SlateBlue
Well-known member
Today I received a Macintosh II in the mail. It was gifted to me, and the previous owner stated that it didn't boot up. Knowing that this is likely attributed to dead PRAM batteries, I thought I might be able to revive it and have another toy to add to the collection. Unfortunately, as I got to inspecting the logic board, I realized I had much more work on my hands.
It's a given that these old Macs fall victim to leaky caps. Indeed, every SMD cap on the logic board was leaky. Throwing that aside, I wanted to investigate the battery situation. Both batteries had been removed from the board before I ever took ownership. While this isn't exactly a big deal, what I did find was a damaged via and lifted solder pad. Someone was pretty careless in removing the old batteries.
To remedy this, I took some 30 gauge wire, stripped it back, and then inserted it through the damaged via before adding a bit of solder to hold it in place; I ended up doing this for all four connections. I think I can salvage this mess with a couple of SMD battery holders. I'll adhere them to the board with some double-sided tape, and solder the small gauge wire to the respective terminals on each battery holder. I've also removed all the SMD caps in prep for replacement. The axials are still in place currently, but I will be removing and replacing those as well.
Compared to the capacitor list contained on the 68kmla site, there is a bit of a deviation with my board. Instead of 12 x 47uF 16v caps, my board has 13. And, I also have a 10uF 16v axial cap next to the fourth NuBus slot.
I'll post a couple of pics to show the current rework, and will update this thread as time permits. Hopefully, I'll be able to revive this old Mac II.
It's a given that these old Macs fall victim to leaky caps. Indeed, every SMD cap on the logic board was leaky. Throwing that aside, I wanted to investigate the battery situation. Both batteries had been removed from the board before I ever took ownership. While this isn't exactly a big deal, what I did find was a damaged via and lifted solder pad. Someone was pretty careless in removing the old batteries.
To remedy this, I took some 30 gauge wire, stripped it back, and then inserted it through the damaged via before adding a bit of solder to hold it in place; I ended up doing this for all four connections. I think I can salvage this mess with a couple of SMD battery holders. I'll adhere them to the board with some double-sided tape, and solder the small gauge wire to the respective terminals on each battery holder. I've also removed all the SMD caps in prep for replacement. The axials are still in place currently, but I will be removing and replacing those as well.
Compared to the capacitor list contained on the 68kmla site, there is a bit of a deviation with my board. Instead of 12 x 47uF 16v caps, my board has 13. And, I also have a 10uF 16v axial cap next to the fourth NuBus slot.
I'll post a couple of pics to show the current rework, and will update this thread as time permits. Hopefully, I'll be able to revive this old Mac II.