browsing eBay instead of working!
An old tooth brush and some dawn dish soap works really well on stubborn crud on things like sound cards, motherboards, etc. Wash with hot water and let dry for a day or two in the sun or in a warm place.
I have a short hose on my basement slop sink attached to a garden sprayer. It's perfect for blasting out stains in clothes and stuff like this plus lots more. I can use any temp of water I want. I do the same clip trick for drying.
Ha! I had a Mr. Wizard nostalgia moment. Remember how sometimes he'd move to the kitchen to do one of his experiments? This reminded me of that for some reason ;)
This video was sponsored by Deoxit.
Your everyday life saver
Yeah crazy how I am _NOT_ sponsored by them.... it's just my damn favorite stuff!
@@adriansdigitalbasement I'll be travelling around your area next month!
I suppose you allow people to visit do you?
Would love to see you making a video.
Not in a weird way lol 😎
Meant to say suppose you don't allow people to visit*
He should buy a gallon container of it and display it on the workbench top until they do sponsor him.
Deoxit is pretty expensive here in the uk £25 per can. It's got about 1700 five star reviews on Amazon, so i know it is not just Adrian who likes it. But is there anything else that is cheaper and maybe just a good? Like WD-40 contact cleaner? which is £5 a can here.
Probably it is circuit for error code
Traces of old manual on internet...
"At the bottom there is a NE555 and a LM311. They are responsible for the flashing power LED. I think the NE555 does the blinking and the LM311 watches the incoming voltage (called "+12VIN" but really accepted around 15VDC)."
Ah -- so like if the PSU were not working correctly? I guess they just figured why bother with this circuit on newer boards.
The schematic shows that the +12FIN (Don't ask me why it's an F not a V) is voltage-divided so that +12V becomes 5.7V and is given to the inverting input of the 311 comparator. The non-inverting input is 5V, though it derates to 4.5V for normal condition. So it appears that the 311 normally holds the 555 in reset. So if the +12FIN line falls below around 9.5V, it allows the 555 to run until the voltage rises back above 10.5V. The 555's output is connected to the "Flash" line on the keyboard connector. So I guess it's a warning that your 12V rail is bad or overloaded...
@@ovalteen4404 Hi
Oval Teen
do you have the schematic for this ?
my powerled is flashing, but all voltages are o.k. ...
@@surferjim100 You can search archive.org for the Apple IIc Technical Reference Manual. It has official schematics starting on page 292.
I like Nu-Trol from MG Chemicals for cleaning and protecting from future corrosion. We use it at work for all our industrial connectors and I have seen some of our equipment come back years later with a layer of dust. All you have to do is wash with IPA and the connector still looks like new.
Again Adrian, this is another helpful video so thank you for putting this together and producing it. In watching this playlist and the 6-part Mac Classic series, I now lament all the times I have ever used anything but a used gift card to help prey plastic shells apart. That is a superb tip that I picked up from watching these. Well done!
Your videos are really great. Thank you for not playing bg music and for not putting artificial drama into your speak.
Back in the late 80s, I had an old AT keyboard that my cat spilled equivalent to 24 ounces of freshly brewed sweet iced tea with roughly a full cup of sugar in it. Problem was, I was unsure when the cat knocked it over. I put it down and had an emergency to run to so I left the house. Anyway, I discovered it when I came back. Keyboards were expensive to replace back then. Immediately I thought of the dishwasher not even caring if it destroyed it since it might have already been destroyed. The sugar solidified the switches themselves, mostly in the middle of the keyboard. After running it through the dishwasher once, it was not good enough. I ran it through the full cycle probably 4 or 5 times but it definitely worked to get the sugar out. Just thought I’d share that :)
I had one of these as a kid. I loved playing that game you had on at the end of your program. Wow all of those memories. Thank you :).
I usually use a silicone oil for old scratchy plastic keyboards which are pretty common case especially in Soviet home computers. Plastic aging and dirt leads them to a really crappy state. Cleaning and lubricating the keys brings the keyboards to a happy life again :)
I remember my Apple IIc nice job on restoration.
Putting retro computer parts in the dishwasher is 'Normal Wash' for Mr. Black.
