Revolting 1970s Computer Deep Cleaning

hi guys welcome back to another huge jefferies video in this video we're going to be cleaning the dirtiest computer i've ever seen it's a disgusting sight to say the least covered in mold animal mess and unidentified grime this is going to be one involved task according to the label on the back this is manufactured in australia by a company called electronic control systems which was based out of sydney a web search on the company or actual model number of the device returned nothing so i have no idea on what this thing actually is or what it was used for on the front it's branded as a display terminal t-03 taking an educated guess i would say this would be used to connect to a mainframe computer system which would have been a computer about the size of a room likely using reel-to-reel tapes for storage this would explain the lack of ports or things such as a floppy drive this was given to me and apparently it's been sitting neglected in a shed for the past 30 years on top is a date the 9th of april 1986 that's over 35 years ago and i'm guessing that's around the time this computer was decommissioned and last powered on while i'm unable to determine a manufacturing date i would guess sometime in the early 1980s it's time to see what's hiding under all that mess of course i'll be wearing gloves because this thing is revolting to kick things off i'll use a bit of spray and wipe and wipe down the top of this computer whilst cleaning it this will also reveal the text drawn onto it while i can't make out a lot of it it seems to be some kind of item numbers and a date of sale this is likely from the device being auctioned off with the top looking a bit better i'll proceed onto the sides and back of the monitor for now i'm just looking to get the bulk of the grime off i'll come back for a later second round to get anything i miss in this stage the majority of the dirt came off with the first try just using spray and wipe up front we can clean the monochrome crt and the display bezel with the monitor finished it's time to proceed to the base section of the computer system this is where things get really nasty a thick layer of what i believe is animal faeces has fused to the casing itself a plastic scraper would have been ideal for removing it although i didn't have one so i resorted to slowly scrubbing it away and using various cleaning solutions to help break it down up whilst cleaning off the device i've noticed that the paint is eroded in some areas revealing the metal below i picked this computer up as i found its design to be unique i do plan to repaint this casing at some point when i turn it into a more modern system the only two ports this computer has is serial one for the keyboard and the other for data communication both ports are rusty but with a bit of elbow grease i was able to get them looking shiny again with minimal oxidization left whilst cleaning the sides of the base i noticed a few spots i'd missed on the monitor particularly underneath and on the stand i could clean these up in a similar fashion as the rest of the unit [Music] at the front the grotty aluminium panel can be scrubbed to clean off all the muck on the right side is a service tag which has become moldy while i would have liked to have saved it it's best if it's removed to get rid of any mold next is the power cable it was wrapped around the stand and has its own fair share of crud that needs to be disinfected i used an alcohol wipe for this which worked wonders lastly for the main system is the bottom it only has a light amount of dirt which wiped away with ease up next is the keyboard nobody wants to type on covered from top to bottom in a revolting array of grime that has jammed many of the keys from functioning before i open it up i want to clean the outer casing before removing it you'll notice it's matched to the computer with an aluminium top and blue base it's now time to get inside the keyboard i have a feeling that inside is going to be just as bad as the outside and i was proven right removing the two random and useless pieces of foam we can get a better look before detaching the two pieces i needed to first remove the cable i wasn't able to undo the screw fastening it in place so i just had to cut the cable this isn't an issue as it's been torn off further up anyway i could clean up the base in a similar fashion as the rest of the device and then we can get a better look at the keyboard mechanism itself to separate the keyboard from the surrounding metal four bolts need to be unfastened i wasn't able to get my ratchet to fit so i attempted to remove another layer of the keyboard first unbolting five screws should theoretically allow me to take out the motherboard but the key switches have been soldered on through the metal piece i was trying to remove earlier as they are larger than the hole they poke through removing the bolts had no effect as i couldn't fit my ratchet in i just used a pair of pliers to grip onto the nuts on the bolt and simply unfasten it using a screwdriver with the keyboard removed we can see a lot of gunk all the way down at the bottom which i'll need to try and clean off to preserve this keyboard i'm going to start by removing the keycaps this will allow me to wash them in a bucket of water which will be much easier than trying to clean them whilst still being attached upon pouring the keys into a warm soapy bucket of water the color immediately turned brown i swish them around for a minute to remove any loose contaminants before draining and refilling the bucket this time i can start pulling out keys and cleaning them this was a very time consuming process but was very necessary in order to make sure this keyboard was as clean as possible while i was at it i cleaned the remaining parts in water being sure to refill it at least two times per piece this included the keyboard mechanism itself which was disgusting and had a foul smell along with the computer and its matching keyboard i also got this one it's cream and silver but looks similar to the other one except for a few of its keys it's not in as bad as shape as the last one as it's been sitting under something it still has its serial cable attached but it's missing screws making