Restoring (resurrecting) A Lost Cause Commodore 64 Set (I'M BACK!)

[iamdarkyoshi]

I know I've been gone a hot minute but I'm back! A lot has changed in my life while I was gone from the forums, but that's a topic for another day.

 

For today, we've got a commodore 64 with matching monitor and disk drive , even have a joystick to go with it, But they're not in the best of shape at the moment...

 

I figured I'd make this a bit of a repair log, and post updates here as I make progress. Here's what we're working with currently:

 

Spoiler

 

The cats seem to be quite amused by the lot:

 

Spoiler

 

This is all well within my realm of insanity to get working again. I've even got a fully working C64 I can test chips in.

 

Stay tuned for updates! I go back to work wednesday night so progress will be halted until sunday evening rolls around, but I'll try to make some progress on the lot tonight, starting with the monitor.

 

 

Update 1: Monitor works outstandingly well!

Spoiler

The inside of this monitor wasn't actually too dirty thankfully, the exterior was very dirty though.

 

After taking it fully apart, cleaning it, and reassembling it, I was left with this:

 

After plugging it in and turning it on, I tried an old disney plug n plague game I had, which I use for testing composite video. Amazingly, the tube is so bright that the rest of the image is super underexposed. And I had my FLASH ON.

 

But what impressed me the most was the geometry, convergence, and purity

 

Its basically perfect, and this nearly 40 year old monitor was rained on before I got it, so who knows what its been through.

Next up is the C64!

Edited January 6, 2021 by iamdarkyoshi
Jan 6 Update

[Letgomyleghoe.]

The soviet union would be proud of your work comrade

welcome back and also your cats look like they are about to go super saiyan

 

[Hackentosher]

That thing looks pretty sad.. 

 

Welcome back!

[iamdarkyoshi]

Update 1: Monitor works outstandingly well!

Spoiler

The inside of this monitor wasn't actually too dirty thankfully, the exterior was very dirty though.

 

After taking it fully apart, cleaning it, and reassembling it, I was left with this:

 

After plugging it in and turning it on, I tried an old disney plug n plague game I had, which I use for testing composite video. Amazingly, the tube is so bright that the rest of the image is super underexposed. And I had my FLASH ON.

 

But what impressed me the most was the geometry, convergence, and purity

 

Its basically perfect, and this nearly 40 year old monitor was rained on before I got it, so who knows what its been through.

Next up is the C64!