It's a bit painful to know that many retro computers ended up in landfills, just like the ET cartridges. Today it's very hard for enthusiasts to get parts, but that doesn't stop them from performing extreme rescues. At the beginning of June we saw an Atari 800XL return from the ashes, and today it's the turn of the classic Commodore 64, abandoned under the hostility of the elements for more than a decade...
The last thing you need inside a computer is moisture. Besides causing all sorts of horrors on the electronics, its mere presence can give rise to rust on the case. You don't want rust on your case, I guarantee you. It will eat it whole if you don't remove it in time, and as it advances, it demands increasingly aggressive methods. Now imagine rust on a computer that was abandoned for over ten years outdoors. There is no margin for error here: anything that can oxidize will oxidize. Add to that dust, grass, and dry leaves, stones, and ants! Alive and dead. In essence, it's the perfect storm for any computer... and this Commodore 64 somehow survived it.
Commodore 64: From Zombie to Retro Experiment
Adrian Black had no doubts. The best way to inspect the damage is to wash the PCB, and then bathe it in isopropanol. All the metal shields were devoured by rust, and the cardboard on the bottom basically disappeared. Rust stained the main chips, and blocked the contact on the fuse socket. Despite the initial horror, Adrian decided to connect the computer to a television, and give it power.
Any myth about the fragility of the Commodore 64 has died with this video. The system works... to a certain point. A trained eye probably noticed that there is no blinking cursor under the 'READY'. Upon removing and reinstalling the chips, errors began to appear, almost all associated with false contacts.
The magic touch was a bit of fine sandpaper (1500) on the chip pins. The keyboard connector presented a bit more resistance, but it also fell to the sandpaper's feet. The next test was loading software with a 1571, and both memory and sound worked well.
So... is it a miracle? Honestly, I don't know. The condition of that Commodore 64 is calamitous. There is corrosion in every corner of its PCB, and several rust stains will never go away. Even that famous C64 used in a Polish workshop seems privileged. Still, the computer works without errors after some minimal adjustments. Humble and robust at the same time. Modern systems could learn a thing or two from the Commodore 64.