the keyboard loose unfasten the two screws at the back we can open it up inside it's looking about as dirty as the other one i will remove the serial cables tensioner so i can separate the two halves i will continue disassembling the keyboard so i can clean it in the same way i'm going to use these two keyboards to make one good one by using the mechanism from this keyboard i can install the blue bottom cover and have it match the main system internally you can see the main board is looking so much cleaner than the last one instead of using spray and wipe i will continue using my bucket method which is easier and more effective i did this part outside to avoid making more mess than i've already done from washing the other parts back inside i can test out some mold color on the keys to see if it makes a difference leaving it to soak for a few minutes any mold and grime comes right off this process is really noticeable on the keypad here as you can see there are several mold spores over a lot of these keys but using the mold killer it comes right off like it's absolutely nothing i wanted to remove the mould first before washing it in soapy water as i wasn't confident that the soapy water would actually remove all of the mold spores i'll take off all of the keys as i did with the other keyboard and wash them in water while i was at it i also took the opportunity to dunk in the entire keyboard itself which kind of sounds like it wouldn't bring up much dirt at all but you can see it instantly changed the color of the water to brown after several goes it was coming out nice and clear so i could proceed on to cleaning the cable before we get to reassembling this keyboard and seeing whether or not this computer actually functions i'll clean up the connector using a toothbrush and some more cleaning solution that it's now time to reinstall all of the keycaps back onto the keyboard proceeding the face plate can be attached using its four bolts again i'm going to have to resort to using pliers as my ratchet doesn't fit with that the two halves can be connected back together attaching the serial cable retentioner before closing up the case and screwing it all together i'm sure you're eager to see what this thing looks like on the inside so let's crack it open starting with the panel on the back of the monitor taking out two screws reveals the inner workings of the crt display of course there is more dirt which i'll remove along the way one reason for opening this thing up was to check its internal condition before i plug it in as i don't know its history or what might be lurking inside i will disconnect the high voltage wire from the back of the crt before removing the rear panel and two screws on the side of the machine which will allow me to lift up the middle section there are a few cables connecting the two halves so i'll be careful to disconnect those first before fully removing the top section of course it wouldn't be an australian computer without a few spiders inside the back portion of this machine looks quite dirty indeed i'm going to clean it up before i try and power it on even the transformer looks a little bit rusty so i'm a little bit concerned on whether this is actually going to work or i'm going to get a whole bunch of smoke pouring out the back removing the power supply you can see some heat damage over on the right hand side as well as a barge wire which really doesn't instill a lot of confidence i'll clean up the base regardless and we'll get this thing reassembled and we'll test it out one of the serial ports labeled intercom wasn't connected to anything this likely means some hardware has been removed from the system as the other port labeled datacom i would suspect would be used for the keyboard regardless i cleaned up both of the ports as well as the back panel reconnecting its flex cable i can reattach the power supply back into the system and fasten the two nuts that are holding it in place as for the rest of the system it's pretty clean compared to everything else and only really needed a dusting getting a final overview the insides are looking better i'm not too fast inside as i'll be modifying this device later on anyway the final pieces that needed cleaning were the rear panel for the monitor as well as the inner top sections of both the base and monitor it's finally time to reassemble the machine and test its functionality i'll reconnect the two halves and fasten everything back together after fastening the last case screws we're done so this is it a computer from electronic control systems what was once a completely revolting example of an 80s computer is back in a clean and respectable state it's finally time to test it out plugging in the system it did this despite about to take off with the sound coming from that fan no picture shows up the fan is directly connected to the incoming power supply so it's not really a good indication on anything after reviewing the footage i noticed i installed one of the cables around the wrong way after correcting my mistake and trying again this happened well i suppose it's progress along with the fan noise there's now also a high pitch noise my guess is the crt is bad as the sound wasn't there previously i wouldn't suspect it's a power supply or transformer that's making all that noise but that's okay because i got this so i could use the unique case design to build something else let me know what i should do with it in the comments would you like to see me turn this into a modern computer or maybe a retro game machine for now this will be as far as i'm taking it and on that note this has been a huge jefferies video if you like what you saw hit that subscribe button and consider checking out the cleaning playlist for more videos just like this one and if you're looking for any used devices be sure to check out my online store link for which is down in the description that's all for this video and i'll catch you guys next time

Channel: Hugh Jeffreys

Views: 1,057,167

Keywords: Hugh, Jeffreys, Apple, iPhone, iPad, iPod, technology, repair, restore, restoration, destroyed phone, broken phone, phone repair, android, samsung

Id: xffIohMseVg

Length: 17min 24sec (1044 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 24 2021