Mucky old miggy needs a dose of retrobright
Hi there. I recently delved back in to the world of Amiga purchasing a boxed A1200-HD. The seller offered me a boxed A500 for free to go with it as he purchased them on a whim at a carboot sale and was more of a console collector. I said thankyou and took it without even opening the box.
When i got home and opened the box i was a little dissapointed with how badly yellowed it was and was sceptical as to wether or not it would even work but to my delight it fired up no problem and withstood a three hour bashing of all the disks that came with it.
Doing a bit of research ive come across this wonderful site and the retrobrighting procedure. I have most of the stuff available and im sourcing the missing bits to sort the case and keys out.
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...2012/Boxed.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ibernating.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...Muckymiggy.jpg
As you can see the case and keys are minging to say the least but you cant judge a book by its cover. When i stripped it down there was the usual ammount of dust in the case and floppy drive but under the keys was an utter disgrace. Once all that was out of the way i took the shield off and was amazed by how clean the board (revision 6b) was especialy for its age being manufactured in 1991. I gave it a clean down with a new, soft makeup brush and checked for the battery (now i know there isnt one) leak and checked all the caps for signs of leaks and damage. The board looks prety much factory fresh so i was very happy. Also the memory expansion was clean and didnt contain a battery so its just a case of performing the memory hack and cosmetic work.
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...012/Lidoff.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/.../Moboclean.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...emoryclean.jpg
I then proceeded to clean up the keyboard and remove the keys (after taking a photo for placement) ready for retrobrighting. It was a fairly straightforward task provided you give the springs your utmost attention :D. Using a small flat head screwdriver and going corner to corner you cant realy damage the keys although the spacebar, shift and return/enter keys are a little trickier. Two of the springs on the spacebar assembly are a different size to all the others so keep these seperate to avoid confusion. I used a damp cloth to wipe away the 20 plus years of dust, coffee stains and biscuit crumbs and now it looks like new.
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...boardClean.jpg
I then cleaned the case with soapy water to remove any dust and surface grime and left to dry in the airing cupboard. I then removed the eject button on the floppy drive as this has also yellowed and put it in the container with the keys and port covers.
Once i start the retrobrighting process i will post my progress. Any of your experiences that will aid me im more than welcome to your input :D
