I'll post more in a bit, but I responded to a FB Marketplace post where the OP claimed "Around 100 computers, printers, scanners, and keyboards". No price, and the pictures showed some pretty dusty machines stacked on some shelving in what looked to be a shed. I looked at the posting's pictures and guesstimated that there were roughly 25 Mac computers, maybe 10 CRTs, and maybe 20 printers and things that I didn't want, but would haul away if necessary.
I offered a realatively low price, given none of the machines were tested, and they looked a bit dirty. There were also some interesting machines in the group: what looked to be some Iici's maybe an 8100, a IIc, and some SEs. Also, some Apple CRTs that I thought would be cool to have. He countered with a price I thought was too high given the number of unknowns with this group of machines. I told him I could probably do an amount in between, which he said was too low. I told him to keep me in mind if he doesn't get other offers, since he was in rural South Carolina, about 2 hours from me in the suburbs of Charlotte.
A couple of weeks went by and I pinged him again. He said he had someone who was supposed to come get them, but they never showed a couple of times, so he said if I came this past weekend, I could have them for my offer price. So I made the drive. I was not prepared for this. I show up and I drive to a workshop in the woods. He meets me and opens it up, and in the back corner of this fairly large shop, there's a separate room. I go in and there are printers everywhere. The Macs are stacked two deep. Everything is covered in a black dust (he restores old cars, so maybe sanding the rusty metal is what it is?). But I start loading the machines into my car, hoping to maybe get half in my first trip (it is a 4 hour round trip). There are some problems I see, namely the 200 lb 40" tall commercial printer that he wants gone as part of the group. So I have my SUV packed to the gills with Macs. Trying to cover them all with towels to keep the nastiness from getting all over my car. I've probably gotten 1/3 to 1/4 of everything. I have most of the computers, but still have all the CRTs and printers. The good news is there were some hidden gems that made me feels better about this: There is a Motorola StarMax 4000/160 (no power supply or outer case, but maybe I just didn't find it yet. There is both a Quadra 800 and 840av! I spotted a DOS Compatible marking on one of the 6100s I was loading. Honestly, it was so dirty and I was just trying to get things loaded, I figured I'd sort it out later.
I get back to Charlotte and unload the first trips haul. All in all, I was able to pick up 48 machines. This is what it looked like:
I also knew I wasn't going to be able to get the rest with my car alone. I decided to grab a pull trailer from U-Haul and head back on Sunday to get the rest. I got a 5x8 trailer mainly because of the massive printer, but also because of the weight and size of all the CRTs. I thought there were maybe 10 CRTs, but There were closer to 30. So I went back and loaded up the trailer. I found I still had about 10 computers to pick up, including a IIfx! It probably took me 2 hours to load all the CRTs and printers. I used a dolly, but I had to meander through the shop, then go across a sand driveway to get to the trailer. I was filthy and exhausted when wrapping that up. Turns out CRTs are heavy. Also, he had one last monitor I could have if I wanted it. He said it was an old iMac monitor blue and white. Turns out it was the 21" Studio CRT. Good thing my back was already about to give out trying to lift that one from behind his drill press and carry to my car! But, I dot it all loaded and I was ready to go.
A couple of machines I didn't get because he looked them up on eBay and believed he could get a lot of money for them : an SE/30 (maybe worth something, but not the $2000 he thought it went for on eBay), a Performa 6400 (actually looked in good condition), and an Apple IIc (I didn't see the power supply, so not sure he'll be able to use it.
After I got home I separated into a couple of piles: one to go to the local recycling center, and the other to keep and inspect. I did test the CRTs, if the PC CRTs didn't show signs of life, I put them in the trash pile. The guy had mentioned they had been hit by a flood in 2016 and some of the CRTs had been underwater (more on that when I start looking at the Macs). Here's the trailer before I unloaded it (I was tired and so my stacking near the front is less than ideal):
Unloading just enough so I could get to the Macs (which I stupidly loaded first), here's the recycling pile:
And here's my keep pile:
And here is the combined haul with most of it in my workshop: (some of the stuff had to stay outside under a tarp):
I'll be posting here with progress, and probably post some individual restorations as I attempt them. But, here's some quick low-lights:
Some highlights:
Some additional photos:
I offered a realatively low price, given none of the machines were tested, and they looked a bit dirty. There were also some interesting machines in the group: what looked to be some Iici's maybe an 8100, a IIc, and some SEs. Also, some Apple CRTs that I thought would be cool to have. He countered with a price I thought was too high given the number of unknowns with this group of machines. I told him I could probably do an amount in between, which he said was too low. I told him to keep me in mind if he doesn't get other offers, since he was in rural South Carolina, about 2 hours from me in the suburbs of Charlotte.
