That cardboard just saved you from having a mess of corrosion on the back of that logic board. Sadly it perished in the fight to save the board. R.I.P cardboard put there to prevent shorts.
@@JetFalcon710 it actually did more than just its job. Wasn't really designed to keep the board protected from corrosion, but it did that job in addition to protecting from dead shorting the board.
Three years ago now, a plucky piece of cardboard gave its all in the fight against logic board corrosion. Sadly, it lost that fight but saved the board. We shall remember it and its brave deeds. R.I.P Brave cardboard, we salute you
True lmao. I also chuckled at his remark at Canton, Texas being in the middle of nowhere -- my state has a number of larger cities that are even more lonely than Canton
If one day AI rises against humans and kills us all, you may be spared for the care you showed to one of their great-great-grandfathers. Kudos to you for the effort
I too worked in IT in an industrial environment . The oil you are seeing there is mostly likely from a shop floor computer working with large CNC equipment cutting metal. It was all over my computers as well but not as bad. That VIC-20 was most likely used to write programming for those machines since they are only a few lines of code and basic text.
My friend, you're not thinking like a BUSINESSMAN, you should have taken that VIC-20, glued a radioactive logo on it and sold as a Fallout 4 Vic-20 ultra rare edition. EASY MONEY
I'm not at all interested in electronics or vintage computers. *But* I find these restoration videos so soothing. They're wonderfully edited and I love that you include subtitles. *10/10*
The subtitles are actually generated by RU-vid's Speech To Text. That's why they are sometimes really weirdly spelled. Once in a while, when I'm bored, I'll go through and edit some.
Yeah, that won't work. The chips will likely have bits and pieces missing, the soldering might be scratched off, and mud. On another note, I once found an old computer chip next to my driveway.
3:28 "honestly, I don't want this thing touching any of my towels.." I'm pretty sure that is EXACTLY what my wife thinks about me using her seasonal decorative towels.
Actually she gets to say her dad develops video games, restores retro technology, is building a hobby computer product, built his own electric car, and makes a living documenting things like that on his extremely educational RU-vid channel.
As a woman watching these videos, may I recommend Dawn dishwashing detergent as a degreaser? It's super effective but also super gentle. It's also more gentle on the outside when you have to rinse things. I've used it on everything from greasy dishes to power tool parts. Don't underestimate a crafty lady. ;)
I second Raging Shargon's comment... I remember seeing a 'life hack' about washing your hair with Dawn to strip all the oil and product buildup out. Works MIRACLES on greasy hair. Also Jamberry recommends washing your hands with Dawn before an application to strip the oil from the nail beds.
Instead of jumping straight to organic solvents, try using dish soap. I've tried all kinds of solvents for cleaning all kinds of things because I have a degree in chemistry and a big ego, but it seems like concentrated dish soap is better than anything I can make. It's cheap too. When soap fails, then it's time to use rubbing alcohol (won't destroy plastic), WD40 (might destroy plastic), and acetone (will definitely damage the plastic). Apparently "brake cleaner" is about half acetone. That would explain why it dissolves/discolors the plastic.
@@chrispuhara8934 there is a playstation released around every 5 years, to reach the number you listed there would have to be multiple PlayStation consoles per year
Try Dawn dish detergent next time you end up with Jed Clampett's computer. It breaks up grease/ oil/ etc. Hot water, Dawn, and a good stiff scrub brush should clean up the case so it can be retrobrite'd. Hopefully, less work, too.
Agreed. Dish detergent should have worked. I had a kitchen stove-top hood with caked on grease from years of oil/frying exposure. I used Dawn dish detergent, and it effortlessly removed the built up grease.
I’ve just found your channel and I absolutely love it. I don’t know what it is, but these videos are so filled with facts and information, and they’re calming and bring me so much joy. Thank you.
We had a Vic-20 as one of our first gaming computers. We had a full kit for it with the tape deck, several game cartridges, and a dot matrix printer with word processor software.
That thing actually kinda looks like art, like a post-apocalyptic relic. I almost feel like it should just get put in a glass box and thrown on display, lol.
