Mac IIfx Restoration Issues

[croissantking]

i've never desoldered a plcc chip like this with the pins bent under, so that should be fun. I have a hotair station but no end that fits around the chip as i've seen in a few videos... anyone have suggestions on how to make the process easier?

ChipQuik. It makes it very, very easy to remove with just a soldering iron.

Otherwise, add flux all around the edge of the chip, and gently heat it up with hot air, after a while it will come loose.

 

[Unknown_K]

I just used ChipQuik (came from Amazon in long sticks) and it does work easy enough.

 

[GRudolf94]

You can buy SWIMs still, I think - I would ask around the forum before cannibalizing a board (especially if the board is intact and it's just the case that's bad). As for the RF shield: it's really there to keep the FCC happy, so I wouldn't worry too much either way. If it's not rusty, it stays in. If it is, I'll typically either treat it, or junk if too far gone.

 

[jmacz]

Looks like the SWIM chip is dead. I checked continuity from the floppy connector to all the should-be-connected pins on the chip and they all look good. So i'm going to try to pull a replacement off a IIci I have with a completely hosed case. Looks like getting case parts will be almost as expensive as getting a new complete unit so I might as well use it for other things. In the mean time, i've never desoldered a plcc chip like this with the pins bent under, so that should be fun. I have a hotair station but no end that fits around the chip as i've seen in a few videos... anyone have suggestions on how to make the process easier?

Wasn't fun when I had to take an AD ramdac off a video card a few months back, plcc package. I first used flux and a wick to take off as much solder as I could. Then I put tin foil held down with kapton tape on all the surrounding parts, put some more flux on all four sides, and then used my hotair station, moving in a square pattern on the legs. I had a glove on and kept nudging the chip with tweezers until I saw some movement and then lifted it off. I'm sure others have a better technique though.

As for the IIci, what case parts are you looking for?

 

[NeutralStraw]

Ended up putting lots of flux around the outside, then using an iron with a high surface area tip with solder wick all around the outside. Then I took the tip off the hotair rework station off and put a very small pick/wedge in the corner. After heating it for a bit around each side and then over the top, it came off fairly easily. I was surprised how easily, actually. For the second one I skipped the solderwick and just heated it with hot air. It took a bit longer, but was just about as easy. New one doesn't seem to be working though. I have another floppyemu coming in so I guess i'll wait until it shows up to keep testing.

Don't feel too bad about the IIci getting sacrified. When I took a good look at it it had fairly extensive battery damage that I am nowhere near ready to tackle, so at least it's not getting tossed. It also had an ethernet card and a 630-0400 Macintosh Display Adapter with populated simms I had completely forgotten about... So that should be good enough to get a higher res and 24(?)bit color with 0 investment. I think I need an adapter for the ethernet though. Looks like 10Base-T and... aui?

 

[NeutralStraw]

Wasn't fun when I had to take an AD ramdac off a video card a few months back, plcc package. I first used flux and a wick to take off as much solder as I could. Then I put tin foil held down with kapton tape on all the surrounding parts, put some more flux on all four sides, and then used my hotair station, moving in a square pattern on the legs. I had a glove on and kept nudging the chip with tweezers until I saw some movement and then lifted it off. I'm sure others have a better technique though.

As for the IIci, what case parts are you looking for?

I need a case top primarily. I think everything else is there. Looks like the IIcx, IIci and Quadra 700 will all fit. Couldn't find one on ebay last time I went looking.

 

[jmacz]

I need a case top primarily. I think everything else is there. Looks like the IIcx, IIci and Quadra 700 will all fit. Couldn't find one on ebay last time I went looking.

I have two cases (top and bottom with led pipes) and one of the two has the drive holder also.

I don’t mind discussing just the top from one of the two if you need one.

 

[Phipli]

Also... is there any good reason to keep the RF cage inside the case at this point?

Is there a reason to remove it?