Mac Plus and Mac SE/30 (busted)

[killvore]

Got a Mac Plus (beige) and a Mac SE/30 delivered for $60 to practice my repair and soldering skills on. Since they are already broken the stakes aren't as high, and I want to make sure my recap of my other Mac SE/30 goes well


The Mac Plus does not boot - took a look inside and the fuse has blown plus C33 and C36 look absolutely shredded. The rest looks fine, just dusty! Also, TIL that Mac Pluses have fuses.

The Mac SE/30 powers on, I get the simasimac screen plus the hard drive sounds like it's trying to do 100mph in 1st gear, so a couple of things to dig into. Logic board looks clean, so who knows. It came with a bonus PDS graphics card!

Time to buy a multimeter

 

[Byrd]

Nice, I’d suggest practicing on another old PCB first, as both are probably pretty easy to resurrect with some standard recapping/troubleshooting if clean.

 

[killvore]

Haha they were supposed to be my practice PCBs! Going to raid a flea market to see if I can pick up some noise-making toys or something to get started with.

 

[JC8080]

Those sound like fun projects, and a great deal. Even if both logic boards were destroyed, the parts alone would be worth more than $60.

For soldering practice I picked up a couple random old PC expansion cards for a couple bucks each from a recycler. Have you done any SMD soldering before?

 

[killvore]

No, this will be my first! I have watched (a lot of) videos, and have tested desoldering on some old junk PCBs I found on the street, but nothing with any real stakes if it goes wrong so far. There is no rush with these so I have time to prepare and practice - beyond my attic office being pretty cramped with 9 machines in various states of operation!

 

[cheesestraws]

Pluses are really good machines to learn on - pretty robust, all discrete components, comprehensible design, and common enough to only be a bit annoying if it all breaks.

 

[alectrona2988]

how do you all get THIS lucky?!? lol... amazing score though! hopefully you get both of them working, especially the SE/30... that one is an absolute gem of a mac.

 

[killvore]

Thank you! I live in Norway so the market here is very different. Low population maybe means there isn't a critical mass of demand for these types of things, and the cold climate maybe has delayed the onset of serious logic board damage from battery bombs. I pay for it when I order parts, though - I think replacement caps for the SE/30 plus shipping and VAT is going to cost me close to $60

 

[JC8080]

Thank you! I live in Norway so the market here is very different. Low population maybe means there isn't a critical mass of demand for these types of things, and the cold climate maybe has delayed the onset of serious logic board damage from battery bombs. I pay for it when I order parts, though - I think replacement caps for the SE/30 plus shipping and VAT is going to cost me close to $60

Oh wow, I know these machines cost quite a bit more in some European countries than in the US. Knowing that, you got an even better deal!

I recommend Console 5 for cap kits, they have everything already packaged, and they use high quality caps. Alternatively you can order from Mouser or DigiKey, though you will spend time finding the right parts. Though if you are buying stuff other than caps it makes sense to order everything from Mouser or DigiKey so you don't pay shipping twice. I'm also not sure if Console 5 ships internationally, their website might say, and the guy that runs it is very responsive to emails in my experience.

 

[alectrona2988]

second this on console5, they've got caps for the motherboard, analog board, PSU, and MP-F75W floppy drive.

 

[JC8080]

second this on console5, they've got caps for the motherboard, analog board, PSU, and MP-F75W floppy drive.

They will also make modifications. I have had them swap tantalums for polymer electrolytics to keep the factory look of the can-type caps.

 

[alectrona2988]

i personally go for tantalums whenever possible. recapped a IIsi using tantalums from a couple of scrap boards and it works perfectly. i try to salvage as much as i can unless i don't have something available, but stuff thats plagued with faulty caps from the 2000s i get rid of on sight if i don't need anything else from it. i do use electrolytics on power supplies for... obvious reasons

 

[cheesestraws]

As far as big component suppliers go, I'd look at Farnell and RS before mouser and digi-key; the latter are quite american-biased, the former two I believe have distribution infrastructure up in Norway, which probably means you'll get the bits faster and they have to go on fewer pointless air journeys. There will be local distributors as well, of course. There's really no call to be ordering this kind of stuff from the US, it just results in longer order times and more paperwork.

Don't overthink what caps to use. The important thing is that they're not the old ones. Personally I use tantalums, but if I were to start again I'd probably use solid polymer caps, simply because they catch fire rather less easily. Tantalums are overrated.

 

[finkmac]

i like the wurth alu-poly caps. they're (mostly) a direct replacement sizewize to the original capacitors


also they have a sick red stripe.

 

[JC8080]

i like the wurth alu-poly caps. they're (mostly) a direct replacement sizewize to the original capacitors

View attachment 72823
also they have a sick red stripe.

Those are the ones I use, the red stripe is pretty badass. Original look, but with a little edge.

 

[killvore]

Console5 delivers to Norway! Took a little over three weeks but that's hardly their fault, just customs and international shipping. I also ordered separately from Mouser before I even knew Console5 existed, they shipped from Sweden so only took a few days. But nice that I have some options even up here

 

[alectrona2988]

also they have a sick red stripe.

+500mhz CPU clock boost, totally worth it /j
jokes aside those are nice replacements. while i prefer tantalums i do use electrolytics or anything that still works, mainly from scrap boards. it's a good form of reusing electronic components from otherwise faulty systems, but i don't reuse caps from vintage hardware and anything that was under a capacitor plague or 2. (seemingly, there were multiple.)