Emulator II in need of repairs & needs to be made as new

[rokuez]

I purchased an E-mu Emulator II for $100 and it’s pretty beat up.



http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0294.JPG
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0293.JPG
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0298.JPG
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0299.JPG

Here are the two big scratches above the disc drive.  I don't know if sandpaper will work in this case like what Jim Stout did for his EII.  I have to get some Chrome Bolts as well.

http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0295.JPG

broken button
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0296.JPG


& broken key.

http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0297.JPG



Model number #6028
serial number #1059


http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0301.JPG
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0302.JPG
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0303.JPG

Here is a pic of it opened up it has the memory expansion board and the RS422 Mac interface in there for sound designer.

http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0015.JPG

 The EII also a revision 1 output board.  I'm pretty happy about all of these things included inside the Emu!

I got a fuse and fuse holder and attempted to power it up but nothing came up.  On close inspection of the PSU there is a burnt blue capacitor in the lower middle

http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0030.JPG
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0029.JPG



Digital board with memory expansion board.  The RS422 is hidden under the IDE cable.


http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0031.JPG





Now onto the questions.

1. The EII won’t even power up.  I have the service manual, and the first thing that I'm looking into is the power supply.  The schematic for the PSU that I have doesn't have the full engineering
notes from what I understand.  There are about 3 or 4 outputs coming out of the PSU.

What kind of current for each of the voltages for the switching PSU to make a dummy/test load?

expected load current on each output?

trip point for the opto?  I would hate to destroy anything.  I'm also just getting used to electronics so I may have written down some questions that where communicated to me incorrectly.





I am working with some fellows who are helping me fix the EII and I've learnt how to solder desolder and helping them with their business, so I'm not going it totally alone but any answers or advice would help.

part two

2. What should I use to clean up the EII really well?  Simples green?  How should i clean up the panel.

After I get the outside really clean I will determine if it needs painting.  I really like Jim Stout's Black, but I'm thinking either Red, or try to match the original blue.

3.  I intend to totally refurbish this thing keyboard, backlight, re-cap all caps etc.  any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

4.  What is the best Mac I can get for soundesigner??

Here is some info from http://www.emulatorarchive.com which is the most comprehensive emu sampler site

 Suitable Mac

Supported Mac's
SD for EII was designed to run on a basic Apple Mac with just 512 Kbytes of memory.
It will happily run on a Mac with a 68000 to 68030 processor running in 24-bit addressing mode (Mac OS 7.1 or earlier). Turn off any RAM doublers etc. A Mac II or Mac Classic is ideal.

It will also run on 68040's with cache off and on PowerPC Mac's.

Proven Systems
* Mac II VX OS 7.1
* Quadra 800 OS 8.0
* Powerbook 180C OS 7.1
* Powerbook 5300C OS 8.6

The Mac MUST have a serial port

http://www.emulatorarchive.com/Samplers/E2Overview/E2SD/e2sd.html

5. anyone know a good batch way to convert images in photoshop or a link on how to do this.  I just found out irfan viewer isn't around for free.

[Elmbeatz]

CONGRATS! For buying the coolest sampler the world has ever seen.

Though it reeeeaaaallyy looks beaten up indeed.

After you changed all dead caps n stuff, you should plug out, clean and replug EVERY chip inside the unit. clean the chips with an electric toothbrush and isopropyl (?) alcohol (drugstore). I can tell that you'll have to do this looking at it...

I'm not sure if a mac will be able to communicate with the EII, because you still have the piggyback ram board in it (I know, you said that you have rev 1 motherboard, but.... you never know.)

I'm really no good in electronics n stuff, so I can't help you there.

I would not try to refinish the casing... I like the relic style.. just clean it..

Dunno about the broken key... hope this is fixable. the button should be an easy fix, they can be reordered. If you find out that its easy indeed, I'd think about changing all buttons, because these show heavy wear over time ( i bet you have a few dumb ones in that thing...)

THIS BEAST IS THE TITS, i got two, just in case my main one gives me stress... Can't live without it.
If you cannot build up a connection to the SD mac, there's an interface, which I think wintermute (?) has built, that establishes the connection.

There's a thread about it here on the forum somewhere I think...

greetz,
Elm.

[esynthesist]

Let's hope you get this beast alive again !

If the machine is not doing anything after switching the power on, it is most probably due to a power supply failure. "Doing nothing" should really mean doing nothing. So this even means no mechanical sounds are coming from the drives or no buzz sound is coming from the PSU ? The molex connectors are known to be unreliable, so if the actual mainboard and outputboard are not doing anything this could be caused by bad molex connections, in that case uninstall/clean/install them again.

The "blue capacitor" which looks bad is (as far as I know) not a capacitor but a special resistor.
Anyway, mine is looking bad too ! But a tech guy told me this is normal for such an old machine, this type of component tends to look "burned" after many years of operation.

Like Elm already said, I think you actually have a rev 0 board. Maybe the left board is rev 1, but probably the right one is a rev 0 of 1984 (see inscription on the main board below the memory board).