I have yet to see a video without De-Oxit.
He probly uses it as breath freshener lol
It's the duck tape of electronics...
The stuff works. That's like saying "he sure uses a lot of solder when he replaces those capacitors"
I guess the De-Oxit is to Adrian what was the butter was to Paula Dean cookings, an essential item of the show.
It's like the flux for Louis Rossmann.
Nice to hear "The Computer Chronicles" theme background music.
Regarding 12v vs 15v for the power supply, a big old heavy linear transformer from the 1990s and earlier can produce a wide range of voltages depending on the current. The open circuit voltage with no power draw can be very high. The voltage drops as current increases, with the maximum voltage drop at the maximum current. By comparison a modern tiny switching power supply self-regulates at a steady voltage regardless of current, so it works reliably at 12 volts in place of the linear transformer.
I literally screamed NOOOOOOO! when you said "I'm going to be using soap", but I'm glad it worked out ok :-) (soap vs. non-soap is like an emacs vs. vi or tabs vs. spaces argument)
Cool computer, even today. Love the matching little monitor and mouse that came with it. Great channel Adrian. Between you, 12volt vids, and joes amusements I think I can learn to troubleshoot and fix near anything! Thx.
wow. all those years and I don't got a clean/dirty indicator on the dishwasher. Getting one NOW! :)
Wd40 also a classic.
Remember it as a kid back in 80s 90s
It would make an interesting video to populate the other Apple 2 where it was lacking some of the Components this Apple 2 has & see if it does anything.
Thanks Adrian, very helpful and I enjoyed it. It took me back to my experiences in my school computer lab.
I took the rubber mat off my IIc keyboard and can confirm it made the keys feel a lot better. :)
I have nothing with Apple, but your vids are always interesting. I'm amazed by your skills! Would you like to make a video about eproms/eeproms like: are they interchangeable, what are common types, how can we program them with which software, maybe some more details about the minipro? Tips ect.. I recon😊 Keep up the good stuff, thanx!
@Adrian's Digial Basement - I'd be tempted to take a sheet of tyvek or mylar, or maybe scavenge the material from one of those white-outside-dark-gray-inside waterproof delivery envelopes, and cut it to fit where the keyboard's rubber mat currently is. That could make the water barrier thin enough to stop impeding key travel. You might even be able to contour it like the original mat is, with a little heat and a mold made from the original, though that would probably be overkill.
I have never seen an apple iic with extra text under various keys. Mine does not have the extra text but it the good keyboard. Lucky me. I ran a rom test i have revision 3 which im guessing there is a ram expansion slot in there. I would take it apart but dont want to ruin it. But thanx for all the apple info that i never knew existed. It looks like i lucked out on mine.
I only noticed those labels later. I'm pretty sure those are stickers although they sure don't look like it. One of them is peeling off a little bit ... but the others don't seem to be stickers. It was quite confusing!
@@adriansdigitalbasement is there a way one can tell by serial or model number if it has a memory port? Im guessing your using a apple2heaven rgb to vga adapter. If not how are you getting that clean look. I have one but because of the model number it had to modified by putting a yellow disc cap in it. Weird but looks great on a samsung monitor.
Using an old gift/reward card as a spudger is a fantastic idea that I hadn't thought of.
a IIc looks surprisingly modern
The Floppy Emu disk emulator device people mentioned during your Mac videos works great on these machines as well. They can simulate a 5.25 floppy disk OR a SmartPort hard drive when connected to a Apple //c ! You should grab one of these if you haven't already -- it would be very useful between your Apple II and Mac collection. Best wishes.
Yeah indeed. I'm actually planning on building something that is lower cost.
love the intro, such a 1980s feel, too bad everyone thinks I'm weird for withing it was the 80s and being 13
To dry off circuit boards, you can use a normal owen at low temperatures but a longer time.
I worked for a while in the electronics industry and boards that have been through the flow machine do indeed go through a kind of dishwasher to clean flux residue off. They do need to be properly dry before you power them up though. I agree though don't stick a disk or tape drive in the washer. A bare mainboard though - I don't see why not. Just make sure all sockets are clear of water and that the board is perfectly dry before you reassemble.
