SE/30 issues.

[TheWhiteFalcon]

So I got my /30 today. It's cute.

The good news:

Survived shipping.

Floppy drive and hard drive work fine.

Connectix RAM Doubler is installed.

Screen is bright.

The bad:

No sound from speaker, very weak from headphone jack.

Booted up the first two times, the third time it just gave me patterns.

When it booted, It had a grid pattern on the CRT

I have to get a long enough T-15 driver to pull this completely apart, but I'm assuming I'm looking at a pretty big recap job. Any places I should look first?

Second pic is how it looked after a few boots. System booted but no display on the screen. (Sorry it's sideways).

 

[MJ313]

Take out that logic board and inspect all of the caps on it. Likely if any haven't been replaced, they are leaking a nice brownish ooze. I speak from experience.

The three near the battery were the worst on mine IIRC...

 

[techknight]

Your UE8 is bad too from cap goo

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Right now trying to find a T-15 long enough is proving to be a challenge. Hoping a relative has one that will work, so far I've spent $18 in tools that proved inadequate. This is why I don't like small towns. My longest driver is a T8 and way too small.

Wish they could have found a better place for those top screws...

 

[unity]

I hear you on the long screw thing. I found a very long torx bit at Menards (a home improvement retailer). And then I just put it into one of those screw drivers that takes bits. I used to have a regular screw driver where I removed part of the handle to get it deeper into the case.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Yeah, that's my issue. My uncle says he has a t-handle driver that will hopefully work. Going to order an 18" T15 from Amazon just for good measure, but in the mean time I want to get a look at things inside and remove the battery.

 

[wilykat]

I found something that worked at Radio Shack. They had a long bit with T-10 and T-15 at opposite end. I broke off T-10 tip and it fits a standard 1/4" driver. Combined length was just long enough for the screws in the top!  That was about 20 years ago, no idea if they still have it or not.  The main part measured about 6 inches long without the tip end.

 

[uniserver]

i use this.

this is the one i have its 12"

they sell it a lowes for like 7.49

at harbor freight they have a 6" one for 3.49  i bet that would work too.

you could just just a basic hand hex driver on the end or if you want to be fancy

harbor freight has a nice impact for 45.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

I bought something just like that, Uniserver, but the problem is that the part that holds the bit is too large to fit in the hole where the screw is.

 

[techknight]

Mine is a long shaft t15 I got from sears 12 or so years ago.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

I wish I had a Sears nearby, but the closest one is about two hours away.

Is there any danger to running it as is? I don't plan to run it every hour of every day, but might use it for fifteen minutes every now and then.

 

[MJ313]

I got this from Home Depot for $5. It has an extender that fits perfectly inside the narrow channels and also has a ton of different bits that are useful.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200579891_200579891

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

I've tried an extender just like that but it wouldn't fit in that narrow channel by the handle.

 

[uniserver]

yeah, sometimes its a little snug, but it never had it not fit.

i think the brand name for the one i got is IRVINE?

 

[MJ313]

Is there any danger to running it as is? I don't plan to run it every hour of every day, but might use it for fifteen minutes every now and then.

My non-expert opinion is it's probably fine for the short term until you get a tool. I mean, this problem didn't happen overnight and it's probably been run a number of times with the leaky caps. But if you want to reduce the impact of further trace damage, you will want to get that thing open and at least clean off the ooze with some Iso.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Yeah, I already have the good stuff to clean it. Hoping I can have a tool by this Saturday.

 

[MJ313]

Yeah, I already have the good stuff to clean it. Hoping I can have a tool by this Saturday.

Good luck! Some tips that helped me when getting inside the SE/30:

1. Be patient. Some of the cables are in tight spaces and it's best not to rush. It's easy to forget and yank on the logic board without having disconnected all the cables.

2. It's easy to bump the video board. Try to avoid doing this.

3. RTFM... at least for some ideas on where things are. http://tim.id.au/laptops/apple/legacy/macintosh_se.30.pdf  (Page 39 for Logic Board! It says to discharge the CRT and remove the video board, but... meh... I never do)

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

I'm no stranger to not doing a proper tear down, sometimes it's easier that way. When I did the hinge fix on my eMate I definitely did not do all the steps. (Alas, my ingenious idea of using 5W-30 for hinge lubricant only lasted a year).

Lol, the manual says that for vertical bars I should replace the logic board. Okay, Apple, I'll just go drop this off at the Genius Bar Saturday.