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SE/30 Recapping and refurb guide
- Thread starter tbohen
- Start date
JDW
Well-known member
What search terms were you using? This has been discussed 11,567,365 times (give or take a few). 
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Read the descriptions I wrote under each of those photos. And mouse-over the individual caps in the AFTER photo to see what is what.
I bought those tantalum caps off Trag, here on 68kMLA. This isn't the exact thread I wanted to link you to, but it's the only one I could find quickly:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12077&hilit=capacitors+SE%2F30
Trag, you need to tell Cory5412 that your capacitor thread should be granted "STICKY" status in this forum. Searching for it is a PITA!
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Read the descriptions I wrote under each of those photos. And mouse-over the individual caps in the AFTER photo to see what is what.
I bought those tantalum caps off Trag, here on 68kMLA. This isn't the exact thread I wanted to link you to, but it's the only one I could find quickly:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12077&hilit=capacitors+SE%2F30
Trag, you need to tell Cory5412 that your capacitor thread should be granted "STICKY" status in this forum. Searching for it is a PITA!
Solvalou
Well-known member
Well I hope it's ok to do this, a great friend of mine fixed up my SE/30 that went to novice soldering hell. He might also give you some advice if you got an AmiBay account to send a PM.
http://amibay.com/showthread.php?t=11655
http://amibay.com/showthread.php?t=11655
JDW
Well-known member
Trag, I meant a sticky atop this "Compact Mac" thread, as virtually every SE/30 owner on planet earth now needs to replace his logic board capacitors. I think that still holds true even though you offer caps for other non-compact Macs.
Admin:
Core5412: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=40
Moderator:
Bunsen: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=64
You may wish to contact Bunsen first, as he is most active in the compact Mac forum. And once again, the reason I propose your SE/30 capacitor thread to be a sticky is because most people searching for it can't easily find it. And not everyone things to take a trek to the Trading Post. And while the Mac CRT Guide is not selling anything, I still feel your thread is just as important (if not more so) for many compact Mac owners, hence it should be a sticky.
Admin:
Core5412: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=40
Moderator:
Bunsen: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=64
You may wish to contact Bunsen first, as he is most active in the compact Mac forum. And once again, the reason I propose your SE/30 capacitor thread to be a sticky is because most people searching for it can't easily find it. And not everyone things to take a trek to the Trading Post. And while the Mac CRT Guide is not selling anything, I still feel your thread is just as important (if not more so) for many compact Mac owners, hence it should be a sticky.
Thank you for the contact info, JDW. You clearly have a specific thread in mind, but my brain just isn't latching onto which thread you mean. Maybe partly because it's full of assembly language instructions at the moment.
Are you thinking of an older thread or a more recent one? Only a few weeks ago I started the Storing Vintage Macs and Capacitors thread. But that doesn't seem informative enough to be what you're thinking of.
If you give me a little more detail, I can use the "View My Posts" feature to find it pretty handily, I imagine.
Ah, could you be thinking of this thread, where you earlier suggested making it sticky:
http://68kmla.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12018
I think of that more as phreakout's thread (he started it) than my thread. But perhaps it should be sticky. On the other hand, it is my understanding that phreakout is having some equipment problems which are keeping him from doing repairs, but that's hearsay. I haven't heard it from him.
Are you thinking of an older thread or a more recent one? Only a few weeks ago I started the Storing Vintage Macs and Capacitors thread. But that doesn't seem informative enough to be what you're thinking of.
If you give me a little more detail, I can use the "View My Posts" feature to find it pretty handily, I imagine.
Ah, could you be thinking of this thread, where you earlier suggested making it sticky:
http://68kmla.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12018
I think of that more as phreakout's thread (he started it) than my thread. But perhaps it should be sticky. On the other hand, it is my understanding that phreakout is having some equipment problems which are keeping him from doing repairs, but that's hearsay. I haven't heard it from him.
JDW
Well-known member
Trag, I was thinking of the following thread, which you just bumped again:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4884&p=145212#p145212
If it were made a sticky, it would be easier to find and you wouldn't need to waste your valuable time bumping it back to the top every now and then.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4884&p=145212#p145212
If it were made a sticky, it would be easier to find and you wouldn't need to waste your valuable time bumping it back to the top every now and then.
