Recapping the 128K, 512K & Plus Motherboard & Keyboard

[JDW]

Think the Macintosh 128K, 512K & Plus motherboards don't need a recap?  Time to Think Different.  It's been 35+ years since the debut of the 128K & 512K, folks.  Fluid-filled capacitors don't have eternal life. Properly chosen solid Tantalum, on the other hand, will last the life of the board.  My video below shows recapping of the keyboard too.

PLEASE watch on YouTube so you can expand the text description under the video, as it contains Mouser Carts and important info, especially for you Mac Plus owners.

https://youtu.be/vz2NGF5Vuao

 

[erichelgeson]

Great content as always - I had the same issue with the through hole cap on my SE/30 - the way I got it was to use a hot air station and heat up the surrounding area to remove it.

What was the 3d bouncing ball on the screen at the end?

 

[JDW]

Thank you for watching and for your advice.  A hot air station is one soldering tool I do not own.  But since my videos are geared for the average person who normally doesn't do a lot of soldering and therefore wouldn't likely spend the money on such tools, the technique I showed for the third and final capacitor on the motherboard is really the best approach for multilayered boards.  It's super fast and easy to just cut off the old axial cap, leave the legs (the multi-layer board will ensure they stay put when heated), and then solder the replacement axial onto those existing legs.

I mentioned that bouncing ball software in the text description under the video.  That fun program can be downloaded here:

https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/vanlandingham

 

[erichelgeson]

wouldn't likely spend the money on such tools

True, I only spent that money for that one pin, though have gotten a few other uses out of it since.

Somehow missed the link in the text, thanks!

 

[LaPorta]

Very nice video, indeed! How do you get the focus as crisp as you do? I need that for videos I may make as well.

 

[JDW]

Very nice video, indeed! How do you get the focus as crisp as you do? I need that for videos I may make as well.

Thank you!

I use a Panasonic GH5 camera and shoot everything in 4K.  If you are using Safari, you only can see it in 1080p.  I have complained to Apple about that on their feedback pages for YEARS!  You need to use Chrome (tragically) to view YouTube videos in 4K.  FireFox is another option, but the colors are way oversaturated which is why I recommend Chrome.  

The lens I used for most shots in that video was the Olympus 40-150mm F2.8.  Some clips were shot with the Olympus 12-100mm F4.  I edit in FCPX and add a modest amount of sharpening. I made a video of my workflow here: https://youtu.be/yrnOVp7mXrs

A lot of people who shoot video on YouTube are mistaken in thinking that you want the video to be soft and add almost no sharpening.  That thinking comes from filmmaking, as over sharpening the human body can look rather unattractive.  But my videos focus on small objects which benefit from sharpening, so I add that in post. That added sharpening won't matter much if the lens is non-optimal or the resolution is too low, and again that is why I use quality lenses and shoot in 4K.  The closing segment didn't get the Mac as sharp as I would have liked but I left it that way because I didn't want to reshoot. I set the camera to focus on me, and then used F3.2, which is a very shallow depth of field.

All said, I have a love affair with "Tack Sharp."  

 

[LaPorta]

Yes, having a very sharp focus on electronics (as in your video) makes it so that I am looking at it with my own eyes (my still mid-30s eyes betray me, I suppose), and not like it's really far away. I can learn a thing or two from you there.

 

[karrots]

A hair dryer could be used to preheat the board of one doesn't have a hot air station.