• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Should I get a 5151 or a 5153 monitor?

No. They are aftermarket but period. All made in the late 80s/early 90s. They came in the machines when I originally bought them second hand.

I trust them more than anything produced in the last 10 years. New thing bad
Man I am totally with you. So many modern things are just pieces of junk, computers or anything else. If you pick up an item from the 50s/60s/70s or maybe even older, you can feel the quality. Everything now is made to break so that you have to buy again. Similar to the subscription model that's taking over but that's another rant...

As far as period power supplies, I just kind of worry about the supposed capacitor plague. I am not knowledgeable enough to know exactly how bad it was or how to replace them.
 
The IBM XT's (IBM 5160's) stock PSU is indeed more powerful:
IBM PC = about 63W
IBM XT = about 130W
Not that I dont trust you,, your site is pretty much the gold standard on these machines. ITs just that I find numbers from 110W to 130W and even more BS ones up to 300W on the XT PSU which I dont believe. Are there different variants in the XT's from early models to the later ones or 286 models?

This is mine, original to my machine and been working fine for over 35 years.IMG_20230122_124720.jpg
 
Not that I dont trust you,, your site is pretty much the gold standard on these machines. ITs just that I find numbers from 110W to 130W and even more BS ones up to 300W on the XT PSU which I dont believe. Are there different variants in the XT's from early models to the later ones or 286 models?
Note that when I use "XT" in the context of the IBM 5160, you will see that I use "IBM XT" rather than "XT". I do that because I am aware from past threads that there are readers here who consider "XT" to include clones of the IBM XT.

It makes sense to me that you are writing of the IBM XT. However, you wrote "286 models", which to me suggests that you include the IBM 5162, a.k.a. XT model 286, as an IBM XT. I do not consider the XT model 286 to be an IBM XT - it is an AT-class computer.

Yes, we do not know exactly what is in the silver PSU case. For the IBM PC, it could be that some makers for IBM put in circuitry that is capable of sustained power delivery of more that 63W. For the IBM XT, it could be that some makers for IBM put in circuitry that is capable of sustained power delivery of more that 130W. Unless the PSU has the output rating/s marked on it, all we can go on is what IBM say.

This is mine, original to my machine and been working fine for over 35 years.
The photo does not show the output rating. It shows an input rating of "INPUT: 110V, 3A". One has to be careful with those. It is easy to think, 110V x 3A = 330W, and therefore this PSU is capable of supplying about 300W. The 3A is likely to be a peak amperage figure for what the PSU consumes, not directly related to the sustained power that the PSU can deliver.

My IBM 5153 is an example of the name-plated current figure being an approximate peak input figure.
I measured the average AC current consumption of my "100-250V~@0.95A" marked IBM 5153.

245 Vac
------------
My 5153002 with video input (a few lines of text) = 0.43 A
My 5153002 without video input (white screen) = 0.48 A

120 Vac
------------
My 5153002 with video input (a few lines of text) = 0.55 A
My 5153002 without video input (white screen) = 0.64 A

The average current consumption is about half of the "0.95A".
What is actually going on is shown below.

1674424016450.png
 
Looks like that Astec supply is dated 1983. I’ve got a loose IBM supply from 1986, that must be a different manufacturer. It lists power ratings almost identical to what is on minuszerodegrees. The only difference I see is that one of the voltages is shown as .25amps instead of .3 amps. Also it seems to list the amp limit of the individual conductors on the power connectors:
 

Attachments

  • 3EE9E9A9-09E5-4605-B7F0-B5ACAA9D8931.jpeg
    3EE9E9A9-09E5-4605-B7F0-B5ACAA9D8931.jpeg
    231.2 KB · Views: 4
  • 33FFFF7F-DD1E-4B18-AFDF-4666087DF73D.jpeg
    33FFFF7F-DD1E-4B18-AFDF-4666087DF73D.jpeg
    403.3 KB · Views: 4
Last edited:
Man I am totally with you. So many modern things are just pieces of junk, computers or anything else. If you pick up an item from the 50s/60s/70s or maybe even older, you can feel the quality. Everything now is made to break so that you have to buy again. Similar to the subscription model that's taking over but that's another rant...

As far as period power supplies, I just kind of worry about the supposed capacitor plague. I am not knowledgeable enough to know exactly how bad it was or how to replace them.
The capacitor "plague" only affects a specific range of production years in the early to mid 2000s. Of course any old capacitor can fail, but typically they don't unless they are subjected to excessive heat and/or ripple currents.
 
The capacitor "plague" only affects a specific range of production years in the early to mid 2000s. Of course any old capacitor can fail, but typically they don't unless they are subjected to excessive heat and/or ripple currents.
OHHHHH thank you, I thought it spanned many more years than that. So very good to know, so I pretty much don't have to worry about my machines nearly as much as I thought then.
 
Well, that's not the whole story. From WikiP:
All electrolytic capacitors with non-solid electrolyte age over time, due to evaporation of the electrolyte. The capacitance usually decreases and the ESR usually increases. The normal lifespan of a non-solid electrolytic capacitor of consumer quality, typically rated at 2000 h/85 °C and operating at 40 °C, is roughly 6 years. It can be more than 10 years for a 1000 h/105 °C capacitor operating at 40 °C. Electrolytic capacitors that operate at a lower temperature can have a considerably longer lifespan.

The electrolytic motor-starting capacitors in my heat pump seem to endure about 4 years before they quit--the capacitance slowly drops and the ESR rises to the point where the compressor will no longer start.

On the other hand, I have electrolytics dating from WWII; but those use PCBs in the goo between the foil. We still haven't found a good substitute for them; some utilities are now buying film capacitors (physically larger and far more expensive) for PFC.