Ah, okay. That thread is in "Trading Post". I think you think it is in "Compact Macs", based on our posts in this thread.
You don't think it's a little odd to ask to have a For Sale posting stickied? There is a lot of great discussion in that thread, but at its heart, it's a for sale thread.
JDW
Well-known member
Trag, I consider the capacitor packs you sell a "service to the community," not profiteering. It's 100% obvious that you are doing it as a labor of love more than seeking to make an enormous margin off your fellow Mac lovers. Have one look at the vintage Mac or vintage Apple section of EBAY to see clearly how you compare with the sharks! You sold to me without hesitation, and for a very reasonable price too, despite the fact I am located in a different country than you are. And for those reasons I thought it would be good to make your "service" a sticky, even though your service is not 100% free. To ban info about your service from being a sticky only because it is not free is foolish. If you did not offer these capacitors to us at all, who else here would? And a lot of folks in our community would not be so willing to go out and buy them themselves, and therefore a lot of old Macs would either continue on in a broken condition or -- gasp -- be trashed. Seriously, how many capacitors would one have to buy as an individual, if they wanted to do this kind of work themselves? They would obviously have to spend more than the $10 that you charge!
I attend a church here in Japan. Each Sunday the church has a lunch after the morning services conclude. They charge ¥250 for the lunch, which includes drinks. Since a normal lunch anywhere else would normally cost double that, it's evident the church is not profiteering off the lunch (as you would expect a church should not). They are pretty much charging for the ingredients in the lunch, and perhaps a little for any cleaning materials required (soap etc.) to clean up afterwards. In like manner, Trag, you are not buying something for one penny and then trying to charge us a dollar for it. You are selling something for a price as cheap or cheaper than the cheapest places we can find on the net for such items! And again, where can one find all the values needed for an SE/30 recap in one place and in the right quantities? No where except from you here on this site.
I am also shocked that no one other than myself has chimed in on this. Does no one understand what a true "service to the community" is? Trag, yours is a "low-cost recapping service" indeed. May it gain sticky status as soon as possible. And thank you for paying the upfront costs to make this service available to all of us here on the 68kMLA.
I attend a church here in Japan. Each Sunday the church has a lunch after the morning services conclude. They charge ¥250 for the lunch, which includes drinks. Since a normal lunch anywhere else would normally cost double that, it's evident the church is not profiteering off the lunch (as you would expect a church should not). They are pretty much charging for the ingredients in the lunch, and perhaps a little for any cleaning materials required (soap etc.) to clean up afterwards. In like manner, Trag, you are not buying something for one penny and then trying to charge us a dollar for it. You are selling something for a price as cheap or cheaper than the cheapest places we can find on the net for such items! And again, where can one find all the values needed for an SE/30 recap in one place and in the right quantities? No where except from you here on this site.
I am also shocked that no one other than myself has chimed in on this. Does no one understand what a true "service to the community" is? Trag, yours is a "low-cost recapping service" indeed. May it gain sticky status as soon as possible. And thank you for paying the upfront costs to make this service available to all of us here on the 68kMLA.
phreakout
Well-known member
Hey guys! Just thought I'd jump in.
To clarify, yes, I can still offer my services, even though I'm having technical problems with my only SE/30 which has been used to test logic boards. The problem I'm having is with the analog board. Lately it has been giving me a black screen with a horizontal line in the center. Doing some reasearch told me it was the Vertical Sweep IC (U2), to which I tried replacing. In addition, I also reworked P1, just in case. Neither of these fixed the issue, so now I'm in the search for a new analog board; one that is compatible with the power supply.
Originally, it was a Mac SE dual 800K. But when the ADB went dead on the logic board, I bought an SE/30 logic board and started upgrading the drives as well. The analog board, power supply and CRT are the only original parts from the previous machine. The trouble for me is trying to get a straight up answer as to whether certain analog boards will be fully compatible if I were to buy it from a seller. I don't want to end up with a wrong part or break anything further if I get the wrong board. I'm going to be more open to even buying an SE/30 that works and have that replace the one I've been testing with.
