Hi everybody!
While I still haven't had time to fix my 128k, I managed to grab a Color Classic the other day. The opportunity was too good to pass up, because these things don't show up that often in Italy.
To the point: the machine was sold as non-working because the owner didn't actually know how to turn it on. As soon as it arrived, I plugged in the keyboard and I managed to turn it on. However, it has a few issues (unsurprisingly).
The most critical one is this: when I turn it on, the screen becomes white (a solid white/grey color) and just sits there. It doesn't chime, though I believe I can hear something very very faint. It also doesn't show the mouse pointer nor the blinking floppy. The hard drive is probably toasted because it makes strange noises, but to avoid problems I just unplugged it.
The battery was in good condition - not a maxwell one, and it hadn't exploded. Suspecting bad caps, I've already had a go at washing the logic board with a solution of water and ammonia and then drying it with hair dryer + compressed air. It didn't quite help (symptoms didn't change); the logic board came out much cleaner than before, but there are still places that look like they'd need a more thorough cleaning.
Also, I can see there is a very faint black/grey line that can be recognized on the monitor: I'm not sure whether that's normal, or if that's an indicator of an open trace somewhere. I'm attaching the picture but I admit it's not really easy to spot (from the picture it looks like it's bending, but in fact it's just because I took the picture diagonally - in reality the line is horizontal). I'm also attaching the before-and-after pictures of the logic board.
I guess it's probably needing a recap and maybe a good check for open traces... What would you say?





While I still haven't had time to fix my 128k, I managed to grab a Color Classic the other day. The opportunity was too good to pass up, because these things don't show up that often in Italy.
To the point: the machine was sold as non-working because the owner didn't actually know how to turn it on. As soon as it arrived, I plugged in the keyboard and I managed to turn it on. However, it has a few issues (unsurprisingly).
The most critical one is this: when I turn it on, the screen becomes white (a solid white/grey color) and just sits there. It doesn't chime, though I believe I can hear something very very faint. It also doesn't show the mouse pointer nor the blinking floppy. The hard drive is probably toasted because it makes strange noises, but to avoid problems I just unplugged it.
The battery was in good condition - not a maxwell one, and it hadn't exploded. Suspecting bad caps, I've already had a go at washing the logic board with a solution of water and ammonia and then drying it with hair dryer + compressed air. It didn't quite help (symptoms didn't change); the logic board came out much cleaner than before, but there are still places that look like they'd need a more thorough cleaning.
Also, I can see there is a very faint black/grey line that can be recognized on the monitor: I'm not sure whether that's normal, or if that's an indicator of an open trace somewhere. I'm attaching the picture but I admit it's not really easy to spot (from the picture it looks like it's bending, but in fact it's just because I took the picture diagonally - in reality the line is horizontal). I'm also attaching the before-and-after pictures of the logic board.
I guess it's probably needing a recap and maybe a good check for open traces... What would you say?





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