best cheap/free scores 1.1

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Scored an Acer Aspire 7540G. Athlon M300, 4GB RAM, no HDD and battery. Seller said powers on but shuts down soon enough. Will try to see if it needs a reflow, haven't tested it myself yet.

[Per Hansson]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

That's not a Dallas RTC, it is a BenchMark probably BQ3287 or similar
Yo ain't fooling me boy

I just noticed that....I glanced and saw the 'clock'. Looks like someone has replaced it. Ok, so the battery didn't last 30 years!! Ya got me there.

It might have, these have a really long lifetime!
Dallas states 10 years but experience has shown me it is at least double that in most cases.
I would imagine the other manufacturers have similar lifetimes, even though I never ran across them.
The reason I noticed it is because I had to build a small Arduino thing to be able to program a few externally, and it was based off the original source which was a IBM chip:
https://fritzing.org/projects/ibm-rtc-on-arduino/

[stj]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

the old ones last about 25years - the newer ones dont, the fuckers put a smaller cell in them!

i know because when they fail i cut them open and replace the cell with a cr2032 holder.

[TechGeek]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Already posted about this HERE.

Scored an Eaton Powerware 9130 double-conversion UPS for free recently. Needed a new battery pack for it, so another battery pack got stripped for it's batteries. It's currently powering the home and Tech Room network stacks.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

i know because when they fail i cut them open and replace the cell with a cr2032 holder.

If it's something of mine that I know I'd never sell, I'd do that.....but I absolutely refuse to cobble a customer machine like that. Yes, it works.....but there's absolutely no way to make that look like it wasn't done by a 5yr old....

I like it even better when they're not socketed either.....then I get to charge even more for the socket & additional labor to install it.....but they will get a new RTC.

[stj]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

but will they get a "new" rtc? or one that has been on a shelf for 10 years?

i dont trust sellers with rtc's - even big ones like rs or mouser.
the temptation to treat them like semiconductors and order 5000 with the intention of selling them over many years is too great.

[speter]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

It's my understanding that the RTC's don't drain on the shelf, until activated during first use.
I'm sure they have a shelf life like caps though...

[stj]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

ha ha
they may use lithium manganese or some other low discharge cell, but they still slowly drain.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

but will they get a "new" rtc? or one that has been on a shelf for 10 years?

i dont trust sellers with rtc's - even big ones like rs or mouser.
the temptation to treat them like semiconductors and order 5000 with the intention of selling them over many years is too great.

Digikey has datecodes on theirs IIRC (usually where I get them)...that said, I've never had a problem with one. It's the ebay ones you'd probably have to watch.

They do sell a lot of them, a lot of industrial equipment still uses them....or so I'm told....but I've attempted to order them from digikey and a few times they've been out of them.so I always know they've got a fresh stock. I have a client that sends me a lot (probably half a dozen per year) of retro Gateway2k and other retro motherboards that have them hard mounted....I order sockets and new RTC's and recap if needed.

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Scored an HP G62-a35so. Phenom II P820 and HD5470 1GB, 320GB Scorpio Black in pretty good shape (99% health due to one "weak" sector), 4GB DDR3 (2x2GB).

Repasted with some Deepcool Z5 (currently out of stock for MX4, should get one tomorrow) and currently trying to get Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC in there, though it's probably going to be a bit of a PITA to do.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Another friend showed up bearing gifts....another one of these super cool friend that just can't be bought.....

The pick of the litter!! Old beige fully enclosed rack with all the keys and 9x 120vac 120mm exhaust fans!













and a black APC rack, open in the rear.







I have some ideas for these....in due time!! A very special thanks to one of our regular members.

Because of the overwhelming coolness of this, I won't mention the driveway incident!

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Another friend showed up bearing gifts....another one of these super cool friend that just can't be bought.....

The pick of the litter!! Old beige fully enclosed rack with all the keys and 9x 120vac 120mm exhaust fans!

[Deleted pics for brevity]

and a black APC rack, open in the rear.

[Deleted pics for brevity]

I have some ideas for these....in due time!! A very special thanks to one of our regular members.

Because of the overwhelming coolness of this, I won't mention the driveway incident!

That be me. Attached are pics my mom took this morning after we loaded my truck (one rack was stored by them, the other by myself).

These were found by my wife/mom at Purdue University Surplus... $50 for the APC rack, $40 for the enclosed monster. Topcat and my end worked out a deal (not disclosing, other than that I got two 22" 1080P LCD's as part of it), and I had some other goodies for him too (which he didn't post, funny enough?), so it all worked out... Other than the snow!

Try as I might, my poor RWD 1984 F150 wasn't able to make it up the hill to his shop. Good thing he had a 4x4 Diesel... we needed it! (Insert Ford/Mopar joke here).

Good excuse to take a day off work... thanks to the pandemic, my usual annual vacation burning duties aren't happening this year, so I gotta burn my time somehow

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Finally unified my coding + work laptops (HP G6 + Acer 5740 - A4-3300M and i3-380M respectively) into one machine - an dv6-3135sk (w/ 3100sl casing, that cafe brown looking pretty good alongside my silver-ish dv7-4150so) with HD5470 and an i5-480M. Better than having a Phenom II X3 N830 that would run hotter than the sun. Also have finally got the switchable graphics to run on it (through HP's original SP50640 Win7 driver). The only thing different to my dv7 (besides the dv6 being Intel and the dv7 being AMD) is that while the dv7 automatically switches between its HD4200 IGP and HD5650 discrete graphics, the dv6 will ask me if I want to switch (that's actually true to the Win7 driver for the dv7 as well, except I have no idea why 10 decided to automatically switch them without asking - yes, Catalyst is installed on both.) between the Intel HM55 GMA4600 and the HD5470 beforehand.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

That be me. Attached are pics my mom took this morning after we loaded my truck (one rack was stored by them, the other by myself).

