So... Just Acquired a Sealed Apple Service Quadra 900 Board in Box

[jajan547]

I just won an auction for a sealed new in box Macintosh Quadra 900 Logic Board. My question is do I open it or do I leave it as is. My main worry is that if these boards shipped with batteries installed I may be in some trouble but if not I should be okay and not necessarily have to worry. What do you all think, open it or keep it sealed?

 

[MrFahrenheit]

Open it and use it. Maybe you can rig a PSU that would provide power and you could run it as a Q900 (without the Q900 case).

Or check it out and verify it’s all good (no damage) and look for a Q900 case missing a logic board / has logic board damage.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Assuming the NOS board is in good shape (did these have all solid caps?), look for a battery bombed 900 for "cheap" (I'll bet they're still really expensive even in that condition...) and get a working 900 for hopefully cheaper than a complete unit.

 

[Scott Baret]

I don't think these had batteries on board. Curious, where did you find it?

 

[jajan547]

Found it on eBay and made a random bid and won somehow. I'm gonna have a tough time tracking down another Quadra for "cheap" but would be willing to. I already have a 950 so I bought this on a "Oh that's rare might as well throw a random bid at it basis."

 

[Byrd]

Use it, service parts aren't really valuable unless you know they work/have purpose!

 

[jajan547]

Use it, service parts aren't really valuable unless you know they work/have purpose!

Agreed I'll have to track down a sad Quadra.

 

[joshc]

The NOS boards I've had came with batteries on them, and the supplier I bought from had ones in sealed bags that had battery bombed - you need to open this and check the battery is OK. If there's no battery, that's a bonus.

 

[jajan547]

The NOS boards I've had came with batteries on them, and the supplier I bought from had ones in sealed bags that had battery bombed - you need to open this and check the battery is OK. If there's no battery, that's a bonus.

AH great news I needed to hear but also not hear : ( Fingers Crossed.

 

[volvo242gt]

We can hope that it doesn't have a Maxell or a Tadiran installed. My Centris 650 had its original Saft battery installed when I got it. Battery was dead, but hadn't yet expanded to the point where it was about to explode.

At least, you now have a spare board for the 950, even though it has the slower '040 installed and may need some mods to bump it up to 33MHz.

 

[jajan547]

We can hope that it doesn't have a Maxell or a Tadiran installed. My Centris 650 had its original Saft battery installed when I got it. Battery was dead, but hadn't yet expanded to the point where it was about to explode.

At least, you now have a spare board for the 950, even though it has the slower '040 installed and may need some mods to bump it up to 33MHz.

I can only Hope please be a saft.

 

[jajan547]

I am so lucky! Battery installed but didn’t leak! Looks to be a “INORGANIC LITHIUM BATTERY” that is unbranded but the anti static bag is still sealed and this board has a ROM slot so that’s pretty neat because my 950 board doesn’t.

 

[joshc]

Yep, had lots of those, the blue ones tend to be OK, never seen an exploded one. That is lucky they didn't install a Maxell there. No battery is immune though, so best to remove it now.

 

[jajan547]

I shall thanks again!

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

The blue battery is a Sonnenschein, seemingly pretty rare to find in these old Macs. Seems they used then around 1990-1992. I’ve never heard of one leaking but as said above, its best if you remove it because it is 30 years old after all. Awesome find!

 

[joshc]

The blue battery is a Sonnenschein, seemingly pretty rare to find in these old Macs. Seems they used then around 1990-1992. I’ve never heard of one leaking but as said above, its best if you remove it because it is 30 years old after all. Awesome find!

Maybe more popular in Europe. I've had them in a lot of Macs, all sorts, LCs, Performas, Quadras, Centris, etc.

 

[Unknown_K]

Q900 boards and machines are not that common compared to 950's (only sold for 6 months before the faster 950 came out). Unless you need a 68040/25 board in a dead 950 I would say test it and keep it in its box.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Maybe more popular in Europe. I've had them in a lot of Macs, all sorts, LCs, Performas, Quadras, Centris, etc.

That would make sense, as they are made in Germany.

 

[jajan547]

I’m in the US and have only seen said battery in one other machine, a Color Classic ii I had imported from Japan.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

I think Adrian's Digital Basement got one in a Mac Classic he restored. Still intact, he's from the US.