@Pentti Kantanen Well, most of those chems were relatively mild. *Glass cleaner:* depends on the brand but it's usually a very mild solvent. *Alcohol:* pH neutral, like water. It can dry out the skin, but no worse than what a small dab of lotion can reverse. *WD-40:* my main concern would not be with his skin but with his breathing, since this is an aerosol. It's a petroleum product which means it's pretty toxic, but assuming he washed his hands afterwards, it shouldn't be any harm done. *Baking soda:* A mildly alkaline product, safe for both cooking and cleaning. *vinegar:* The mildly acidic counterpart to Baking soda, safe for both cooking and cleaning. *Deoxit:* This is unfamiliar chem for me, but after googling, it seems it will irritate the skin "after repeated or prolonged contact". Though at least he didn't slap his hand all over this one. *sos pad:* Seems to be some kind of American counterpart to Svinto. I can say from experience that foregoing gloves on this one is no big deal. *hydrogen peroxide:* Not safe, but there seem to be very limited skin contact. *bräkleen:* Is a strong degreaser, but assuming he didn't touch it while applying and hosed it off afterwards it should be fine. *electronics cleaning stuff:* No idea what this actually was, but he applied it outdoors and hosed it off so little to n skin contact regardless. As someone who deals with strong chems in my daily work, I do applaud any and all use of gloves since even water will break down your skin with prolonged use. However, I'll admit that I've been careless myself quite a number of times, and it's usually fine as long as you wash the chem off thoroughly afterwards and soothe the skin with a good hand cream at the end of the work.
Vic-20 was my first computer I got in 5th December 1981 and I still love the machine today and watching you lovingly bring one back to life is so heart warming :)
I love these restoration videos. It's so satisfying seeing something that most people would consider to be garbage, be given a new lease on life. Also, they won't be making any more of these old machines, so i think it's very important to make an effort to keep them around. Great job. :) I also have a little tip. If you ever run into another machine covered in oil, you can use monster energy drink to remove it. It removes the greasy stuff even faster than brake cleaner, and it shouldn't affect the plastics or components in any negative way, though it should definitely be rinsed of after cleaning. I know it sounds insane using monster energy drink to clean off grease, but it really does work a treat. Try it out on something like an oily table top or something else that's really greasy, you'll be amazed. :) As for the plunger, just file the broken one flat, and cut the top of one of those c64 plungers, and epoxy the 2 together. It'll be stronger than new. You've probably already fixed it, but just a tip for another time. :) Again, great job, i really love your videos, specially these restoration ones, as i mentioned before. Cheers!
*Christian* I'm half-terrified, half-amused by the idea that something people put inside themselves can be used to remove grease and oil. Then again, what things have people been able to do with Coca-Cola?
The monster energy thing is false please don’t do it. You’re better off trying dish soap, goo gone, or lava soap. The reason the oil is stubborn to remove it’s because it’s been dehydrated over the years.
Christian I couldn't agree more. Have you seen this Extreme C64 restoration? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nN6f0y8UalU.html I can't take the credit I'm afraid, Pete did this.
7:21 Ah yes i love the Commodore Vic 2̵̢̢̧̧̡̡̧̧̢̧̧̨̡̡̨̡̨̡̧̨̨̨̡̢̨͔̤͈̼̬͖̺̜̳̝̣͎̟̫͔̲̲̠̠͔̥̟͇̝̹̦͕̤̯̦͕̬̰̱̼̩͓͇̘͇͖͇̬͔̰̫̹̞͔̫̥̳͇̳̘̜̤͔̯̪̮̤̼̪̪͓̹̼̣͔̪͔̹̗̠͇̼͔̼̪̹̥͕̤̺͖̳̘͉̻̫͍̙̻͙̯̪̳̬̙͕̝͎̺͙̻̟͎͉͉̠̞͔̝̩̻̘͉͈̞̙͔̠̝͙̞̰̻͍̦̙̭̼̬͚͔̘̮̬̠̱̮̥̝̱͚͓͔̪̙͚͔͎̬͉͉̬̗̤̻͉̝̭͖̼̝͎̠̙̘̣̦̺̦̼̲͈̫̠̞̟͉͚̗͓͍̮͈̔̂̑̏͜͜͜͜͜͜ͅͅͅͅͅͅ0̵̨̡̡̡̛̛̟̱̦̖͉̦̱̭̬̝͈̹̦͖̳͔͓̮̺̗̪͓̖͇̹̭̫͖̲̦͚͕̯͖̺̯̤͖̰̮̦̺̮̖̞̟̤̝̦̣̤̮̭͓͎͓̝̫̩̹̭̈̔̄̊̓͂̀̅̒̃̓̏̈́̀͋̓̎̆̿̽̄̈́͐̈̀̾̂̐̂̌̊̾̈́̓͋͌̄̅͗̂̊͊̌̋̎̑̅͂́̀́̓̏͗͆̃̇̂̽̽̎͂̈́̓̊̈́̄͆̂̔́̏͐͑̎̔̍͌͆͗͐͌́̂̓͆̈́͗͌̈́͋̔̈̌̀̈́̿̏͊͗̌̏̿̉͋̅̒́͑̍̇̉̾̓͋̎͌́̒̾̋͗͌̈́̈́͌͌̔̎̀̎͂́̽͐͆̌̋͆͂͆̓̂̈́̎͆͗̋̑͗͂̓̃̾͑̓́̾̈́̉͒́̀̔̄͐̃̈̿͗̉̊͂̕̚̚͘̕̕̚͘̕͘̕͜͜͝͝͠͝͝͝͝͝͝͝͝͠͝͝͝͝͝