A couple of weeks went by and I pinged him again. He said he had someone who was supposed to come get them, but they never showed a couple of times, so he said if I came this past weekend, I could have them for my offer price. So I made the drive. I was not prepared for this. I show up and I drive to a workshop in the woods. He meets me and opens it up, and in the back corner of this fairly large shop, there's a separate room. I go in and there are printers everywhere. The Macs are stacked two deep. Everything is covered in a black dust (he restores old cars, so maybe sanding the rusty metal is what it is?). But I start loading the machines into my car, hoping to maybe get half in my first trip (it is a 4 hour round trip). There are some problems I see, namely the 200 lb 40" tall commercial printer that he wants gone as part of the group. So I have my SUV packed to the gills with Macs. Trying to cover them all with towels to keep the nastiness from getting all over my car. I've probably gotten 1/3 to 1/4 of everything. I have most of the computers, but still have all the CRTs and printers. The good news is there were some hidden gems that made me feels better about this: There is a Motorola StarMax 4000/160 (no power supply or outer case, but maybe I just didn't find it yet. There is both a Quadra 800 and 840av! I spotted a DOS Compatible marking on one of the 6100s I was loading. Honestly, it was so dirty and I was just trying to get things loaded, I figured I'd sort it out later.
I get back to Charlotte and unload the first trips haul. All in all, I was able to pick up 48 machines. This is what it looked like:
I also knew I wasn't going to be able to get the rest with my car alone. I decided to grab a pull trailer from U-Haul and head back on Sunday to get the rest. I got a 5x8 trailer mainly because of the massive printer, but also because of the weight and size of all the CRTs. I thought there were maybe 10 CRTs, but There were closer to 30. So I went back and loaded up the trailer. I found I still had about 10 computers to pick up, including a IIfx! It probably took me 2 hours to load all the CRTs and printers. I used a dolly, but I had to meander through the shop, then go across a sand driveway to get to the trailer. I was filthy and exhausted when wrapping that up. Turns out CRTs are heavy. Also, he had one last monitor I could have if I wanted it. He said it was an old iMac monitor blue and white. Turns out it was the 21" Studio CRT. Good thing my back was already about to give out trying to lift that one from behind his drill press and carry to my car! But, I dot it all loaded and I was ready to go.
A couple of machines I didn't get because he looked them up on eBay and believed he could get a lot of money for them : an SE/30 (maybe worth something, but not the $2000 he thought it went for on eBay), a Performa 6400 (actually looked in good condition), and an Apple IIc (I didn't see the power supply, so not sure he'll be able to use it.
After I got home I separated into a couple of piles: one to go to the local recycling center, and the other to keep and inspect. I did test the CRTs, if the PC CRTs didn't show signs of life, I put them in the trash pile. The guy had mentioned they had been hit by a flood in 2016 and some of the CRTs had been underwater (more on that when I start looking at the Macs). Here's the trailer before I unloaded it (I was tired and so my stacking near the front is less than ideal):
Unloading just enough so I could get to the Macs (which I stupidly loaded first), here's the recycling pile:
And here's my keep pile:
And here is the combined haul with most of it in my workshop: (some of the stuff had to stay outside under a tarp):
I'll be posting here with progress, and probably post some individual restorations as I attempt them. But, here's some quick low-lights:
- The 840av and 800 are both battery bombed and the bottoms are rusted out. Appears to be a combination of the leaking battery and maybe water from the flood. I knew I was in trouble when moving them and I could hear something large rattling around, as well as small bits. The large rattle was the battery holder and battery, which had fallen off the board, the small stuff was bits of rusted metal.
- The AppleVision 17 display did not fare well in the ride home. It was under another CRT and it cracked the top housing. Surprisingly, it was the only monitor damaged on the ride in the trailer.
- I never found the sides or the power supply for the StarMax clone
- Some of the machines were definitely underwater. One machine you could not see the individual chips because there was a layer of dirt (see pictures at the bottom).
Some highlights:
- I ended up with four 6100s with DOS compatibility cards. While some of the machines are bad, the DOS compatibility cards seem in decent shape. Working on coming up with some replacement Y cables for those!
- There are 4 Macintosh 16-inch Color Displays. I always like that size so hopefully at least one will work.
- I found a SuperMac Suprematch 17" CRT. I always liked the SuperMac displays, but could never afford one.
- The IIfx, board, other than being filthy, was not damaged by the batteries (with two PRAM batteries, twice the chance of damage!).
Some additional photos:
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stoked daily for Maxell battery engineers and their managers who approved such horrific battery designs. Those people should be ashamed in light of the collateral damaged they deliberately caused. I highly doubt TADIRAN battery engineers were especially brilliant or use secret materials extracted from the Ark of the Covenant. No, Maxell was cutting costs, giving no concern for the future. I love capitalism and profits, but have some pride in your work, man! Maxell has no shame.