Hard to tell from the video, but those locking key switches look like they can be taken apart, maybe even fixed. It looked like they are latched on the sides with tabs. Maybe, thanks for the video! I wish i still had my apple and more so my franklin ace 2200. I spent months in front of those computers, now I'm left with emulation and there's nothing like the using the original machines.
The engraving looks like Marist High School, which is the local Catholic institution down here.
Cheers from Junction City!
Reading elsewhere, it seems that all that populated part of the motherboard, with the LM311 and NE555 do is cause the power LED to flash if the machine has sensed a power issue. Brownout, surge, I think. Could be wrong, but that's what the internets say.
Great Video ! I actually always wash computer hardware in my dishwasher. Been doing it for years. Works great ! Obviously like you said, never any mechanical hardware. The key is to dry it right away and keyboards can take up to a week to fully dry internally.
To dry or sling water out of parts I have washed, I will wrap them up in a towel, set my washing machine to the spin part of the cycle, put the part in the towel against the wall of the washing tub, put a screwdriver in the safety switch so I can watch it, and then turn the washer cycle on. The washing tub will spin at high speed and the force will draw all the water out of the part into the towel. On less sensitive items, I don't use the towel...This is how I quickly dry my K&N filter for my car after I wash it.... :D
I always love your videos. I learned pascal on a 2e. Thank you for sharing.
You're gonna need a whole tilt-a-whirl for the fleet of Thunder Roads you can build with all these IIc's you have.
Brucie!
HA! Yeah honestly I was looking for a IIc for the LONGEST time as this was a machine I had when I was a kid and loved..... and now I have 3? Crazy how the world works sometimes.
@@adriansdigitalbasement Since you have 3, would you consider selling one of them?
A quick point about booting disks from an external 5.25" drive - programs which are coded to run under the older DOS 3.3 are usually hardcoded to force reading off the first drive (thus the internal drive). On the flipside, if you have a disk which boots using ProDOS, then it'll work just fine.
Thankfully there are more and more games which are being cracked from original disks and reworked to run off ProDOS volumes, so the problem becomes moot. Beyond that, if you get something like a FloppyEmu, you can take advantage of the Smartport support and run Total Replay which is even more convenient! ;)
The dishwasher thing: Oh no, Adrian, now my wife thinks, i would do the same!
Mr Zu you would.
Just a word of caution: don't soak keyboards that use a plastic membrane for the key contacts. Water gets into the membrane layers, doesn't get out, and can corrode the traces. Some might be sealed between the layers, but this wasn't the case for the one that I killed trying to wash it.
MT marked chips are Micron Technology.
Indeed, and their chips are great now. Not so much back then though.
That's not a criticism towards you, Adrian, but to the fashion of "cleaning" keyboards in dish washers in general:
This is exactly as useful and proper a method like detailing the inside of your car by driving through the car wash with the windows open.
That isn't an appropriate analogy. These are mechanical parts not upholstery. The dishwasher is just a way to get hot soapy water inside of parts and then rinse them out without you needing to do it manually. The long duration of the spraying water in the dish washer will more likely get inside of switches then just running it under the tap.
@@adriansdigitalbasement I'm very proud of that analogy ;-) , because I think it fits perfectly. This is not about upholstery. If your car had plastic seats and no carpets, it would still apply.
1. There is an opening, which was designed - if anything - to prevent water getting inside, in which you try to force water.
2. (Depending on the internal design of the switch, which you don't know, because you didn't open one, as far as I know) it is very likely, that it's not possible to get water in the places, where you want to and/or it is probably not enough to do any effective cleaning.
3. The water, that does get in, is hardly ever coming out of it (again depending on the construction) directly and depends on humidification, which will take ages in a nearly sealed container. (Yes, I understand the reasoning behind the IPA, but spraying it on, will not replace all water inside with alcohol.) It will cause corrosion in some way. (Unless you flood the switch completely with a third liquid, where your favorite tool comes into play.)
Despite all this - be assured, that I like you and your videos and in this case with apparently crappy switches it doesn't really bother me, but if somewhat valuable switches were involved, I would like to emphasize:
If one doesn't care enough about the switches to take them apart for proper cleaning, maybe just leave it - someone else might.
