DEC cabinet side panels

[DDS]

I have a DEC PDP 11/23 Plus in what I think is called a Business Cabinet. DEC made a bunch of these. They all pretty much looked like this one:

http://www.cosam.org/computers/dec/pdp11-23/

Before I get too fired up on fixing the actual computer hardware I'd like to get rid of the decayed foam that lines the two side panels and maybe replace it with some Dynamat. I recall one place I worked there were rows of these cabinets side by side with the side panels removed. I was told it saved space and made the forced cold air cooling from under the floor more efficient. I checked a document online, probably on Bitsavers, and it said to remove the side panels first remove the lower RL02's shipping bracket that prevents the drive from sliding foreward then pull the side panel upward.

Well, my shipping brackets are long gone and my side panels don't budge. I could get the foam out without removing the panels but it will be a pain in the neck scraping it out from the inside. Plus it would be much less convenient when placing the Dynamat.

Before I engage in acts involving brute force & ignorance, do you guys have any suggestions on what could be locking these panels in place?

 

[KC9UDX]

The only one I ever worked with, a Vax-11 actually, had some not - so - obvious screws if my memory is correct. After removing them I seem to recall having a hard time keeping the panels on even though they were supposed to hang on by themselves.

Once those screws came out (maybe from the bottom? ) the panels lifted up with a lot of force. Maybe that's where you are already. I seem to remember using a 2x4 to pry them up. After that they were just loose until the screws went back in.

 

[pbirkel@gmail.com]

Often known as the "Corporate Cabinet" or "corp-cab".

In the rear there are a pair of brackets that bolt to the rack bottom-frame and have slight slide protrusions that lock the panels into place. One of these brackets includes the hole that supports the door lower-pivot. They are each held in place with a pair of bolts and are slotted such that you only have to loosen the bolts then can slip the brackets up-n-off.

The panels will still be _quite_ snug and not "simply" lift off. Instead you will need to either tilt the cabinet at about a 30 degree angle, or lay it flat, and then use a mallet and a block of wood to tap/bang the lower edge of the panel firmly and probably repeatedly to cause the panel to slide upwards about 3/4 inch. At that point the panel can be disengaged from its slotted fasteners and lifted free.

Note that there are four slots - two near the top and another two near the bottom. Make sure that when you reattach the panel that you have all four correctly engaged before you force the panel back down into position. Else you get to start over :-<.

Finally, there is usually an ~12" ground-strap linking the panel to the rack-frame that you'll need to disconnect before you'll get very far with the panel.

It was a bit scary the first time I had to brute-force one of these, but that's exactly what you have to do. It's the "proper procedure".

Good luck!

 

[DDS]

"There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable application of high explosives." -- Scott Adams

Thanks, Guys. At least now I won't have to start with Scott Adams' technique. ;-)