simbalion Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Did a basic 'triage' on the seven Apple IIes I got over the weekend. One color monitor seems to work so far and I used that to test the units. Six booted up with no problem. The 'gutted' one showed no power with the power supply I found with it, swapped in a known working supply from one of my three 'fried' units and it powered up and booted. All seem to respond to simple basic commands. Two have no cards in them, one IIe Platinum just appears to need cleaning, two need keyboards swapped from the 'fried' units, two have keyboards with nonresposive keys (Apple IIe Platinum number two has an 'N' key and 'CAPS' key that won't respond. One IIe has a 'CAPs key that won't respond and another has keys that stick.) Both Platinums have 80 Column/memory expansion cards in them. Two of the IIes have no cards in them. Prognosis: All show signs of being able to be rebuilt into working computers. Oddities: A few IIes say Apple ][ on the screen and boot right into BASIC. Need: More power cords! I forgot to look for any in that garage! Luckily regular PC cords will work and I think I have some sitting around. Next: Learn how to clean the keyboards out and clean the units. Test other monitors and begin testing and cleaning disk drives. Also, SET UP TABLE TO WORK ON! Living room floor is not the best place to work on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simbalion Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 Well, I replaced both damaged keyboards so that is done. Tried out the rest of the monitors tonight as well. Both color monitors work, which is good as my third one has a damaged vertical hold control. One of the Monitor II's works fine, one loses vertical hold when a signal is put to it, and the third only shows a green dot on the screen when the brightness is up all the way. Hopefully at least the one with the vertical problem can be repaired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Excellent job of saving these from the dump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Oddities: A few IIes say Apple ][ on the screen and boot right into BASIC. These are unenhanced //e systems. An enahnced //e system will indeed say "//e". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simbalion Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 These are unenhanced //e systems. An enahnced //e system will indeed say "//e". Ok. I also noticed they have an earlier style keyboard and the case is a bit different to get apart as well. One now has the later keyboard because the original keyboard on it had half the keys snapped off. Did find out these will put video into a regular TV with a video input on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 (edited) If you end up with an extra IIe keyboard with black letters I could use a number 5 key for my IIe. Edited January 30, 2013 by JamesD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simbalion Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 If you end up with an extra IIe keyboard with black letters I could use a number 5 key for my IIe. I'll check tomorrow if I remember. I probably do have that key if I am thinking right. They just pull right off, so perhaps I can mail it to you if I have what you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simbalion Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 If you end up with an extra IIe keyboard with black letters I could use a number 5 key for my IIe. I checked and I have two parts keyboards with the black letters and the number five key on them. One is has several keys broken off while the other only has a single key broke off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I checked and I have two parts keyboards with the black letters and the number five key on them. One is has several keys broken off while the other only has a single key broke off. I just need a #5 keycap. Let me know what you want for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simbalion Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 I just need a #5 keycap. Let me know what you want for it. Ok. Let me try and get one off intact first. I'll probably just want the shipping cost as I doubt a single key cap would be worth anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simbalion Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) Well, after alot of cleaning, frustration, three blown Disk II drives, and a card swap, I finally got the most complete of the unenhanced IIe's going. Not sure why the three Disk II's I tried blew up. One I used to use and the card I used was the one I used with that drive originally. Had it in the correct slot in the computer and all three drives looked clean inside when I gave them a check before hooking them up. I do think the first unidisk drive I hooked up spun rather fast at first, then settled down. All the drives I tried after that worked at normal speed, but weren't reading, not even the one I was using on my IIc. Well, seems that is a connector issue because after some working with the connector and getting the two thumb screws down nice and tight, you now see a working Apple IIe. Now, can I somehow repair the damaged Disk II's? Edited January 31, 2013 by simbalion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simbalion Posted February 1, 2013 Author Share Posted February 1, 2013 Ok, here we go! I now have three complete and working Apple IIe setups. A nonenhanced that works decently along with a matching Monitor II and 64K expansion card, an enhanced version that works great with a matching color monitor, super serial card, and 64K expanstion card, and a IIe Platinum that works great with matching color monitor, super serial card, mouse card, and memory expansion card. These three will probably be my 'keepers' for the time being. Also got three disk drives working and a fourth works, but started to make a clinking noise every time the head moves. A fifth one spins up, but I don't hear the head resetting inside. All are the Unidisk 5.25 inch drives that I can't figure out how to get apart. Next goals: Try and get the rest working and into saleable condition. Have one IIe that I can get going fairly easily, but the other two regular units lack disk drive cards. The second Platimun boots up fine, but the Caps Lock and the 'N' keys refuse to work at this time. Further goals: Find software and spare cards! Perhaps try and find a regulad ][, a ][+ and a IIgs to round out the collection. (Already have a nice little IIc, might as well go all the way!). And of course save any IIs in need of rescue along the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Nice! But don't forget to get a //c+ as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simbalion Posted February 1, 2013 Author Share Posted February 1, 2013 Nice! But don't forget to get a //c+ as well. Yeah, I should look for one of those as well. The //c models seem rare around here. I've only seen one and it's the unit I currently own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Yeah, I should look for one of those as well. The //c models seem rare around here. I've only seen one and it's the unit I currently own. Well, you certainly have a nice collection to start with! If you're patient, you'll probably find all the rest of the models for decent prices over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simbalion Posted February 1, 2013 Author Share Posted February 1, 2013 Once I get my funds together, I am putting up another want ad for Apple II stuff for sure! This has actually been fun to do! More fun than tracking down the TRS-80 items and Atari 8-bit items actually. Seems those are hard to find, but there must be piles of IIes still left out there, though some are sadly getting hauled off without a chance to run again. Only IIes getting recycled from my collection are the parts machines once all the useable parts are stripped from them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 That's really cool. I like your sig, by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simbalion Posted February 1, 2013 Author Share Posted February 1, 2013 That's really cool. I like your sig, by the way. Thanks! It seemed fitting after seeing so many were getting hauled off to the dump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simbalion Posted February 2, 2013 Author Share Posted February 2, 2013 Pictures of the Enhanced //e and the //e Platinum up and going. Now I need to take a break and clean the place up so I can set these up proper for display! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simbalion Posted February 5, 2013 Author Share Posted February 5, 2013 A bit more good news. After blowing up three of them, I actually have two working Disk II drives now. One is a unit I had put into a drawer and forgotten about six years ago and the other was the dirtiest least likely to work unit out of the drives I got with the //e computers. I tried them both out with the same card on the same IIe that the others blew up on and they seem to work fine. The one wasn't happy at first, but that is because it still had a barely working Oregon Trail disk jammed in it. Loaded the game though. Sadly, side two of that disk won't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simbalion Posted February 9, 2013 Author Share Posted February 9, 2013 Took my dad up to a salvage place today and stumbled on a filthy, but still working Apple Monitor III for really cheap. Cleaned it up, but the screen seems dull when I put an image to it. Might be that the silk screen glued to the CRT is full of crap and I cleaning that is going to be a pain. Still, it powers on and seems stable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.