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Is a "nice" 5150 be worth $50?

D

dkedrowitsch

Experienced Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2006
Messages
102
Location
Boyertown, PA USA
When I found my 5170 at the flea market "electronics surplus" shop a few weeks ago, I asked the owner if he had any decent looking 5150s. He was sure he did in his "warehouse" and told me to leave my email address.

This morning I got a message from him saying:

"dug out a nice one-- with two floppies- I need $50.00 for it --check it out at the store"
Click to expand...

So I'm heading out there tonight to check it out.

Naturally I have spare AST and Quadram boards, misc controllers, drives, etc., so the configuration doesn't really matter to me. In fact, I even have a decent spare motherboard.

So what do you guys think? Judging the prices on ebay, I think $50 is about a max fair value for a 5150 without keyboard or monitor, and that's IF it's in good shape.
 
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I would say you're about right with the $50, particularly since you don't have to worry about shipping. Of course if it's a beater with nothing in it, that's a different story.
 
Sounds like a good enough price. It's especially good if it works properly and/or if there's a 16-64K motherboard in there.
 
Yes, I'd say that is a reasonable price- I would expect a monitor+keyboard with it.

Make sure you check that both floppys read and write correctly- thats the most common failure I found.
Expecially the Tandon ones dont seem to be too long living.
 
Honestly for a 5150 I've seen them go for about double that usually and then shipping. That's without knowing it really works, so for $50 I'd say it's worth picking up, although for sanity sake you'd want to see it on.

- John
 
Well, i'm back!

I got _TWO_ 5150s, a Samsung Amber monochrome monitor, a perfect 102 key Model M (1988 vintage, so it supports XTs), and a new in box 5.25" floppy cleaning kit. $80 for everything.

The one 5150 is in near mint condition with 2x 5.25 drives, some kind of mono/cga card, and 640K. It's the 256K mobo model.

The other 5150 is in pretty rough shape, but has a CGA board, AST SixPack, and a Miniscribe 10meg hard drive.

I saw the nice 5150 work with the monochrome monitor....didn't bother with the beater.

I think I made out Ok.

I'll be taking some pictures of everything this weekend.
 
Spending a slight premium on a local machine you can actually go over (and don't have to pay shipping on) is the best way to go.

Its hard to compare ebay prices to local ones because global markets (ebay) are different then local ones (supply and demand is different).

How hard is it to find an original IBM CGA monitor these days?
 
Unknown_K said:
S

How hard is it to find an original IBM CGA monitor these days?
Click to expand...

Not easy to find. eBay is about the only place to find CGA/EGA
displays, Then you are at the mercy of the shipping carrier.

I got lucky a couple months ago, grabbed five non-working EGA
and one working CGA from a local guy that used to have a computer shop.
Paid $10 for the CGA , got the EGA's for free. I have so far repaired one of
the EGA's , just needed all the capacitors in the power supply replaced.
I suspect the others also have the same problem, but I'm in no rush to fix
them.
 
He mentioned he had original IBM monitors for 5150s and 5160s, I'm betting he's got CGA and EGA. This guy has a TON of stuff, but much of it is kept in a large shed structure with no heat and dirt floor, so lots of stuff has been weathering poor, like monochrome monitor I got from him. Although some tlc w/a magic eraser made a dramatic difference.

I've been messing with the 5150 on and off all weekend. I tested one of the Tandon 5.25 drives to work well after several passes with a cleaning disk. Haven't tried the second one yet because I pulled it to add a Seagate ST-238R and matching ST11R controller, with a 3.5" floppy drive on top to fill the gap. The ST-238R was apparently knocked around unparked, so Spinrite is going over the drive with a fine tooth comb cleaning up anything my fresh low level format didn't catch. Hopefully it finishes some time this year. :rolleyes:

I have these nifty metal plates that a lower half high drive screws go through and provides a set of holes to add a second drive.

I'll have to take pictures today.
 
The older floppy drives and hard disks are pretty tolerant. Besides just cleaning the heads of the floppy drive, I'd get in there deep and clean/lubricate the drive rails. I'd also get rid of any other dust/foreign matter in the drive by giving it a thorough cleaning.

For the hard disk, just excercise the heck out of it. Do a low level format or two just to be sure you know what you are getting into.

If he has EGA monitors it would be worth another visit. Those aren't too common anymore.
 
mikey99 said:
Not easy to find. eBay is about the only place to find CGA/EGA
displays, Then you are at the mercy of the shipping carrier.