I work as an electric engineer and I can relate going into the shop and seeing nasty machines. A lot were recently replaced but an IBM GL remains and boy has it been better days. The whole system is smothered with grease and dark oil mixed with heavy dusting and grime. It's kind of like a horror scene but I plan on giving it some love when they retire it
I know this is unrelated, but I didn't know that system existed, and now I want to use the horizontal form factor case for whenever I decide to build my next computer. So thank you for introducing me to that beauty! (Yes I know it would be tricky and require mods.)
I love the shirt! My fiancee and I are currently watching Rick & Morty while we wait for Ghost of Tsushima to update on our PSPRO's. Man, watching your show is such a blast. It's like viewing the past through a tiny window (smartphone) and seeing how far we've come. Can you imagine going back in time when this microcomputer was brand new and slapping a gaming PC in Bill Gates lap?! Something in the I7 or I9 Extreme line. I think his head would quite literally explode. Multi cored processor's, at least 16 gb of matching DDR4 RAM registered and buffered, GDDR5 GPU, water cooled or refrigerated, Blue Tooth laser mouse, and a standard Xbox One controller. This is what you helped to create Bill. We could also pre-smack him in the head for Windows Millennium....BAD BILL, BAD! I'm not a Mac fan....but that almost drove me to one. Addendum- The Vic 20 predates me by quite a bit. That poor micro looks like it had a very hard life. I have never seen one in person before. My only experience with the micro's is a Commodore 128 and an old Colecovision turned into a full blown ADAM computer. I didn't really start messing with computers until late 1994 with the 486DX2.
Don't ever use mag wheel cleaner as it contains caustic soda which eats the metals of the motherboard. Not good for electronics. And never use water for the same reason. My advice would be to soak the entire motherboard in benzine as it's totally inert. It dries very fast and won't damage the electronics. If that doesn't do the trick use automotive spray carb cleaner as the oil and dirt will just spray off instantly, without any rubbing. Then rinse the residue off with benzine. By the way, if you ever drop your cellphone in water, put your entire phone into a jar/flask of benzine, shake it around and take it out to dry which only takes a few minutes. I've never lost a cellphone that way, but using water or caustic soda on any electronic circuit is asking for trouble. I hope you found this useful.
@@evilkillerwhale7078 It depends on the components. Most can handle a water wash and many can't. It's safest to use be benzine as it's inert. Most cellphones won't work if they're dropped in water.
The 8-Bit Guy: If you are curious about this Vic-20's history, the oil/grease contamination probably came from the computer being used in an automotive garage. Years ago, mechanics used a driveshaft re-balancing program on Commodores.
I used to watch you literally everyday.. eventually i got out of my old electronics phase and slowly drifted away from your channel. this is the first video ive seen of yours in a year or so. thank you for being the youtuber that helped me through my obsesstions.
I gave David your tooth brush to clean that vic 20 after he was done he gave it back so here you go you can still use it to brush your teeth with it just ignore the dirt in the bristles
I could watch this VIC20 videos over and over. This is my favorite project of yours and even I watched it at least 10 times, I still admire your amazing work. Reminds me of my PC modding and tinkering days, too. Thanks a lot for saving this great piece of tech and for your awesome videos!
