Macintosh SE M5010 - Restoration

[GreenBar0n]

Glad to have found this site, I've already learned a lot from the previous posts here. I'm currently wondering about recapping this SE, and which boards are mandatory.

I was given this SE about 15 years ago, it was known to power up, but to only produce the Floppy Disk picture with the question mark on screen.



When I opened this SE, I found someone had added an HDD.



I had to open the HDD to get the motor to spin the platters, it was stuck and wouldn't rotate. I can get the motor to turn, and the heads will seek, and the head will wave back and forth, yet still not boot.





Ordered the BlueSCSI v2 kit with Wi-Fi for this, and a PRAM holder and battery, because this is the early SE with the Varta.


Someone added 4Mb of the Goldstar labeled RAM, and cut the 256k bit resistor.


A visual inspection of the electrolytic caps shows none of them are physically damaged or leaking, but I know the internal ESR or values may have wandered in the last 40 years.






Based on the condition of this unit, what boards would be a mandatory, or would be best, to recap?

Thanks!

 

[finkmac]

psu needs a recap at the very least. i'd also do the analog board.

probably okay to leave the logic board be.

 

[GreenBar0n]

psu needs a recap at the very least. i'd also do the analog board.

probably okay to leave the logic board be.

Is the analog board, the one that is physically attached to the back of the CRT? Is there a link to a diagram that shows which boards are called what?

This is my first Mac of any kind, thanks for your reply.

EDIT: I see the Analog board is clearly labeled now, and the Logic board must be the mainboard. Got it.

 

[Fred1212]

Nice clean SE

 

[obsolete]

My opinion (worth price paid) is that nothing needs to be recapped on an SE unless it breaks. I recapped mine and tested all the components I removed; they were all perfectly within spec.

I agree, nice machine, hope you enjoy it!

 

[finkmac]

maybe you're right, but the power supply at the least should be recapped

 

[Fred1212]

Oh and replace that battery ASAP

 

[obsolete]

Oh and replace that battery ASAP

Now that's something I can get behind. Don't wait, clip it out of there immediately.

 

[joshc]

Agree definitely recap the PSU, and leave the rest until you know otherwise that it needs attention. SEs are very reliable machines.

 

[GreenBar0n]

Thanks for the replies, I'll look for a BOM for the PSU recap, or just pull mine apart and make a list of what's in there. Glad to hear the Logic and Analog board may not need the full treatment.

And thanks again, for the compliments on the SE and the encouragement too!

 

[dochilli]

Caps:

Macintosh SE/30 - Caps Wiki

caps.wiki

Video:

 

[GreenBar0n]

Really appreciate it @dochilli, thanks!

 

[epooch]

Have you tried sticking a system disk into the drive? The SE is bullet proof.

 

[GreenBar0n]

I have no 800K disks, or access to any other Mac to make floppies, this is my first Mac. I was a PC/Commodore 64/128 kid from '83 (PET 4032) on.

I'm waiting on a BlueSCSI v2, in order to use a System 7.5.5 image I found, and will try when it arrives.

I am SCSI emu impartial, and didn't realize it was a hot button issue around here. If I had known about SCSI2SD or ZuluSCSI or whatever else is out there that I still don't know about, I would have chosen one of those. I heard about BlueSCSI from Youtube, and that's how I got here, eventually.

I ordered the PSU caps from this list.

https://www.mouser.com/ProjectManager/ProjectDetail.aspx?AccessID=7a1e52192c

Pulled the PSU caps:


They were all in excellent condition still, this was the worst one, looks to have physically leaked as well:


The Varta battery was still holding 1.33V.


Hoping all the parts get here next week.

Need to clean and grease the floppies while I wait.

 

[falen5]

Ive always believed in the saying " if it aint broke , dont fix it "

but with these old machines isnt it possible that just 1 cap going out of spec can place loads / wrong voltages / wrong something on other components , 'stressing' them as such , as the machine appears to be running fine

 

[GreenBar0n]

With the quality of the caps in this particular SE, that I've seen so far, it was not likely to have destroyed itself any time soon.

But at this point in time, where these vintage pieces are going up in value, better to error on the side of caution, or a penny's worth of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

[GreenBar0n]

Should I bother with Retro Bright, or removing the Yellow?


The bottom is in near original color it looks like.


Closer look at the Yellow.


Kind of would like it to look brand new again, despite the gouges and scratches. Is Retro Bright the best stuff to use? Or should I leave it aged?

 

[joshc]

IMO retrobright can cause more harm than good, your SE is in nice original condition so I’d leave it alone if I were you.

 

[Fred1212]

If you do decide to retrobrite it I recommend trying it on another piece of yellowed plastic to get the hang of it. I use the peroxide cream in the attachment brushed onto the surface evenly and then put in the direct sunlight. You need to keep an eye on it and re-apply and/or re-brush it about every 20min. This works very well and machines I did well over twelve months ago are still good colour. There are many ways to go about this but I've found this to be the easiest and most reliable. I wopuld strongl;y suggest avoiding plastic wrap/film as it allways ends up patchy in my experience. Enjoy

 

[GreenBar0n]

Picked up a 32oz. bottle of 12% hair creme peroxide, will give it a try in an inconspicuous area first.

Amazon.com

Don't want to harm anything, so I'll go slow. Thanks guys!