Wow! That's a LOT of diodes to replace! How many are in the machine in total?Well... there is one cool thing about that 8/L, and that is because it is a desktop version... It looks like is is in a worse condition to say the least...
I restored my 8/L in 2019, it had also a lot damage because of moisture. But after replacing about 750+ (that much? yes!) diodes, 25+ IC's and some transistors it still works fine...
Regards, Roland
Considering what people are paying for DEC PDP switch panels alone (to hopefully fix-up a machine with missing toggles, although more likely to sit on a shelf for display).... it's hard to say, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it fetch some money based on the attraction of the front panel (even with the two missing toggles). I'm sure there's lots of other usable parts there too. At the end of the day, it's not impossible to restore something in this condition, just depends on how much time, effort, and money someone wants to put into it. Time will tell, I guess.I saw that too and laughed, that price is certainly optimistic! Apropos, what do folks here think would be a fair price for a specimen in that condition? There's so much rust, and it looks so damaged, I can't personally imagine paying more than a few hundred dollars for it, but maybe I'm way off base on the value, especially if it's particularly rare?
I tried a $500usd offer because the answer was obvious and it was auto-declined.My guess would be in the $500 to $1000. I'd give him $250 myself and no more for its condition.
Chris I don't think yours was anywhere near as bad. Have a closer look at the last few photos.SO $501 bid?
Seriously, I repaired two 8/L's in a similar state. It's just a lot of replacing flip flops and the 4 to 8 input NAND gates. Fortunately my memory diodes were fine, that sounds like not fun.
Yeah but the 8/I is just so darn big.While I would take an 8L, I still prefer the 8i myself. At least the 8i accepts 8k of core without needing expansion. The 8L is limited to 4k without expansion. And good luck finding the BM08-L (?). Not sure if that is the correct expansion part. They are quite rare. I am not into repairing an 8L in this condition.
One question: How do you know the offer is auto-declined? Not that I plan on putting in an offer.