...... or ...... maybe I'm just a crumpy old man, whom you shouldn't pay any attention to .....
I’ve got to get that dirty/clean sign for the dish washer
Yea I was thinking the same thing.
I went and started looking right after I saw that. Great idea.
It's helpful when it's more than just one person in the house so you aren't accidentally putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher that still has clean dishes in it. :-) If you remember to move the slider...
www.amazon.com/KitchenTour-Magnet-Dishwasher-Upgrade-Strong/dp/B078T9P54X
Brian Taudahl Børgesen Thank you
The FloppyEMU works as a smart port HDD on my IIc
I use one of these. Either the UniDisk 3.5 or this will work as a Smartport disk. Floppy Emu even in floppy disk mode should work on a genuine IIc as Smartport disk. On my LASER 128EX, I can only use the Floppy Emu as a floppy drive. It must be an incompatibility with their UDC, or maybe the LASER128 ROM only recognizes floppy disks there.
Using sowing machine oil in small amounts will work as a lub for keys etc. This doesn't clog, evaporate or dry out and you only need a tiny amount.
It looks pretty cute I must say.
LM311 is a Op-AMP and Chip 555 is a timer, The 555 puts out a Square wave at a Frequency the LM 311 Amplifies and it's sent to the PC speaker. a BUZZER to say, probably a boot up BEEP or a Error Code Beep if no boot.
I once put the drive sleds from a Dell PowerEdge 4400 in the dishwasher. Holy beans the Mrs. was pissed.
It wasn't like she was using it when you were washing computer parts :-)
@@adriansdigitalbasement It's true! :)
Adrian's Digital Kitchen... between this and things like reflowing a motherboard in the oven or retrobrighting keycaps in a pot of boiling water, you could start running a computer cooking show
Interesting, the solder mask and the fonts of the prints on this IIc PCB look very similar to those of an Amiga 500 from the same era.. These boards might've been made/printed by the same company..
Nice video again, Adrian! Love the over-engineering and attention to detail!
The keys immersed in water would clean much more efficiently if you applied vibration. For example, if you have a box fan, you could run it and put the container of keys on top of it.
I will say these non-alps key caps look much less likely to break off than the others. When I got my IIc in it had two broken keys where the key just broke off inside the stem, and a third broke when I pulled all the keys to clean, even when using even pressure on a key puller. The super thin stabs on the bottom of the key just get brittle over time, I guess.
Try to apply Vaseline on rubber KB cover and leave it several days. That restores rubber softeness. I used that method to fix old stiff Competition Pro joystick
Man, get some Deoxit that is in the bottle. Much neater to work with in this kind of situation. And you can get it into exactly where you need it. Getting that liquid all over the outside of the switches will only gather dust in the near future.
At about 3:30 in the video you ask what those components do... I don't know how they are used in the PC but a 555 is a timer or pulse generator, like the Commodore 556, could be for reset holdoff? And the 311 is a comparator to test if one input is higher than another so it's sort of used like a logic gate to compare levels of two signals.
Alternativly, hose things down in the shower, it's practical when cleaning a full PC tower for instance :-D
Saved a PC that ended up taking a full glass of Coca Cola down the blowhole exhaust with a visit to the shower.
That rubber membrane has probably changed in consistency since it was manufactured. It probably stayed a lot flatter originally. I would probably rip it out and replace it with some thin black foam. I used to have a TV that had a rubber shim stuck to the back of the case from new, I guess maybe to dampen case resonances. 20 years later it had rippled and was soft in places and brittle in others. I pulled it off because it looked ugly and didn't really seam to make any difference. :-)
I don't have Deoxit but I'm using something similar: Kontakt 61 (contact cleaner). Works great for cleaning and lubricating the keyboard switches.
We need a channel for Adrian's Digital Kitchen
LGR already did that and it's boring as hell.
That Cascade pod looks delicious. :3
The "Touch-Up I" sticker survived the dishwasher cycle!
half expected when i saw the frst bit of the video that I was watching a uxwbill guest edition of Kitchen Table Electronics Repair...