Put simply, despite my technical problems, I'll continue to recap SE/30s (or any logic board for that matter). It's just that I can't do any testing. I will resume testing once I get a replacement SE or SE/30 purchased. I'm not letting this one problem prevent me from doing what I am capable of. Just understand that I'm completing the recapping work untested, but very confident that I did it right.
I think that the threads, be it Trag's, JDW's, mine or anyone else who is helping out in this process, should be made a sticky. This way, if other members want information, want to try and DIY or ask the expert(s) to help them out since they aren't sure what to do, they can go here and find out who to contact or what places to get parts, etc. I can hope that what knowledge I've gained can be passed on to others who are just getting started. We're here to gain knowledge for ourselves and also to pass it along to others. This will make understanding everything much easier and provide a complete reference of the hardware and software. Heck, back 5 to 10 years ago, most of what information I needed regarding Macs required a visit to your local Mac Users Group. Sadly, the group in my local area has disolved as of a few years ago and this has become one of a few forums I frequent to help answer questions I have.
I can't thank everyone enough for the valuable information you've passed on or help you've provided. It helps to make my Mac experience a more pleasant one and I hope it does the same for you as well.
73s de Joe aka Phreakout. :rambo:
To clarify, yes, I can still offer my services, even though I'm having technical problems with my only SE/30 which has been used to test logic boards. The problem I'm having is with the analog board. Lately it has been giving me a black screen with a horizontal line in the center. Doing some reasearch told me it was the Vertical Sweep IC (U2), to which I tried replacing. In addition, I also reworked P1, just in case. Neither of these fixed the issue, so now I'm in the search for a new analog board; one that is compatible with the power supply.
Originally, it was a Mac SE dual 800K. But when the ADB went dead on the logic board, I bought an SE/30 logic board and started upgrading the drives as well. The analog board, power supply and CRT are the only original parts from the previous machine. The trouble for me is trying to get a straight up answer as to whether certain analog boards will be fully compatible if I were to buy it from a seller. I don't want to end up with a wrong part or break anything further if I get the wrong board. I'm going to be more open to even buying an SE/30 that works and have that replace the one I've been testing with.
Put simply, despite my technical problems, I'll continue to recap SE/30s (or any logic board for that matter). It's just that I can't do any testing. I will resume testing once I get a replacement SE or SE/30 purchased. I'm not letting this one problem prevent me from doing what I am capable of. Just understand that I'm completing the recapping work untested, but very confident that I did it right.
I think that the threads, be it Trag's, JDW's, mine or anyone else who is helping out in this process, should be made a sticky. This way, if other members want information, want to try and DIY or ask the expert(s) to help them out since they aren't sure what to do, they can go here and find out who to contact or what places to get parts, etc. I can hope that what knowledge I've gained can be passed on to others who are just getting started. We're here to gain knowledge for ourselves and also to pass it along to others. This will make understanding everything much easier and provide a complete reference of the hardware and software. Heck, back 5 to 10 years ago, most of what information I needed regarding Macs required a visit to your local Mac Users Group. Sadly, the group in my local area has disolved as of a few years ago and this has become one of a few forums I frequent to help answer questions I have.
I can't thank everyone enough for the valuable information you've passed on or help you've provided. It helps to make my Mac experience a more pleasant one and I hope it does the same for you as well.
73s de Joe aka Phreakout. :rambo:
Mk.558
Well-known member
How about we sticky this thread, now that we have this? |)
ETA:
Oh, and I'd like to say: if I was doing this again, I'd use axial tantalum capacitors, as SMTs are frightfully small to solder for a novice like me (there's quite a small space to solder a connection onto). Now JDWs work pictured above was suitable for pictures, so I used that...
ETA:
Oh, and I'd like to say: if I was doing this again, I'd use axial tantalum capacitors, as SMTs are frightfully small to solder for a novice like me (there's quite a small space to solder a connection onto). Now JDWs work pictured above was suitable for pictures, so I used that...
