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Battery bombed SE/30 - what to do with it?

Hi everyone,

A speculative SE/30 purchase on eBay yielded the dreaded result of a battery bomb...

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After washing and cleaning in soda, soapy water and then alcohol, it's now easier to see the extent of the damage:

tempImageq9WJMy.pngtempImagez52xHb.pngtempImageFuyOgP.png

In my view - the board isn't salvageable. I've lost whole components, plenty of traces, and I am sure there are a fair few VIAs that are trashed as well.

So, my question is: what do I do with the board and the rest of the machine? I've wire brushed and resprayed the chassis to arrest the corrosion. I guess I could keep the HD, floppy, analogue board, screen, case, etc. for spares. Or, I could sell the parts as spares, but I'm not sure what demand is like.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks,


John
 

Verault

Well-known member
The vias will be trashed. So the connections to the middle layers of the board (its a 4 layer board) will be gone. I have seen machines far less damaged still be toast. Soak in vinegar two hours and thoroughly wash with warm water and a bristle brush or toothbrush to get off the grime (dishwasher and dishwasher detergent would be best afterwards to remove the vinegar remove much more sludge). Why? Because you or someone else may need the chips one day. I just repaired a Mac color classic and I needed a DFAC2 chip from a capleakage destroyed LC550 board to do it: https://68kmla.org/bb/index.php?thr...hone-out-but-issue-is-not-analog-board.40512/
 

joshc

Well-known member
I've seen worse. All the components you need except video ROM seem to be intact. Definitely a good donor board for moving onto a new PCB (see link above).
 

Franklinstein

Well-known member
Battery-bombed or otherwise damaged boards (for example I have a CC board where apparently something dissolved half the legs off the '030, which is really weird) can often be used to save something else. If the missing components aren't unavailable ASICs or anything, the major stuff can be migrated to a new board with new discrete components and RAM sockets and things and you'd be back up and running good as new. Failing that, there's something else out there that may benefit from a new SCSI chip or SWIM or VIA or other device on there.
 
Hi everyone,

Thanks very much indeed for your collective wisdom. I'm going to check that none of the destroyed components are bespoke ones - I have a horrible feeling the RTC might be corroded beyond repair. Assuming I can salvage everything Apple specific, I'll look to have one of Bolle's excellent boards made up and migrate the components over.

Annoyingly, the PDS socket has had several pin holes completely filled with solidified residue and some of its own pins eaten away. Is it possible to find replacements for these sockets anywhere?

Thanks again,

John
 

Daniël

Well-known member
Hi everyone,

Thanks very much indeed for your collective wisdom. I'm going to check that none of the destroyed components are bespoke ones - I have a horrible feeling the RTC might be corroded beyond repair. Assuming I can salvage everything Apple specific, I'll look to have one of Bolle's excellent boards made up and migrate the components over.

Annoyingly, the PDS socket has had several pin holes completely filled with solidified residue and some of its own pins eaten away. Is it possible to find replacements for these sockets anywhere?

Thanks again,

John

There is an ATtiny85 based RTC replacement, should yours be cooked:

https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageApple/comments/91e5cf
As for the PDS connector, an EuroCard DIN 41612 120 pin connector should do the job, which are still available from Mouser and other electronics retailers.
 
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