Best
Series
Ever
I usually throw items like this in the ultrasonic cleaner instead of the dishi. I also had to find out that the most common deoxid in Germany "Kontakt 60" does a formidable job on deoxidizing, but eats metal if left in devices. I use a second wash of 75% IPA and 15% white oil (IKEA Skydd).
I also use silicon grease to lubricate keyboard switches and scissors.
For a plastic lubricant, I would suggest using Super Lube #51004 oil. It's Teflon-based, so it is safe for use on plastic components, and I've had good luck with it.
The Alps Apple //c is model AS4100. The bad keyboard //c is the older model AS4000.
I like the VHS style end of tape at the end.
Marist High School, Eugene, Oregon, it still exists, though no reason why it would not since the machine is from the 1980s.
OH MY GOD THE RICKROLL IN THE BACKGROUND
Seeing this 2 years late: I recall Linus did a follow-up video about washing keyboards, and he said the ones that went into the dishwasher all subsequently failed due to corrosion on the PCB. Did this Apple IIc share the same fate?
as this is a computer made mostly for business, and the keyboard might have the rubber to make the "clicking sounds " be a bit better in a big office.
I use to do repairs on an Apple IIc for a guy that used it to treasure hunt in Florida from a boat... sonar
A good reason to support 12 VDC power input!
Just re-watching this series now I'm looking at starting work on my IIc. I got it just before xmas for a (relatively) good price, since it's missing the internal disk drive. Unfortunately that also means the metal cage that holds the drive and mounts in the case is also missing, so I would probably have to 3D print a replacement if I ever found a spare drive. Although the keyboard isn't exactly rock solid stable, so it probably would help even without a replacement drive.
I did purchase an Apple external "5.25 drive" previously, under the mistaken impression that I could connect it to my Mac SE or Classic II, so I could use that to load software. But because the internal drive is missing, I probably can't upgrade to ROM version 0, since it removes the ability to boot off the second drive.
I also picked up a Xyber XL800, which is an 800K 3.5" floppy drive designed by a local Australian company. The ebay listing said it was for the "Apple IIc, IIgs and Macintosh". However I did some more digging and found the company is actually still in business (although they've moved into data recovery), and while their website does mention the drive was their first product, it says it was for the Macintosh, so most likely it's not compatible with the IIc. But I digress.
The keyboard in my IIc is interesting because it's not the Alps model, but it's also different from yours in that the caps lock key actually stabilised. Unfortunately that's the only extra key that's stabilised, as they control and right shift keys aren't. And the latching mechanism isn't super reliable in the caps lock either. The whole thing definitely needs a dose of deoxit! 😁 (Not to mention, RSVP anyone playing the drinking game!)
Also unfortunate is that they RAM is MT branded. I've got a bunch of spare 4264s in an AST (Advantage!) RAM expansion board, but they're also all MT branded! I'm thinking I should just buy a bunch of spares. I'm a little sceptical about buying them from China though, so I'm thinking of ordering from Quest Components, which is the Californian supplier that I got the memory for those 30 pin SIMM PCBs I sent you. International shipping is a bit expensive, but it's probably worth it if I buy a bunch at once considering how expensive it would be buying one or two at a time from Europe or the US plus shipping on each.
Finally, I also plan on building a replacement external power brick, since I don't exactly trust the ancient one that came with it, even though it works. I could easily just make a converter cable like yours for a standard 12V power supply, but I like the idea of designing and printing an enclosure that emulates the original.
Anyway, it was fun watching this series again. Hope you've got more vintage Apple stuff on the way!
Your video quality is superb. Great camera.
The best thing to do for these keyboards is to remove and destroy that membrane. They work so much better without them.
Almost all of their "bad feel" comes from interference with the warped membrane. I bought a lot of 4 broken IIc machines. One Alps, three "Atlanta." I was really surprised by how much removing the membrane helped.
I always use WD40 on switches and scratchy pots. Works great.
Wd40 is petroleum based and will eat your plastic. You have been warned. Only use silicone based product for plastic.
LODE RUNNER for the win!
Photocircuits was a New York based company that made PCBs. They had an Atlanta plant, but they didn’t make keyboards. The reason the switch bodies have Apple logos is because they were designed by Apple. Apple hairpin spring switches. Deskthority has a whole page about them.