My second VIC-20 restoration.

[Guest LiqMat]

I really have an affection for the older 2-prong power model VIC-20 with those ominous black heat sinks. Here is a pic of the motherboard fully cleaned, polished and restored with the voltage regulator removed for cleaning and thermal paste replacement. Wanted to take a pic of it before I squirt some IC Diamond on the various hot spot bits and solder back the volt reg. One thing I have found with most of the first models is the power switches really did not hold up to the test of time. Both my restored VICs have the sticky power switch and I have not found those switches out there in the wild yet, but they work well enough. I also love the large "oil barrel" cap sitting almost square in the middle of the mobo and it is rumored a hamster turns its wheel in there when powered on. I also found out the hard way when cleaning the keys only to use a damp cloth as the characters on the front of the keys are cheaply painted on and can rub off very easily with anything stronger than a little water. Wont be doing that again. Any of you have pics of your restored lovelies?

Edited January 24, 2016 by LiqMat

[Muzz73]

Nice!

 

While I haven't done any component level restoration or preventative maintenance, myself (I always tell people that my soldering ability is akin to giving a Stradivarius to an orangutan), I had Ray Carlsen go through all of my VIC-20's and replace any weak/defective parts while I did up the case.

 

I went out of my way to get the ugliest, yellowest, most horribly sunburned VIC-20 I could find from our user group cache, broke it down to individual pieces and got to work.

 

I pulled the decal with the serial number and all of the rotting, black rubber feet off of the bottom, masked off the badges on the top of the case (I didn't want to damage them by bending them while prying them off) and scrubbed it squeaky clean in the kitchen sink. After it air dried, I took a can of red spray paint (the kind that is designed to stick to plastic patio furniture without primer) and went to it - inside, outside, through the vents... I then reapplied the decal on the bottom and put new feet on while the paint was still tacky, for extra hold (I used clear silicone feet instead of black rubber, for better longevity).

 

After the paint dried, I put a spare 64C keyboard in it (it looked nicer with the red case than chocolate brown did) and voila!

 

Here are a couple of (years old) pictures of my son and I with it at a user group meeting. Since my son doesn't want to put wear & tear on his nice, PET key VIC-20 system with all matching peripherals, we use this one as our daily driver VIC.

 

 

 

I am thinking of putting the peanut butter colored function keys on it, just so something remains classic VIC about it, but I'm pretty happy with it the way it is.

Edited January 27, 2016 by Muzz73

[Guest LiqMat]

That looks great Muzz73! Definitely yes on the peanut butter keys. The red looks good with the rainbow logo for sure. I am still looking for two power switches and a replacement control/game port to solder on mine. If you look closely on my photo you will see a pin lead is completely missing on the game port and my multimeter is not getting good continuity from many of the pins. The traces seem to be ok though. I see you have a 16K, but have you picked up a 32K PCB yet? I am loving mine. I am definitely thinking about changing out the keyboard since the painted on characters on the front of the keys smudge off so easily. Does this Ray Carlsen have spare parts for the VICs? I am also hunting for parts over at Denial VIC-20 forums as well.

Edited January 27, 2016 by LiqMat

[carlsson]

As for the controller port, isn't that a relatively common angled DE9 connector, or does it have some length of the pins that is hard to find?

[Guest LiqMat]

As for the controller port, isn't that a relatively common angled DE9 connector, or does it have some length of the pins that is hard to find?

 

I have a newer CR VIC-20 just for parts, but its control port mounting screws sit slightly closer the the side of the case. The mounting screws on the CR control port would not match position on the older VIC motherboard.

Edited January 28, 2016 by LiqMat

[Muzz73]

That 16K module was brought in by someone in our user group, but I do have a Commodore 8K, an aftermarket 16K (Cardco, I think?) and a 32K PCB that Eslapion over on Denial built.

 

Gosh, I haven't logged in to the Denial forum in over a year... I need to snap to it!

 

What are you looking for specifically, aside from the parts you listed above?

[Guest LiqMat]

That 16K module was brought in by someone in our user group, but I do have a Commodore 8K, an aftermarket 16K (Cardco, I think?) and a 32K PCB that Eslapion over on Denial built.

 

Gosh, I haven't logged in to the Denial forum in over a year... I need to snap to it!

 

What are you looking for specifically, aside from the parts you listed above?

 

That's it. I am looking for two power switches and a control/joystick port all for the first run VIC-20 (two power prong model). Either already desoldered from another board or just a dead first run motherboard and I can do it myself.

 

Another weakness I have found is in the plastic screw posts of the case. They are starting to crack and disintegrate. On one of my VICs only one of the case screw holes has any threading left the other two screws sit fairly loose because the threads have vaporized over time and use.

Edited January 28, 2016 by LiqMat

[telengard]

I'm having the same issues w/ my 2 prong VIC-20 (the stiff power rocker, and the lack of threading in the 3 bottom posts). If you ever find a source for those switches, please let us know! I've looked and haven't found any myself. I'm sure it won't be long before it stops working.

[Guest LiqMat]

I'm having the same issues w/ my 2 prong VIC-20 (the stiff power rocker, and the lack of threading in the 3 bottom posts). If you ever find a source for those switches, please let us know! I've looked and haven't found any myself. I'm sure it won't be long before it stops working.

 

If you are talking about the screw threads in the plastic posts of the VIC case I feel your pain. The plastic threads literally stick to the screw. The plastic just degrades over time and not much you can do about it. I just screw them in enough so they don't fall out. I have resorted to hunting down "parts only" VICs on Ebay and Goodwill because I can't find a reliable parts source. If I do not want to stay original I could always go with a different type of on/off switch that would fit into the case opening I suppose.