At 07:50 PM 1/01/2022 +0000, you wrote:
>>
>True.  But if you're trying to get > $5000 for something, it doesn't seem 
>unreasonable to suggest that investing a bit in getting an extension cord run 
>to the location of the machine would be a good idea.  The absence of that 
>effort makes me wonder if the owner knows what the outcome of such a test 
>would be and doesn't want to have to report it.
>>
>
>But what would that accomplish? I think testing something like this requires a 
>lot more effort than plugging it in and hitting the circuit breaker. To test 
>this to see if some ODT comes up probably requires quite a lot of effort 
>(locate a terminal/pc, wire it up, figure out where to plug it into the 780, 
>etc. If this guy is a bulk dealer I would be surprised if he has the knowledge 
>to do anything more than a power test which, again, would not be very useful 
>and could even be detrimental.


Exactly. The machine has a 3-phase 208/240V plug, they don't have such an 
outlet. Their efforts stop right there.

But you're all focussed on that, and missing another important detail. The 
machine has a liquid cooling system.
Some of the hoses look like they are Tygon, in the age-decayed brittle stage. 
Touch them and they crumble away.
Running the machine without cooling would utterly wreck it. Even if they solved 
the mains power problem,
they would be very unwise to actually power it up.

The 'installation and configuration' manual for this machine would be huge. 
They don't have it.

Plus, it's a mainframe. Not even any blinkenlights. Without setting it up as a 
complete system
with everything interconnected properly, how would you even know it was running 
correctly?
Plus you can safely assume at least some of the system unit interconnect cables 
are missing.

Potentially weeks, even months of restoration work for a buyer, before even 
daring to apply power.
Then if there's anything wrong in the electronics, good luck diagnosing and 
getting spare parts.
Considering the uncertainties plus high transport, restoration, operating and 
manhour costs, who'd
buy it? A museum perhaps? Or someone wanting a 'static display object' never 
intending to run it.

Guy

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