Here is a portacolor I got from a member here. Had a few issues but nothing major. I made a video of it, there are 3 parts for this set

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaNMbIzxTJM

above is a link to it after I got it working. the only real problem was a loud snapping sound, that was caused by some junk in the bottom of the PCB forming a bridge which had carbonized.

Color is a bit strong, isn't it? Dial that back a bit.

Nice job! Watched your other videos. I see you found the issue! Any more loud snapping since?

Pretty decent picture for a 40+ yr old cheapie kind of set...

had one very slight snap, but that was it, It was the carbon chunk that was the real firecracker. My guess is there maybe some tin whiskers but experience tell me that the more I use it the less likely any more snapping. My other ones used to snap now and then but my daily driver has not done it since I started using it a lot.