AIM 65 lives

[Allison]

>
>Subject: AIM 65 lives
>   From: Andy Dannelley <andyda at earthlink.net>
>   Date: Sun, 01 May 2005 10:15:59 -0700
>     To: cctech at classiccmp.org
>
>Just a note of thanks for help and encouragement.  I finally got my AIM 
>back running again with the help of a local who had some test 
>equipment.
>
>First, before getting the help I found several stuck address lines and 
>cleared them by blowing an brushing and vacuuming.
>
>We then found that 5 out of 8 2114 RAMs were bad, and the CPU just 
>didn't have enough oomph.
>
>After cleaning the board and replacing parts, it works like a charm.  
>Seems weird that the CPU and RAM went bad just sitting, and the  board 
>got something stuck in the address lines just sitting in the box for 20 
>years,  It was the original shipping box for the AIM, but I guess more 
>crud got in the box than I realized.

People forget that plastic cased parts are not hermetic and therefore 
subject to internal corrosion and failure.  

The other is even assembled boards are susceptable to ESD damage.

The last is I have brough many boards with odd problem back to life 
by running them through the dishwasher.  I've seen odd failures due 
to conductive grunge on the board that could not bee seen with 
the naked eye.

Last some brands and styles of scokets really didn't stand the 
test of time. I have a few NS* boards I've desocketed and soldered 
the chips directly in becuase of that.



Allison