Need help bringing a Quadra 610 back to life

[SantaFe]

Remove the logic board and stick it in the dishwasher. Run the cycle, with no soap or other dishes, obviously. Let it dry thoroughly, then reassemble.
Seriously. Sounds to me like you have a leaking capacitor. The dishwasher trick is known to provide a temporary fix in some cases. The permanent fix is to replace the faulty capacitor, or to find another logic board.

Hey Beachy,

I used to be NASA Certified with regard to soldering, so I could probably replace these caps without lifting the pads, but I can't really say with any degree of certainy, if they are bad, or just look bad. Part B is finding decent replacements.

Denatured alcohol would clean them up, but perhaps your last suggestion is really the most logical. Pun intended.

This whole episode began as a good will gesture. I was just going to give it to these folks after I removed all of the games from the HD. The grandfather said he didn't want his granddaughter playing games all day. That didn't sit well with me, but I had already committed myself. Then I get the 'chime'. Guess that's what I get for playing 'Centipede', which I thought would be, for the last time. Man, was I right!

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions.

 

[wthww]

If you really woudl like to keep the machine, I have a Centris 610 logic board you could have, for the shipping. I can test it before hand . THe centris is a Quadra 610 without a full '040 proc.

//wthww

 

[tomlee59]

The "notorious" caps are basically every electrolytic on the board, unfortunately. The white residue you mentioned is a telltale sign that leakage has afflicted your board. I bet that a careful visual inspection under good lighting will reveal smudges and gook in the vicinity of many electrolytics. This residue is conductive, so you can well imagine the havoc it can wreak.

All of these smudges must be cleaned off thoroughly, and the offending capacitors replaced, to do a correct, by-the-book fix. As beachycove noted, a dishwasher will do an excellent, quick job of cleaning. Often, this is sufficient to restore functionality. If so, it verifies that leakage was the problem. The permanent fix is to replace the caps.

 

[Quadraman]

It seems to me that replacing all the capacitors is going to be a long and difficult process. I don't know how much the replacements caps would be, but the labor alone doesn't seem worth it. You'd probably be better getting a replacement board or a complete machine. Even if you only valued your time at $25 an hour, and it only took an hour, you could buy an early G3 iMac or Powermac for that.

 

[SantaFe]

If you really woudl like to keep the machine, I have a Centris 610 logic board you could have, for the shipping. I can test it before hand . THe centris is a Quadra 610 without a full '040 proc.

//wthww

I appreciate the very generous offer you have made. However, I would feel much better if I could pay you for the board and your time to check it out.

If you can agree to this, then I would also like to know if you have an additional floppie drive for this machine. I have replaced mine 2-3 times and for some reason, more often than not, after inserting a good working disk, it will respond as though the disk were blank.

I appreciate you offer. BTW, I live in Chicago, pretty much in the center of the US.

 

[Bunsen]

BTW moving the CPU over from the bad board to the Centris will make it a Quadra

 

[SantaFe]

BTW moving the CPU over from the bad board to the Centris will make it a Quadra

So long as it works, I don't care what it's called. [] ]'>

Yes?

 

[tomlee59]

It seems to me that replacing all the capacitors is going to be a long and difficult process. I don't know how much the replacements caps would be, but the labor alone doesn't seem worth it. You'd probably be better getting a replacement board or a complete machine. Even if you only valued your time at $25 an hour, and it only took an hour, you could buy an early G3 iMac or Powermac for that.

Well, "worth" often involves more than a purely monetary calculation. One could argue that most hobbies are not worth the time, especially if one factors in opportunity cost. But they're FUN. So, the value of a hobby is very much a personal affair.

For me, I rarely do a full capacitor replacement. If the dishwasher trick brings it back to life, I leave it as is because I'm lazy, and replacing all the caps is not as fun for me (I feel no guilt; I've done enough soldering for several lifetimes). However, others with more dedication to the craft feel differently and diligently replace all caps, properly taking pride in a job well done.

 

[Quadraman]

It seems to me that replacing all the capacitors is going to be a long and difficult process. I don't know how much the replacements caps would be, but the labor alone doesn't seem worth it. You'd probably be better getting a replacement board or a complete machine. Even if you only valued your time at $25 an hour, and it only took an hour, you could buy an early G3 iMac or Powermac for that.

Well, "worth" often involves more than a purely monetary calculation. One could argue that most hobbies are not worth the time, especially if one factors in opportunity cost. But they're FUN. So, the value of a hobby is very much a personal affair.

For me, I rarely do a full capacitor replacement. If the dishwasher trick brings it back to life, I leave it as is because I'm lazy, and replacing all the caps is not as fun for me (I feel no guilt; I've done enough soldering for several lifetimes). However, others with more dedication to the craft feel differently and diligently replace all caps, properly taking pride in a job well done.

You have to consider that the object of this exercise is to provide a computer to someone who doesn't have one, so I think it would be better if he is going to go to the time and expense of repairing an old computer, that the family that will be receiving it would get better use out of a newer machine.