That burning smell (Apple ][e) -- help in diagnosing / next step?

[aaronPDX]

Booting up after a long time dormant, got that oft-described sweet burning smell. After air purifying a while, I took the power supply outside and started it up and didn't smell anything more. Now indoors, it seems to be functioning okay without much smell.

Wonder if anyone out there can tell from these photos whether there's any must-fix at this point or i can just let it be? I'm not an experienced solderer.

(I suspect the culprit is the little yellow guy in the 3rd pic, as it looks a bit bloated. But also wondering if there's anything of concern inside the ovoid wired piece on the right in the first pic.)

 

[bibilit]

Rifa capacitor

 

[aaronPDX]

Rifa capacitor

Thanks, I suspected that. Is it necessary to remove/replace at this point? If so, how would a total solder newbie go about this?

 

[aaronPDX]

And should any of the smaller white RIFAs be removed?

 

[bibilit]

Yes all of them, cheap and nasty when the go bad.

 

[cheesestraws]

Thanks, I suspected that. Is it necessary to remove/replace at this point? If so, how would a total solder newbie go about this?

The main thing to remember with these is that you must replace them with the same safety class. So if the capacitor says X on it you must replace it with another X-class capacitor and if it says Y on it you must replace it with another Y-class capacitor. Don't buy cheap no-name ones - this is not for the health of your computer, but to prevent you getting an electric shock.

You do need to be a bit careful when working in a power supply - obviously, check it's unplugged, then check it's unplugged again, then discharge any big capacitors - they can hold a charge for a while.

The actual soldering shouldn't be too hard! The joints are reasonably chunky in size.

 

[maceffects]

Yep, RIFA capacitor strikes again!

 

[olePigeon]

 

[JustG]

Post of the day!