Recent content by DJ68K

Yeah, I've done that a few times, but some of the machines I get have been sitting in a barn/garage for 20 years untouched and they do not come apart. Sometimes they need some prying, and I'm not talking twisting the screwdriver against the crack in the case. Just simple easing apart the stuck...

It's good to see that thing again! When I helped close down the Apple Dealer I worked for until about 2012, the case opener is one of the things I wish I'd grabbed, especially now that I have something like two dozen Mac Classic-style machines in my collection which I'd've never dreamed of being...

I was looking over older pictures and your current pictures and I just noticed you're missing the Q1 IC above the power/video connector on the board. I looked through some of my old pictures of Classic repairs and the marking on the chip is 9L05A (and labeled on some of my boards as VR1). On...

Does anything change if you plug in the 1MB RAM card? How about with the card plus two 30 pin SIMMs?

I found a fairly extensive walkthrough of a repair here that might have some extra hints/clues; the attached picture is borrowed from that site. It appears that pins 1, 13, & 14 are all tied together and connected to a VIA under the IC. The VIA should connect to one side of R69 on the opposite...

It looks like the "Screen" adjustment is overdriving the flyback. I suggest you adjust the brightness/contrast dials on the analog board. The Service Manual (page 89) has instructions on how to do this; ignore the light meter stuff (unless you have one) and adjust it so the non-lit areas around...

I'll second SpocksBeer: Once you've "scraped into" the corrosion with a sharp blade, the flux/solder blob/scraping with the iron might work better. I'm seeing the same thing bibilit is that the capacitor pads all look good and usable. I should've mentioned this before: I strongly encourage you...

A bit of new news on this: I have another Performa 520 that's been sitting for several years that I got at VCFMW 2023 without drives or logic board as part of a deal I made with a seller in the parking lot. I figured I'd take it apart, look things over, and decide whether to recap the analog...

Get yourself an ATX extension cable. Only part of it will fit in the harness but it'll let you set the board on the table next to the computer so you can work on it while it's running. It's VERY useful when you're using a logic probe or oscilloscope.

Looking at the back of the analog board I see the telltale signs of rot creeping through the board; those are the "black dots" around some of the through hole components. I see it a lot near the transformer and speaker because the capacitors in that area are terrible. Your board's not too bad...

A year and small change ago I picked up a lot of 3 Classics, 1 SE, 1 LCIII, and 1 PowerBook 5300c from Facebook Marketplace. The SE had an exploded Maxell battery with the least amount of damage I've ever seen. I swapped in a new battery holder, cleaned/recapped, grinded/sanded/painted the...

Sounds good to me! Decapped, cleaned, neutralized, recapped, and coated. Time to get the rest of it cleaned up & reassembled. Thanks!

I'm working through a full restoration of a Performa 550 w/ Apple IIe card and it has this microphone board (820-0388) with two leaky capacitors. I'm not sure if these are 33u or 4.7u capacitors (tempted to believe they're 4.7u and the 33 is the series or something like that). I can try to...

These caps look like the same type of capacitor that infests & is wrecking every Sega Game Gear ever made. I guess I have a weekend ahead of me with my QuickTake. Before and after pics of a Game Gear attached.

I've become a fan of using vinegar to help clean up capacitor corrosion. The corrosion is alkaline, so a mild acid like vinegar helps neutralize and clean. Food-grade vacuum seal bags are stellar for this purpose as they won't leak from the corners like most Ziploc bags tend to. I keep vinegar...