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After 5 years of non use, what precautions should I take before turning on a Commodore CBM 3016?
(lemmy.blahaj.zone)
I've finally taken the jump into retrocomputing with something I've always wanted to own, a proper Commodore PET, or CBM 3016 to be exact!
The seller said 5 years ago when it was last turned on, that it worked perfectly fine. However I do wanna take some precautions before reawakening it. Not that something blows after all this time.
I however am still pretty new to retrocomputing and wanted to ask the experts on here, If/what I should first inspect under or over the hood before turning it on? Thanks in advance!
I don't know if five years is long enough for this to be a problem, or how long it would have needed to stay powered on five years ago in order to avoid the problem, but beware: Electrolytic capacitors that have been sitting for too long can behave badly when first powered up again.
I suggest you read up on the topic, and consider whether it makes sense to replace or reform the relevant capacitors, before you flip that switch.
A couple links that came up in a quick search, to get you started:
https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/56474/should-i-discard-my-inventory-of-old-electrolytic-capacitors
https://hackaday.com/2023/06/05/protect-vintage-gear-with-easy-capacitor-reforming/