Commodore PET 2001 - Whole or parts? Make an offer!

I've recently acquired a PET 2001 that's I'm not sure if I want to restore it, sell it or part it out.

Due to 'questionable' storage it's not a pristine machine by any stretch of the imagination, but after reseating the chips on the mainboard it boots into BASIC and seems to run normally. I can't really test any extensive programs with no tape drive, but as far as I can tell, it's all good.

The good:
- It boots and appears to work, meaning all the parts are suitable for other machines.
- The screen is clear and doesn't seem to have any burn-in that I can see.

The bad:
- It's dirty as hell. I'm currently cleaning it, but in doing so, I'm finding it has minor rust spots all over it.
- The keyboard is WELL used (worn key faces) and 80% of the keys barely work unless you beat on them. Probably needs a good cleaning.
- Case will need a complete cleaning/repaint to be even remotely 'nice', but there's no dents

I can send higher quality pics upon request.

In that condition, was it stored in a pile of dirt somewhere? At least it works... sort of?

I'm not exactly sure, either in a pile of dirt or a barn. I swear I pulled hay out of it.

It seems to be completely functional on the processing/display side, but the keyboard is as full of debris as the rest of it was.

Most likely will take a lot more effort than I'm willing to put into it to restore it, but as a functioning parts machine, definately a good candidate.

Update - Removed and dismantled keyboard. Found what appears to be a human toenail and multiple layers of cat hair..... Needless to say, I'm cleaning it. Tasty.

Keys are a bit yellowed, might try a light bleach solution to see if I can brighten them up a bit. Wear is less significant than I thought, only certain keys seem particularly worn. Other than the ones in the picture, they all seem pretty good.

If you found it in Vancouver, no bloody wonder it's got rust all over it !
I had rust all over me too, before I moved 1200 miles South.

Don't use bleach - use a batch of Retr0Brite (H2O2 & a little Oxy powder).

Lorne said:

Don't use bleach - use a batch of Retr0Brite (H2O2 & a little Oxy powder).

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I wouldn't use either. The key labels are stickers and virtually any chemical process is going to ruin them.

Just clean them as best you can and live with the discoloration.

Erik said:

I wouldn't use either. The key labels are stickers and virtually any chemical process is going to ruin them.

Just clean them as best you can and live with the discoloration.

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Thanks guys.

I see what you mean about the key labels. I did a light spray with window cleaner and that cleaned them up a lot, but they're still a bit yellowish. Oh well.

The keyboard seems to work fine now that the cursed toenail of keyboard dementia has been banished.

On another note, I noticed the memory count seems a tad low. Then again, I didn't exactly spend a lot of time reseating the chips... May be time to try again.

For some odd reason I find the resonant "clUnk" of the capacitor when I turn it on highly entertaining.

Ronobo said:

I see what you mean about the key labels. I did a light spray with window cleaner and that cleaned them up a lot, but they're still a bit yellowish. Oh well.

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Just to echo Erik's comments. RetroBrite is great on plastics but don't use it on labels which are stickers. You'll get significant clouding.

Pets are fun to play around with. I have restored haybarn-sourced computers myself and they can certainly be given a second life.

Tez

tezza said:

Just to echo Erik's comments. RetroBrite is great on plastics but don't use it on labels which are stickers. You'll get significant clouding.

Pets are fun to play around with. I have restored haybarn-sourced computers myself and they can certainly be given a second life.

Tez

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I hadn't realized there were stickers on the keys, so like Eric and Tezza said - no bleach or H2O2.

So Tezza, I clicked on the link but I didn't see any documented progress on the blog for the restoration of those pieces.

Lorne said:

So Tezza, I clicked on the link but I didn't see any documented progress on the blog for the restoration of those pieces.

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But didn't you see this at the bottom of the blog page?
....
....

The blog entries are there. You just have to pick them out from the index.

Come on. Ya don't want me to make it TOO easy for ya, surely! :D

Well, it's a lot cleaner now but even after reseating the memory (and everything else) I only get "930 BYTES FREE" when I boot. I'm going to take a wild guess and say some of the ram is toast.

Thoughts?

Ronobo said:

Well, it's a lot cleaner now but even after reseating the memory (and everything else) I only get "930 BYTES FREE" when I boot. I'm going to take a wild guess and say some of the ram is toast.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Good guess.

Try swapping I1 and J1 with I8 and J8 and see what happens. Don't bend/break any pins.