SE/30 recapper recommendation — Melbourne or AU-based?

[oulu2006]

G'day from Sydney.

About to buy an SE/30 (it's in Melbourne) and want a recapper lined up before I commit.

Per the seller's photos: chimes and boots to a full System 7 desktop, runs fine once going — but horizontal lines on cold start and an intermittent boot (flashing "?" disk, then fine after a power cycle). Textbook recap, maybe a tired SCSI drive too.

Australian members — who do you rate for an SE/30 recap?

Melbourne-based would be ideal so the board doesn't travel far, but I'll post it anywhere in AU. I'm in Sydney so I could post it to myself first and then find someone in Sydney to do it.

Also happy to take a quick DIY reality check if you've done one yourself.

Cheers, Jason

 

[robin-fo]

You could try asking https://recapamac.com.au/

 

[croissantking]

G'day from Sydney.

About to buy an SE/30 (it's in Melbourne) and want a recapper lined up before I commit.

Per the seller's photos: chimes and boots to a full System 7 desktop, runs fine once going — but horizontal lines on cold start and an intermittent boot (flashing "?" disk, then fine after a power cycle). Textbook recap, maybe a tired SCSI drive too.

Australian members — who do you rate for an SE/30 recap?

Melbourne-based would be ideal so the board doesn't travel far, but I'll post it anywhere in AU. I'm in Sydney so I could post it to myself first and then find someone in Sydney to do it.

Also happy to take a quick DIY reality check if you've done one yourself.

Cheers, Jason

It will need more than a recap, the board will need cleaning from electrolyte and potentially repair to damaged traces.

Textbook failed caps on these is no sound, that’s it, anything else requires further work to diagnose and repair. Recapping is often just a starting point.

If you’re lucky then the intermittent boot could be a poorly seated ROM (common with these) and the flashing ? a failing drive as you say.

 

[Byrd]

I'm in Melbourne but don't have time right now, I'd recommend you learn to DIY as with any SE/30 it's not just the motherboard, you're also looking to the PSU analogue board and likely floppy/HD will need attention.

 

[oulu2006]

You could try asking https://recapamac.com.au/

thanks mate, they shut down a few years ago and stopped accepting new work

 

[oulu2006]

It will need more than a recap, the board will need cleaning from electrolyte and potentially repair to damaged traces.

Textbook failed caps on these is no sound, that’s it, anything else requires further work to diagnose and repair. Recapping is often just a starting point.

If you’re lucky then the intermittent boot could be a poorly seated ROM (common with these) and the flashing ? a failing drive as you say.

Thank you -- it's looking that way, it turns out I ended up buying TWO SE/30s by accident, one is in full working order the other one needing some TLC, so I can use one as a reference and the other as a learning experience

 

[oulu2006]

I'm in Melbourne but don't have time right now, I'd recommend you learn to DIY as with any SE/30 it's not just the motherboard, you're also looking to the PSU analogue board and likely floppy/HD will need attention.

Appreciate it, it looks like I'll be doing that plus I might head down to a local ACMS Sat morning meetup and get some old hands to review it for me as well so I know exactly what I need to do.

 

[croissantking]

Thank you -- it's looking that way, it turns out I ended up buying TWO SE/30s by accident, one is in full working order the other one needing some TLC, so I can use one as a reference and the other as a learning experience

Haha, how did you manage that?

You can never have too many compacts. Isn’t that like the first rule of the ‘MLA?