… or was it 0x10? :>
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16 is better than 3
The title relates to the 8-bit guy’s latest video which is awesome!
I enjoy watching his videos and I hope he doesn’t mind that innocent teasing 😉
The story behind this post is simple, I’ve bought around 32 Atari computers – all 65XE.
I’ve started working on them one by one. I was halfway done and figured out that I will work on a few of them at once as it is faster that way.
All of the machines were fixed, retr0brighted (if necessary), and had broken keyboard membranes replaced. However, in this post, I am mainly focusing on restoring metal shielding that is very often covered with rust.
Ok, let’s start with pics of the disassembly process to show you the original damages.
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/QhVdQvR.png)
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Nzs0i8a.png)
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/rZrS4NN.jpg)
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![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Uh7LWoR.jpg)
There are only 15 cases in the pic below lol. I forgot to put the 16th case there 😀
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/O1kgpop.jpg)
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/4BBXpkr.jpg)
Unfortunately, I had to replace some of the original badges 🙁
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/x8gUe2s.png)
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/edaeCdD.png)
Metal shields
As seen in the above photos, the metal shielding was very rusted.
The plan was to get rid of rust and spray-paint these shields as I’ve shown in my blog post about Amiga 1200
In the A1200 post, I described the electrochemical process of rust removal.
It looked like this:
It works very nicely, however, it is also time-consuming. This time I had 32 separate metal shields to de-rust …. plus, I am a very lazy person and I had to figure out an easier and faster way.
To achieve the desired effect, I’ve used a phosphoric/oxalic acid solution. There are two ways to get a proper mixture – you can either make it yourself, 35% phosphoric / 5% oxalic acids solution in demineralized water OR you can get a ready product which is very cheap as has very similar contents – 5L costs around $10
I’ve bought 10 liters of such a cheap de-rusting solution so I could conveniently fill a plastic box where at least 6-10 metal shields would fit.
The trick is to fill a box with the de-rusting solution so it fully covers the metal parts that you are working on and ………. WAIT
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/nxyk7fm.png)
The job
Here is how it looks:
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/gVR4qxt.jpg)
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/N1QGBeA.jpg)
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/8CqvoFx.jpg)
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/PGBgEno.png)
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/1DaO3Z1.png)
The issue with both chemical and electrochemical processes is that it completely removes iron oxide – the rust – so once you take a part out of the solution and rinse it with water, it almost immediately starts to cover with a fresh and thin rust layer. This means that the whole operation should be performed when it is warm and sunny outside so a part can quickly dry.
Below is an example of a freshly removed from a de-rusting solution shield. The lower part was just a few seconds before I took the picture.
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/LsmgTsx.png)
Here is a closeup of how it looks when dry.
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/kKjqJtJ.png)
Rest of the pics.
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/erNogV4.jpg)
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/iGfmcQV.jpg)
Ok, with the de-rusting process finished, I had to slightly treat all shields with sandpaper to prepare them for spray-painting which followed shortly after.
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/gkUGGvA.jpg)
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/S8wOo8s.jpg)
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/yF7cZ8Z.png)
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/zy7D70G.png)
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/VDfJtFN.png)
Electronics
What to do with 16 dead, Atari motherboards?
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/0tzJlCi.png)
Fast forward and here are the broken parts 😀
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/AiFUa9a.jpg)
That was quick. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of all Atari assembled and ready so instead, I’ve decided to upload a picture that Daniel of the TheBigLubawski games collection took the other day 😉
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/lFwxYWo.jpg)
See you in the next post 😉
Outro
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