These were found by my wife/mom at Purdue University Surplus... $50 for the APC rack, $40 for the enclosed monster. Topcat and my end worked out a deal (not disclosing, other than that I got two 22" 1080P LCD's as part of it), and I had some other goodies for him too (which he didn't post, funny enough?), so it all worked out... Other than the snow!

Try as I might, my poor RWD 1984 F150 wasn't able to make it up the hill to his shop. Good thing he had a 4x4 Diesel... we needed it! (Insert Ford/Mopar joke here).

Good excuse to take a day off work... thanks to the pandemic, my usual annual vacation burning duties aren't happening this year, so I gotta burn my time somehow

My warped mind is already hatching a plan for that APC rack...

[stj]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

a shower unit?

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

a shower unit?

Nah, 2 in the house and even my shop has one.

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

The pick of the litter!! Old beige fully enclosed rack with all the keys and 9x 120vac 120mm exhaust fans!

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1613794391

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1613794391
...

and a black APC rack, open in the rear.

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1613794391

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1613794391

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1613794391

Nice racks!

Wait, did I just make an inappropriate comment?

If the beige one is in the garage, I guess it must be too big for the electronics work area, lol.

Also curious... what's that green tub full of PCBs seen in this pic?
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1613794391

Because of the overwhelming coolness of this, I won't mention the driveway incident!

Oh-oh, sounds like you guys traded bumper stickers somewhere along the way?

That be me. Attached are pics my mom took this morning after we loaded my truck (one rack was stored by them, the other by myself).

Ah, what a better thing to do on a sunny day, no?

Really cool pictures, BTW!

That neighborhood reminds me of what this place kind of looked like 20 years ago before every little house sold and got torn down for one of those newer "McMansions".

I'm assuming the masked guy is TC?? He looks like a total Ninja, lol.

These were found by my wife/mom at Purdue University Surplus... $50 for the APC rack, $40 for the enclosed monster.

It's good to hear they are selling their old equipment.

Here, it all just goes to "recyclers" now. Every once in a while, I might see one in the local CL from a local office disbanding / moving and selling old equipment. But from what I've seen, most racks didn't look anywhere near as good. I recall only one did, and of course it got taken very quickly. Not that I was looking to buy it or anything. But curious anyways, as usual.

Good excuse to take a day off work... thanks to the pandemic, my usual annual vacation burning duties aren't happening this year, so I gotta burn my time somehow

Always!
If you rack too many days, there's a good chance you may loose them one day if/when you stop working at that place... so use them when you can (but not all of them, of course. )

Nah, 2 in the house and even my shop has one.

LOL. I guess those dirty PCs with blown Fuhjyyus get ya after a while.

Already posted about this HERE.

Scored an Eaton Powerware 9130 double-conversion UPS for free recently.

Nice.
I like Eaton UPSs... or at least they seem better-built than APC. (Though I am judging by the really large ones we had at my previous job - about the size of a mini-fridge. These used regular 12V "car-sized" batteries and would really do their stated run times. The equivalent-sized APCs we had were complete garbage - never could reach even 1/3 of their stated time and sometimes "ate" random electronic devices when they came online... and we had this happen with multiple units in multiple locations, so I don't think it's a coincidence... though it could also be the wiring/setup at the locations too. In any case, those APCs were only nice because we could hot-swap the batteries in them, since they were modular. With the Eaton's with the car batts, they had to be brought offline and bypassed for a battery swap. They were much older units too, BTW. Still, they performed better than the APCs and also weighted like 2x as much, despite being nearly the same size on the outside.)

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Nice racks!

Wait, did I just make an inappropriate comment?

mmmm....racks!!

If the beige one is in the garage, I guess it must be too big for the electronics work area, lol.

It also weighs 300+ pounds.....so it's just resting there until I figure out what I want to do with it. The less I have to move it, the better! Ratdude and I had a hell of a time moving it, even with a professional appliance moving dolly. It's big, awkward, and plain friggin heavy! Having the trays on slides, I don't necessarily have to run rackmount systems in it, PC cases will sit in this nicely. This one is just an absolute work of beige art....I don't have the heart to modify it.....but it will get used for something!

Also curious... what's that green tub full of PCBs seen in this pic?
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1613794391

That's just a bunch of boards for scrap.... There's more in the attic.....but these were in the garage scattered around....I've been organizing. I'm not done picking at them yet (not recycler fodder), so that's why they're still here.

Oh-oh, sounds like you guys traded bumper stickers somewhere along the way?

Nah, nothing like that...just a Dodge pulling a Ford up a snowy hill...

As for the black APC rack, the only hint at this point....add it into the Dolby thread..... That rack is on wheels and isn't miserably heavy....and black/modern/common....it won't bother me to modify it.

[TechGeek]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

You should set up an old-skool network running out of that beige rack. Also, nice touch with the wooden Badcaps.net sign.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

You should set up an old-skool network running out of that beige rack. Also, nice touch with the wooden Badcaps.net sign.

I've considered that....but doing that would force THIS into retirement....and that would be heartbreaking!