Centris 610 died

[soviet]

Hi guys, a couple of weeks ago purchased a centris 610, so i can get again into the 68K mac thingy, and it worked for like a week fine but now mysteriously died on me .

I was installing some games and stuff and when rebooted i got the power up chimes and then imminently the Death chime.

So i do the usual removed everything from the board checked the PSU voltages, replaced CPU etc to no avail same issue.....

Then i checked the electrolytic SMD caps and they where in bad shape so i removed all, cleaned the board checked for bad traces several times and install all new caps.

But the issue continue, there's not much else to do expect replace the logic board.

This video is not mine but is exactly what happens to my centris

 

[Byrd]

Hi soviet,

I had the exact same issue and my deduction is they're really fragile units to begin with.  

Had a pristine Q610 (which worked fine but the caps were visibly leaking), recapped = normal chime, immediate death chime

Recapped again (I thought the tantalums I had were poor quality/spec) = normal chime, immediate death chime

Finally, desoldered the onboard RAM (like you I assumed a death chime presumed bad RAM, failing all else) = normal chime, immediate death chime

Deep cleaning of the board, immersing in IPA, scrubbing around the caps didn't help.  I ended up sourcing a Centris 610 board from a local member, recapped this and cannibalised the CPU, clock crystals x 2 and it's now working fine thinking it's a Quadra 610 again.  They're a really nice machine, good design which I wanted to get my DOS card working in and all seems well now.

I've still got the bad Q610 board, I was thinking something like bad ROM, a damaged trace but disappointed it got wiped out with repair.  There are many shared ICs with the Q610 board if you ever need for other repairs on other Macs from SE/30 and up.

JB

 

[soviet]

Thanks for the info, so you already where all over the same issue.Will try to source a new motherboard on eBAY.

Also i see there's the solder pads for a ROM SIMM, there's any alternative ROM SIMMs for this macs ?, that could be something interesting to try.

 

[Fizzbinn]

Small world on here, I’m working on a Centris 610 with the exact same issue right now!  Today I removed the old caps and spent a lot of time fixing (I hope..) a couple chips near caps where they the cap goo seemed to have corroded a few legs on two chips (RP3 & IOSB) from making contact with the board. I recently got a nice Amscope microscope which I don’t think I could done this work without. I guess I really shouldn’t count my chickens before they hatch though considering your ( @Byrd and @soviet) experiences. Fingers crossed. 

 

[Byrd]

Keen to hear your progress, @Fizzbinn    If you have a microscope you're a lot further advanced than me!

I recall in past searches about C610/Q610 faults the immediate chimes of death was a common issue across the model for many years, so is presumably not just capacitor related but I'm sure doesn't help things these days.

 

[ArmorAlley]

I have a couple of suggestions:

 1. have you tried basic diagnostics: no HD, one RAM bank filled, nothing but keyboard, mouse & monitor plugged in? That is, no PDS/NuBus cards, no SCSI devices, no serial devices.

 2. take a high-resolution picture of the motherboard in good light and post it up here. Some members have very good eyes and know what to look for. It's amazing what you'll find when you know what to look for.

 3. The Performa 475 & IIfx both need PRAM batteries with a mnimal charge (3.0V ?) or they won't start up. I don't know about the Q610 but have you tried a fresh PRAM battery.

 

[Fizzbinn]

Keen to hear your progress, @Fizzbinn    If you have a microscope you're a lot further advanced than me!

I recall in past searches about C610/Q610 faults the immediate chimes of death was a common issue across the model for many years, so is presumably not just capacitor related but I'm sure doesn't help things these days.

Well dang. Like yours mine is unchanged after putting the new caps on this morning.

I have a couple of suggestions:

 1. have you tried basic diagnostics: no HD, one RAM bank filled, nothing but keyboard, mouse & monitor plugged in? That is, no PDS/NuBus cards, no SCSI devices, no serial devices.

