Weapon of Choice: “Thunderbird 3”, 1966 Montgomery Ward Signature 440T #D6216161
Using the P-Touch that Joe sent me to Label my Laptop Collection, and also the power bricks belonging to each. When you have a dozen or so, they can get mixed up.
*CRACK!*
*SHATTER!*
*SNAP!*
Yuh, a stiff hinge + 25-Year-Old PVC = CRUMBLE. ):
And opening it up causes even more crackles and pops.
Cover up the LCD panel with cardboard to keep it from getting scratches while we sort this out.
Well, at least I managed to find all the bits to puzzle together again.
Pentium 133 can be passively cooled, so no fan to suck dust into the machine, so no need to do a cleaning.That red Varta battery is going to need a replacement before it leaks, though. Sourcing one is gonna be the problem.
Job #1: detighten the hinges. That’s easy – just loosen the nut a tiny bit. Just gotta remember to do it before your plastic shell shatters, unlike me. For reference, if you have hinges that are *too loose*, the fix is the same, except you tighten the nuts a little. There is a very wide range of adjustment, but the sweet spot is miniscule, and finding it is like getting the escapement trip on a 50’s QDL right – lots of fiddly back & forth.
Magic plastic repair kit – Super Glue and Baking soda. Old retrocomputer repair trick.
Lordy, this type 07 PVC sucks – Super glue apparently bleaches it.
Well, I guess we get comfortable with the Frankenstein aesthetic.
But hey, it works! Windows 95 box #2 is now back to Windows 95’n.
Also got in the new Stapler Reference volume on ACE fasteners by American Stationer. Much more on that 300+ page tome soon.
Nice work on the lid / hinge repair.
heh, I dunno about nice, but it works :D
Hey there, I just wandered in from google. I have an identical Innova Book I bought off ebay a few months ago, hinge already cracked in the exact same place. The screen worked, but not well, so now it just doesn’t have a screen anymore. It is no longer a laptop, it is just a compact 586 with integrated KB and trackpad. I admire your dedication to keeping yours in one piece. I’m having no luck getting any mouse to work with this thing, serial or ps/2. It always only detects a ps/2 pointing device, and the only thing that ever works is the trackpad. I know the serial port works at all, I tested it using hyperterminal with pins 2/3 shorted. I also managed to install some logitech utility software, but it doesn’t detect anything more than it did before. I noticed you said in another post that you have a manual, albeit water damaged. I was hoping you might have some insight, or if you still have the manual and it’s legible maybe there’s something there I’m missing? Thank you either way.
User’s manual says you can attach either a keyboard or PS/2 mouse to the 6-pin PS/2 port, but you have to power cycle the laptop before either will be recognized. It says that it will be automatically detected then, so no drivers seem to be required. Hope that’s helpful. (:
Well it confirms how I assumed it was SUPPOSED to work, so something is definitely screwed up here. Thanks very much!