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LC III - no audio

JC8080

Well-known member
I recently picked up an LC III, when I first powered it on everything worked great, I had video and a startup chime. On about the fifth time I powered it on the startup chime was garbled, and after that it never chimed again. I have also tried headphones, no chime. When I have headphones plugged in and switch the machine on, I can hear a quiet pop like something is initializing. I recapped the logic board and that did not fix the problem. Everything else still works, video is fine, and the machine functions normally other than no audio. I also followed the instructions in the post linked below to check continuity, everything is good. Does anyone have suggestions for further troubleshooting?

Edit: I do not have a PRAM battery, I still tried the PRAM reset as MrFahrenheit suggested in another thread, though I only did it 10 times and not the 11 that was suggested.

 

JC8080

Well-known member
What methods did you use to clean the board? The audio circuit on LCs seems to be incredibly sensitive to cap juice.

Good to know. I used a toothbrush and IPA to scrub around the chips near the caps, then cotton swabs and IPA. I haven't looked at the schematics yet to track down the sound chip. I think my next step will be to remove it, check for broken traces, clean thoroughly, and then re-solder. Are there any particular other components I should look at?
 

JC8080

Well-known member
Fixed! I removed the sound chip, cleaned the area thoroughly, and did not see any broken traces. I did a continuity check and everything was fine except for pin 3. Both pin 3 and pin 4 go to +8v, but pin 3 had no continuity to any other points with +8v, and also had no continuity with pin 4. It looks like the pin 3 via was damaged by cap goo, I took a very fine pick and poked at the via and a small piece came off. I bridged pin 3 and 4 with solder and the audio came back.

Thanks to @max1zzz and @David Cook for their help in another thread:


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