 2. take a high-resolution picture of the motherboard in good light and post it up here. Some members have very good eyes and know what to look for. It's amazing what you'll find when you know what to look for.

 3. The Performa 475 & IIfx both need PRAM batteries with a mnimal charge (3.0V ?) or they won't start up. I don't know about the Q610 but have you tried a fresh PRAM battery.

Tried 1 (just my RAM & VRAM) and 3 unsuccessfully. I have not done a deep/submerged clean of the board, I guess it’s possible there is still some goo somewhere causing a short...
 

 

[soviet]

In my case the first thing i have done is do a deep clean of the board hot water and brush cleaned using ipa also closely to the caps, and checked near legs to caps for continuity.

Will recheck everything and add some pictures of the board in case someone else can see something.

One thing about this board is that have 4 megs of ram, it should boot fine having no memory inserted.

Was thinking in maybe removing the onboard vram chips and letting only the vram simms on the motherboard ?.

 

[Fizzbinn]

I have not done a deep/submerged clean of the board, I guess it’s possible there is still some goo somewhere causing a short...

I got an Ultrasonic cleaner over the holidays and a bare Centris 610 motherboard off eBay. Recapped the second board and cleaned both in the new cleaner. 
 

First board unchanged, second motherboard light comes on but no start up sound(s) at all. Ugh.

For some reason I hadn’t checked out the power supply, and thought I’d give that a shot. I’m not totally sure what good unloaded values should be but the 5v (red) seemed to be jumping around 4.2 to 4.6 volts and the 12v (yellow) 5.4 to 7.6 volts...

Anyone have info on recapping an Astec AA16990 (Apple PN 614-0022)?

 

[MindWalker]

Anyone have info on recapping an Astec AA16990 (Apple PN 614-0022)?

I did mine little while ago, my notes say that the caps are: 2x 330uF/200v, 100/10, 220/10, 47/25, 10/35, 220/25, 1000/17, 2200/10, 1200/10, 470/10, 10/25 (12 pcs total). The PSU fan is 80mmx80mmx20mm, 12v/0,19A, ball bearing.

Regarding the 610 motherboards: has anyone tried retrofitting the built-in networking into a board without it?  

 

[Arisotura]

For some reason I hadn’t checked out the power supply, and thought I’d give that a shot. I’m not totally sure what good unloaded values should be but the 5v (red) seemed to be jumping around 4.2 to 4.6 volts and the 12v (yellow) 5.4 to 7.6 volts...

The power supply may need a load to properly regulate. I know the LC power supply does, without a load it will keep clicking on and off, and one will observe similar jumping-around voltages out of it.

 

[Fizzbinn]

The power supply may need a load to properly regulate. I know the LC power supply does, without a load it will keep clicking on and off, and one will observe similar jumping-around voltages out of it.

Ahhh! Yeah that was it. Checking the unconnected CD power molex connector when all reassembled shows stead 5 and 12 volt power.

Dang, thought I might have been on to something. Back to looking at the two 610 motherboards...

I did mine little while ago, my notes say that the caps are: 2x 330uF/200v, 100/10, 220/10, 47/25, 10/35, 220/25, 1000/17, 2200/10, 1200/10, 470/10, 10/25 (12 pcs total). The PSU fan is 80mmx80mmx20mm, 12v/0,19A, ball bearing.

Regarding the 610 motherboards: has anyone tried retrofitting the built-in networking into a board without it?  

Only one of my Centris 610 boards has Ethernet, if I got the one without Ethernet to work I'd *thought* about trying to swap the missing chips/parts over.

 

[androda]

I have several (like four) 610 mobos that I'd love to get working again.  Life was interrupted by moving a few years ago and only now am I getting real time to do electronics projects.  Maybe once my backlog is more empty I can get back to them.  Could be something as simple as a trace corroded under a chip, but that's a lot of effort invested into checking under every single one.