Definitivamente este hombre es el santo patrón de las computadoras antiguas, su canal es genial!!, siempre lo veo, un abrazo fuerte desde Bolivia mi hermano.
If this wasn't already suggested, Simple Green is a fantastic degreaser that would work wonders on any of your restorations. It also wouldn't harm any of the plastics. I highly recommend it!
For the plastic case instead of using peroxide and water use peroxide hair developer. Its peroxide mixed with cream so it doesn't dry out. Just wrap it in gladwrap or a plastic bag. It works on all yellowed plastics
@@danpowers3022He actually used to use that method and stopped because some of the pieces would come out uneven. The cream does actually dry out according to him and at least in Texas he'd have to reapply and massage the cream several times. The bath method achieves a more evenly distributed result more often.
The dirt on the white almost looks like marble but knowing it’s oil is disguising. The repair process is fascinating and rather soothing. Thank god you repaired this piece of history though; such a fascinating process
Just got done watching all your videos (took about a week) - I finished with the Planet X3 trailer (saved that for last) Now, starting on watching all your playlists, because there's a lot of awesome stuff to look at, learn about, and things that have inspired me! (Yes, I know the chances of you reading this is nil, but... yeah)
The two nastiest computers I've ever worked on: 1. A college student's laptop that had been "water damaged." Only after I got it apart, did I find it had been urinated in. 2. A PC that was in the DJ booth of a strip club. In addition to smoking, they burned incense right next to this PC for years. The inside was coated in a thick, black reeky soot, that somehow managed to also be greasy. I still can't say which was worse, but the memories of these machines haunt me to this day.
At least it wasn't covered in raw sewage. ReviewtechUSA restored a top loader NES that was encrusted inside and out with what looked like dirt but later came to the realization that it was most likely raw sewage.
Wow good find, I would have done the same. With the proper PPE! I still need to clean out a 30+ year old NCR bank mainframe and tape drive that's infected with racoon poop. It actually gave the previous owner pink eye! Yuck. With that I must say ware gloves, wash your hands, wear goggles and for the love of god DONT TUCH YOUR EYES OR MOUTH!
Soaked overnight in a bath of Jizer (just the one Z, add another and this is completely a different natural product!) and then thrown in the dishwasher if I was doing this clean up.
I've recently restored two C64's in almost identical condition, but with hardened cement between the keys. It was pretty challenging and now they both work fine ^^
i agree.. if you want to restore 50 C64's, you definitely should do it! It's a labor of love! Just.... i disagree with the last sentiment. Don't hoard them! They're not only collectible, they're things people love and which can spark their dreams! If you have this many stashed away, and no one's buying them - consider giving them away to fellow enthusiasts - people who would appreciate the value!
Thank you 8-bit guy for all of your hard work. At my company, we manufacture a range of industrial, commercial and restaurant cleaners. If I was given this task, I would try a non-caustic kitchen degreaser for the bulk of the grease. On the corrosion inside, you may find bar-keepers friend powder to work well on that.
In cases of "critical gunk" like this, I use a 3M citrus based cleaner. Is basically lemon oil. And the best of all: Is water soluble. Is a little expensive but really worth the money.
Looks exactly like the computers in the machine shop where I used to work. The cutting/cooling fluid would vaporize into the air and PCs would fill up with with the oily sludge. Once, I put a PC on its side and over the weekend the fluid oozed down into the corners of the case.
Watched it over a year ago when I was into restoration videos. came back today to watch it at 12 AM. These restoration videos are some of the most interesting videos i've seen.There is something extremely satisfying to see the mess made during the cleaning because we know the product is going to look from an another realm after this guy is done with it.
