Mac Classic II Project

[Eich]

Hi all, I’ve recently purchased a Mac Classic II for my son. He’s still too young for a computer, but I’m planning to put it in his room to see if he takes a liking to it! 

The Mac will clearly need some repairs. I’m hoping the issues aren’t more serious than reseating the ram, replacing a capacitor, or cleaning the board. 

Before I open up this gem, I wanted to ask your opinions on what the issue may be, and how I can tackle this issue Most effectively. I’ll capture a video of the repair, and once finished post to YouTube. 

check the pic attached for your first clue! Thanks for reading! 

 

[bibilit]

Hi, hope nothing serious, the Analog board seems to be ok.

Logic board should have a recap as a minimum, hoping the battery is still there and has not destroyed the whole thing.

 

[superjer2000]

Everyone has their own safety tolerance but I wouldn't be too keen on putting one of these old machines into my kids room and leave it plugged in.  Probably low risk but I'm worried about an electrical fire with 30 year old hardware. Even the switches that switch the mains power can develop issues. 

I do do see the appeal though and had thought of it myself.  A computer that can be used for games, word processing and learning but without internet. It's practically perfect!

 

[Eich]

Hi, hope nothing serious, the Analog board seems to be ok.

Logic board should have a recap as a minimum, hoping the battery is still there and has not destroyed the whole thing.

Ah ok thanks for your reply! I’ll recap The logic board. Why would the battery have destroyed the Mac?

 

[Eich]

Everyone has their own safety tolerance but I wouldn't be too keen on putting one of these old machines into my kids room and leave it plugged in.  Probably low risk but I'm worried about an electrical fire with 30 year old hardware. Even the switches that switch the mains power can develop issues. 

I do do see the appeal though and had thought of it myself.  A computer that can be used for games, word processing and learning but without internet. It's practically perfect!

Wow thank you for the warning, I definitely don’t want to learn that lesson the hard way. When examining switches; what damage should I look for in particular? 
 

Yes the Mac Classic + MacOS 6 is perfect for a child, and no internet is a huge plus. An added bonus is that at some point later in life he may realize how unique his first computing experience was.  [8D]

 

[cheesestraws]

Why would the battery have destroyed the Mac

They leak after a long time, and the stuff that leaks out is corrosive and dissolves bits of the logic board.  Which, as you can imagine, is slightly deleterious to the thing actually working. ;-)

Probably low risk but I'm worried about an electrical fire with 30 year old hardware

What I've done for some of my machines I don't entirely trust is to have a power cord with an inline switch in like you'd use for a table lamp or something—that seems to be a good compromise, IMO.