Firstly, I do not dispute that trag and phreakout are anything but well intentioned and they offer a great service to the community.
However, I would not really feel right stickying a thread primarily about a commercial service.
What I suggest instead is that a new thread be created, and that it is primarily an informative reference about capacitor death, covering washing of the boards as perhaps a temporary fix, resoldering, diagrams such as that great one which was just posted. Then at the end it could have a paragraph mentioning those who offer services such as cap sets or replacement.
I think that a thread written in that way would be OK to sticky. Hope this sounds like a good solution to you guys?
However, I would not really feel right stickying a thread primarily about a commercial service.
What I suggest instead is that a new thread be created, and that it is primarily an informative reference about capacitor death, covering washing of the boards as perhaps a temporary fix, resoldering, diagrams such as that great one which was just posted. Then at the end it could have a paragraph mentioning those who offer services such as cap sets or replacement.
I think that a thread written in that way would be OK to sticky. Hope this sounds like a good solution to you guys?
Well, we have a Wiki article on the topic which does pretty much all of that. I think our user Dennis Nedry got it started and several people have added to it. It may be that the 68kmla Wiki is not as noticeable to folks as the forum postings. Perhaps what we really need is a sticky in Compact Macs and maybe Mac II, Quadra & Centris pointing folks at the Wiki.
I think I'll go edit the Wiki article to modify my recommendation of a pair of 15 watt pencils. In my experience those have always been fine for surface mount resistors and caps and such. But the decoupling caps on the Mac board seem to sink a lot of heat into the ground and/or power planes and one either needs extra patience with the 15 watt pencils, or a higher wattage pencil. Personally, I'm fine with using extra patience, but folks need to be forewarned, because impatience makes them do things like jam the pencil tip into the pad and twist and such.
I think I'll go edit the Wiki article to modify my recommendation of a pair of 15 watt pencils. In my experience those have always been fine for surface mount resistors and caps and such. But the decoupling caps on the Mac board seem to sink a lot of heat into the ground and/or power planes and one either needs extra patience with the 15 watt pencils, or a higher wattage pencil. Personally, I'm fine with using extra patience, but folks need to be forewarned, because impatience makes them do things like jam the pencil tip into the pad and twist and such.
Scott Baret
Well-known member
I like Coxy's recommendation. Being the author of a stickied thread in this forum, I feel the reason to have an easily-accessible thread is to provide information on a commonly-questioned topic available immediately so we don't get a dozen topics per year on the same item. This also eliminates the need to constantly use the search function.
I have two troubles with the over-reliance on the search function. First, many novice users may find a thread or post which they may inadvertently think pertains to their intended query but in reality does not. Second, many threads tend to go off-topic, and navigating such threads often leads to frustration or misunderstanding. Both of these are eliminated with the stickied thread.
As a forum, I think we need to start improving the quantity of information available on our wiki. However, I feel they are not a substitute for static information in a stickied thread, which is known, factual, and cannot be edited. A delinquent poster could always erase or incorrectly modify the information in the wiki at any time, which would nullify the purpose of an information repository. The wiki can be a supplement for the information on this forum, but cannot replace it entirely. Therefore, I feel a thread on a very common discussion point–the recapping and refurbishing of a very popular compact model–is a must provided Coxy's recommendations on which information to include are followed.
I have two troubles with the over-reliance on the search function. First, many novice users may find a thread or post which they may inadvertently think pertains to their intended query but in reality does not. Second, many threads tend to go off-topic, and navigating such threads often leads to frustration or misunderstanding. Both of these are eliminated with the stickied thread.
As a forum, I think we need to start improving the quantity of information available on our wiki. However, I feel they are not a substitute for static information in a stickied thread, which is known, factual, and cannot be edited. A delinquent poster could always erase or incorrectly modify the information in the wiki at any time, which would nullify the purpose of an information repository. The wiki can be a supplement for the information on this forum, but cannot replace it entirely. Therefore, I feel a thread on a very common discussion point–the recapping and refurbishing of a very popular compact model–is a must provided Coxy's recommendations on which information to include are followed.
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