OMG that's how my son started. It was the Vic 20 then the 64, then the big jump to the 128. I later bought a IBM PC jr, then IBM something I forget. My son is now 44 and is the tech guy for the City, PD, fire dept and whatever makes the city run. I remember sitting up in bed while he typed code into the computer, then we would run to the computer and plug in the disk and the program would run until it hit a glitch. We were copying the program out of a PC magazine. I would read the code from the magazine then he would say stop, that's the glitch, and back to the computer. I think my son was ten at the time. We formed a great son father relationship we enjoy today. I am now 80 years old and he is my go to guy when I have a computer program. His first question is usually "Dad, did you re-boot" ? oops and sure enough, if not, he logs onto my computer and types, Dad step away from the keyboard. Love those old Commadore Computers. My wristwatch does more than those old computers :-) .
oh how I remember copying all those DATA 54323, 957432, 123512,. 532880. 8589320 so on and so on from the computer magazine. Page after page, after page... Then going back thru and double checking all the entries. and then .... the moment of truth.. I nervously type RUN. (it works!!!) my 2 days of data entry works!!! My dad is 76 now (I'm 45), he got me my 1st computer a Texas Instruments TI-994a in 1982, I had the speech synthesizer for it also. Hunt the Wumpus! next was the Christmas to trump all Christmases for a 14 year old boy - December 25, 1986/ The gift wrap half off torn off.... .. is it? .... is it really???? a COMMODORE 64 !!!!! HOLY COW...... THUD (passed out in excitement). Come back to consciousness. kinda blurry ...and a MODEM!! a 300 baud modem??? THUD. BEST CHRISTMAS EVER! That computer was a big part of my early teens.... and my introduction to computers. unreal everything that little 64K machine could do. The SID chip was amazing (the audio chip). Get SID PLAYER for Android in Google Play. They have the ENTIRE audio offerings that were ever made for the C64 and a SID Chip emulator program. Your phone becomes a little C64 music player. There are also a couple of C64 emulator programs available on Google Play too. They will run C64 programs just like the computer did. Blue screen and blinking cursor and all. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane! PS. I still have my C64... and it still works like a charm. Some of my floppy disks have stopped working though (not my drive, the actual disk... probably oxidation of the magnetic media. But most of them work still. including my disks of the programs I wrote in Basic copied out of the magazines just like you and your son used to do.
I have a Idea for your key problem. Use a piece from Lego technic Lego Partnumber 32062. then drill a hole in your broken pice and glue it or plastic solder it.
This brings back memories. I maintained computers for a factory. They were using 80s era DOS PCs, connected to tape readers from the 70s. Much of it was proprietary hardware, no longer made. So whenever one failed, I'd have to take apart the filthy, nasty machine.
I used to work at a factory with molding machines, four of the machines had Commodore PCs in them (though I'm not sure what kind, most likely the Vic 20 since the machines were built in 1985). The other machines has Microsoft PCs in them, some with Windows 3.1 and the newest ones with Windows XP. It was...yeah, it was messy. Haha.
Dude, my Commodore 64 and 1541 drive looked exactly the same way when I pulled them from a friend's shed after they were sitting outside a box for 20+ years. (There just wasn't any oil and the connectors were ok.) After heavy cosmetic cleaning mostly on the exterior, it fired right up and is still working fine now.
Restoration? Commodore computer? Worst condition ever? You've got my attention. Instant click. :) I just love seeing other people restoring oldschool stuff against all odds. Why? Because I've done it sometimes and It's just pleasantly relaxing to see someone else do it now. :D
CJWarlock I've been restoring a PS3 that was about 90% dust. It also has a ton of corrosion on the metal over the blu-ray drive and some of the shielding. Unbelievably, it was fully operational before I took it apart. The sole issue was that it would sound like a jet taking off after about 5 minutes of gameplay. Luckily I did buy it as faulty as the hard drive needed reformatting.
@@Emily-kd2zv You can submerge motherboards in water as long as you let it dry for a couple of days after. It should be fine. Did the same with my PC motherboard as a test 2 years ago and its still going
You clearly don't know how oxidation works. To damage the board with water you need to let it wet for days, or turn it on while wet or submerged. Actually, we clean almost every super dirty/dusty PCB with water at repair shops, it just need to be dried out.
To This day I still watch this video. Funny in the right places the music the whole environment of electronics is calming to me I think I've seen this video like 20 times already
I've watched a few of your videos and a small tip if you want to *not* blow something or short something out before you turn it on use a ohm meter and check the 5 or 12 V or whatever power rail and the ground and see if there's a short that way you know if what you're fixing to power on has a short circuit or not - love your channel great stuff!
