Subject: !HELP!! ALTAIR BLEW SMOKE!!!

From: Steve Leach <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun May 25 15:41:00 2003

I just retrieved an Altair 8800B from long term storage.  I blew away 
the dust, checked for loose connections, and finally powered it up.  
Lights flickered to life, and then smoke poured from the front panel.

I pulled it apart, and found a very crispy capacitor number C4 on the 
front panel card.  My first problem is that this capacitor is so crispy 
that I have no way of determining the proper value.  It is (was) 
connected to a voltage regulator marked "F 79MO8 AUC 7535"

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From: [email-masked] (Tony Duell)
Date: Sun May 25 16:14:00 2003

> connected to a voltage regulator marked "F 79MO8 AUC 7535"

The 79M08 is a -8V regulator FWIW...

If you are lucky, and if that was a tantalum bead capacitor, then it 
might be the only fault. I've had them go short-circuit for no good 
reason and then burn up quite spectacularly. Often the machine carries on 
running.

I can't tell you the value (my schematics, in the 'S100 Handbook' don't 
show the regulstors), but try someting like 2.2uF as a start. 

-tony