So just because your capacitors were made before or after the "plague years of 1999-2007" doesn't mean that they won't eventually turn into empty cans.
 
I find a common failure point ANY LCD monitor or television. Regardless of when it was made. The PSU board capacitors on most brands will have at least a couple bulging ones at around 6 years. I realize thats a blanket statement but from regular use it tends to happen. Even with the bulgy caps many still work, they may just not "start" quickly or every time.. But obviously this is a quick and easy repair. Besides that the only real issue is SMD caps from the late 80's and 90's. those rubber boots just arent the same as through hole caps its seems. They tend to dry out and leak.
 
The capacitor "plague" only affects a specific range of production years in the early to mid 2000s. Of course any old capacitor can fail, but typically they don't unless they are subjected to excessive heat and/or ripple currents.

There was an earlier capacitor plague that got less attention because problems didn't get bad until they were past their normal lifespan. It affected capacitors from the mid 80's until the early 90's. It was mostly surface mount electrolytics, miniature through hole electrolytics, and certain high temperature electrolytics that were often used in power supplies. Basically, 100% of SMD electrolytics from when they first appeared in the 80's until about 1993-4 are guaranteed to leak. For other caps, it's hit and miss depending on brand, model, and batch.

It's much worse for collectors than the early 2000's plague because these caps leak, and cause corrosion. They've been leaking for so long that most items with them are guaranteed to have serious damage. They tended to be used in higher end, more compact devices, which makes it even harder to fix. Lower end products often didn't bother with these new and improved space saving caps.
 
TIL Brother is that old. Love their modern printers! Indestructible and the laser ones last forever on toner.
 
There was an earlier capacitor plague that got less attention because problems didn't get bad until they were past their normal lifespan. It affected capacitors from the mid 80's until the early 90's. It was mostly surface mount electrolytics, miniature through hole electrolytics, and certain high temperature electrolytics that were often used in power supplies. Basically, 100% of SMD electrolytics from when they first appeared in the 80's until about 1993-4 are guaranteed to leak. For other caps, it's hit and miss depending on brand, model, and batch.

It's much worse for collectors than the early 2000's plague because these caps leak, and cause corrosion. They've been leaking for so long that most items with them are guaranteed to have serious damage. They tended to be used in higher end, more compact devices, which makes it even harder to fix. Lower end products often didn't bother with these new and improved space saving caps.
Would you suggest doing anything about the PSU in my 5150? I'm not sure of the difference between caps, so I'm really not sure how concerned I should be and how quickly I need to think about taking action on this.
 
Would you suggest doing anything about the PSU in my 5150? I'm not sure of the difference between caps, so I'm really not sure how concerned I should be and how quickly I need to think about taking action on this.
You can be proactive or you can use it until it breaks. You have folks in those and many different camps here. Neither method is right or wrong.
 
It's not a bad idea to look it over for signs of leaking caps, and other obvious problems. Generally, power supplies from the early 80's didn't suffer from leaking caps, but they are 40 years old.

Those explosive Rifa line bypass caps are in a lot of things from this era, and should always be replaced. They tend to blow when you first power up something that has been unused for a very long time.
 
So thinking you’ve decided to go with an IBM compatible monochrome display. No doubt text looks good on the 5151 with its higher resolution fonts and the long persistence phosphor.
My personal choice would be CGA. With colour and multiple graphic modes (some great unsupported ones), it makes the experience far more enjoyable. Besides games, many of the app’s supported colour as well. Then you can open up using some great “new” games and demos too. The 5153 CGA, even though it was released almost two years after, is a beautiful looking match for that system.
I didn’t see a keyboard in that ebay listing. Did you already source one?
 
I remember looking at a CGA-equipped 5150 back when I purchased mine in 1983. I opted for the MDA because I felt that I was going to go blind trying to read an 80 column text display on the color monitor. Just compare the font rendering on the two platforms and it's clear that if you're a serious user doing real work, be it word processing or spreadsheet, that monochrome is the way to go.
 
I have a friend in the UK with a 5150 setup and he uses a third party EGA wonder in MDA compatibility mode. While yes you lose color it gives you considerably more flexibility on the 5151.
 
Well, I figured I'd update you guys. I was actually to scrape up a bit of extra money lately and went for the purchase. I got a 5151, a model F, and an XT-IDE with a 128mb CF. Should all be here in about a week or so. Also, the 5151 is technically untested, but all signs point to it working. I'll link you guys to it.

Here's the monitor:

Here's the model F:

and on top of all that, I was able to clean up my the outside of my 5150 to nearly pristine condition! There is only one blemish, I have an HDD with it's cover, 2 half-height floppies, and this leaves 1/4 of the space without a cover. I'm currently on the hunt for a cover and if I find one I will be completely satisfied, provided my monitor works.
 
Last edited:
You paid more for the keyboard than I would have an entire 5150 setup with keyboard and monitor.

And almost $400.00 for an untested monitor?!? Why? Anyone knows you can stick a standard IEC power cable into the 5151 monitor to power it on, so the fact that the seller DIDNT power it up is a huge red flag (I know it still needs a video signal, but regardless).
EoQjgORUcAE-nVP

There are plenty of working monitors for less than half that price. Or much less https://www.ebay.com/itm/255941140107

Over $1000.00 for a 5150 just seems really, really crazy to me. They are super common here in the states especially the 256Kb model.
 
Last edited:
Anyone knows you can stick a standard IEC power cable into the 5151 monitor to power it on, so the fact that the seller DIDNT power it up is a huge red flag (I know it still needs a video signal, but regardless).
You know that it requires a video signal to power up, yet you post this. Totally contradictory lol
 
Back
Top