Replacing the C6 key most of the time is impossible (no spare parts), but it seems you're lucky: the Dutch spare part specialist Senso currently has this key in stock (see http://www.senso.dds.nl/)

Anyway, good luck !

///E-Synthesist

[rokuez]

I would not try to refinish the casing... I like the relic style.. just clean it..

thanks, yea the classic color does look good. What do you think I should try cleaning it with?  Simple green, or just water and dry it, then wait a while then water and dry it again?

Dunno about the broken key... hope this is fixable. the button should be an easy fix, they can be reordered. If you find out that its easy indeed, I'd think about changing all buttons, because these show heavy wear over time ( i bet you have a few dumb ones in that thing...)

I guess I got a place to get a new key from.  Thanks for the tip about changing the buttons I’ll do that.




Esynthesist

Thanks for the tip about the key! & the memory board info.
I'll report back once i have more info

[Prometheus]

Yeah CONGRATS!!! 100$ is a real bargain even for a really messed up EII. I just purchased a EII in almost similar condition for 250€. I got it up and running, but the sounds i get out of it sounds like som early Aphex Twin distorted earkiller; wich sounds really cool but....     Maybe i sample the sampler with the EIII.

I took of the case and put it in the shower and scrubed it of real thorough with some wash-up liquid (YES). It had a spider in it and a lot of web and other stuff that i dont know or wanna know what it was.........uuuhhhhhh!!!!! But now its real clean. Some of the matt finish on the panel sticker did wash of but it looks really gloss and fine under. Maybe its possible to get of the old finish and spray on some new finish.

Thanks esynth for the tip, placed an order for two new keys just after i read it.

Gonna try to post some pictures of my EII if i get my camera working.

And please excuse the bad english!

[Prometheus]

I detached each and every key on the keyboard and washed it separetly with a spunge and wash-up liquid. Now the keyboard looks and feels brand new, except for the two broken keys.

Did order a new 3.5 drive kit  for from route66.

Hey Roukez, if both your 5.25" are working,you want to sell me one? or maybe trade it for a 3.5" kit?

These guys are selling new 5.25" and 3.5" DS/DD disks.

http://www.ggsdata.se/Datorer/se.html

[rokuez]

possibly, I didn't know you could save to 3.5 floppy.  you just pop in a specific 3.5 floppy drive?

My main priority is getting it fired up , then cleaning it

[Prometheus]

3.5 is fine as long as its DS/DD. www.route66studios.com/ has the kit.

[rokuez]

I see well let me think about it , I really need to get it power, then see if the drives are working, if i can hook it up to a  mac or if I need wintermute's mod. 

[Prometheus]

Judging from your pics, it looks like there is no fuse in the fuseholder (or whatever you call it) Usually there is a red cap beside the on/of switch.

[rokuez]

I have one of the plastic fuse holders , it's white I got it from forat

[Prometheus]

ok. it would have been to easy But i just had to mention it just in case.

[rokuez]

Last night I took it over to a friends and when we put in the fuse with the plastic holder and powered it up it came on and asked for the O/S from both disks.

We also fixed the one broken button.  First we cleaned it out, put a new metal dome on that gives the button its feel when pressed, then put on a new plastic top.  tested it and it was still working.  I'm going to go through it clean all the buttons, and replace all the little metal (i think aluminum) domes so the keys all have the same new response.

Then we are thinking about putting in a new backlight.  My friend is thinking about putting in a new backlight where the characters  are illuminated only and not the whole screen.


One of the buttons feels a little sunken, so we may take off the Left and Right Panel board and see if anything is causing it to be sunken in a little bit.  Maybe it just needs to be taken off cleaned and put back on screws tightened.


Has anyone here redone their keybed, or totally refurbished that?  From how filthy the EII was, I imagine there is a good amount of dust under the keybed. 

I guess my list of to do's is , go thru all the buttons, put in a new backlight, either just clean the keys, or take apart the keyboard, once my scanner diagnostic disc and eprom arrives go thru those tasks.  hopefully it has a revision 1 board so i can hook it up to a mac with sound designer .

Did anyone go out and buy a really nice mac for their sound designer rig ?  if so what did u get?

i'll try to snap some more pics it's looking a lot cleaner

[Elmbeatz]

Then we are thinking about putting in a new backlight.  My friend is thinking about putting in a new backlight where the characters  are illuminated only and not the whole screen.

........

Did anyone go out and buy a really nice mac for their sound designer rig ?  if so what did u get?

[Elmbeatz]

oops    sorry, wanted to quote...

the idea with that special backlight is GREAT!!!!!  I mean just the letters illuminated..  Should look AWSOME!

I got a mac SE:

[image removed by admin - wasn't appreciated by some visitors]

Which works great, except that i have no cd-rom drive. I have a zip connected to it, and first had to copy all EII banks i have to zip disks.

The good thing about a mac that is this old and lo-fi is that it powers up SOO quickly. I use it ONLY for sound designer and it's really stable...

That's the one I can recommend. I'm running OS 6.1.7 I think...

Greetz,
Elm.