I got lucky a couple months ago, grabbed five non-working EGA
and one working CGA from a local guy that used to have a computer shop.
Paid $10 for the CGA , got the EGA's for free. I have so far repaired one of
the EGA's , just needed all the capacitors in the power supply replaced.
I suspect the others also have the same problem, but I'm in no rush to fix
them.
Click to expand...

Would you have any info on how to repair an 5154 EGA?
I've got one which the power seems ok, but all it displays is squeezed in a thin line in the middle of the screen, it seems its not doing vertical (scan?).

I'm going to look for a tv repair shop, it seems there are not too many left. Just wonder if they would have any way of testing it- not sure anyone has a EGA input signal available..
 
Believe it or not, there wasn't any dust in the system whatsoever. It almost looks as if it was unused!

Don't worry, I know my way around old MFM/RLL drives.

I always get them up to temperature and low level format them several times in a row before letting spinrite have a go at them.

The drive I added (ST231R) to the 5150 was from my personal inventory, and I remember it had a bit of "unflagged" scattered media damage when I got it. The 238R is just an RLL certified ST-225, so no autopark which means 99% of the time it wasn't parked and sustained some damage before being adopted by me. ;)

Spinrite took all night and dug up about 100K of damage after the fresh lovel formats. The ST225/238Rs always take FOREVER to recalibrate every time Spinrite stumbles on a media error, which is why it took so long for the first pass. I ran it a second time this morning and it hummed right along without a hitch, so it looks like it caught everything. DOS is installed and everything works as smooth as could be.

I park any drives that don't do it automatically every time I power them down, just to be safe.

I have to get my semi-gloss black plastic spray paint and paint up the 3.5" drive to match the PC/XT color scheme, and then I'll take some pictures.

I'll email the guy and see what kind of monitor selection he has. I wouldn't mind a monochrome, CGA, and EGA just to complete the collection.


mbbrutman said:
The older floppy drives and hard disks are pretty tolerant. Besides just cleaning the heads of the floppy drive, I'd get in there deep and clean/lubricate the drive rails. I'd also get rid of any other dust/foreign matter in the drive by giving it a thorough cleaning.

For the hard disk, just excercise the heck out of it. Do a low level format or two just to be sure you know what you are getting into.

If he has EGA monitors it would be worth another visit. Those aren't too common anymore.
Click to expand...
 
Jorg said:
Would you have any info on how to repair an 5154 EGA?
I've got one which the power seems ok, but all it displays is squeezed in a thin line in the middle of the screen, it seems its not doing vertical (scan?).

I'm going to look for a tv repair shop, it seems there are not too many left. Just wonder if they would have any way of testing it- not sure anyone has a EGA input signal available..
Click to expand...

It would most likely be the vertical deflection transistor/IC (whatever they used at that time) being open. That and the horizontal deflection transistor (both probably big old TO-3 cases) are the most common cause of "squashed screen" in their respective directions.
 
Jorg said:
Would you have any info on how to repair an 5154 EGA?
I've got one which the power seems ok, but all it displays is squeezed in a thin line in the middle of the screen, it seems its not doing vertical (scan?).
Click to expand...
Have a look at the following thread which covers the 5154. In there, POSTNUKEM introduces his 5154 which has partial vertical collapse. Your 5154 has full vertical collapse, but the causes can be the same.
There are follow-up posts from myself and NIGE THE HIPPY where we talk of bad capacitors and the TDA2653 vertical deflection IC.
http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?t=9462
 
modem7 said:
Have a look at the following thread which covers the 5154. In there, POSTNUKEM introduces his 5154 which has partial vertical collapse. Your 5154 has full vertical collapse, but the causes can be the same.
There are follow-up posts from myself and NIGE THE HIPPY where we talk of bad capacitors and the TDA2653 vertical deflection IC.
http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?t=9462
Click to expand...

Thanks! As its going OT here, if anything I'll continue there.
Although I know what to do with a soldering tool, I'm a chemical engineer, not electrical ;)
So I tend to stay away from the inside monitors or other high voltage stuff.
However, If I find a TV repair shop, I'd expect a reaction around the line of: 'what the @#@ is this piece of old junk?', so it might be help to be prepared :D

(Oh, and yes, stay away from the polychlorinatedbiphenol- especially when fuming).
 
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