1988 Mac Classic won't boot up

[smrieck511]

Just in case you're worried about shipping to Atlanta I'm up in the LA area, but if you ever go as far north as Orange County I could meet up for either a drop off or an inperson repair in the Huntington Beach area. I've restored a dozen Mac SEs, a couple Plus machines, a Max IIci, an SE/30, and recapped a Classic.

I also wouldn't charge for the work. I'd just need the parts. It's pretty zen to sit back and work on these machines.

Exactly lol...very zen.

 

[sloanantony]

If you want to pay for the capacitors (roughly $50 of caps to recap the analog board, logic board and floppy drive.) plus shipping to/from Atlanta, I'd be happy to whip that sucker into shape. I've done about eight of these without any problems. I wouldn't charge for the work...that's just a couple hours of fun.

Reconditioning the floppy drive involves, recap, lube, cleaning the heads and replacing a motor gear. That would be about $10 for the gear but it would be much more reliable.

Wow, that's generous of you. I'm back out on the road in a couple of days. I will be gone for about 2 weeks--so can I get in touch with you when I get back? I assume another couple of weeks just sitting in my home office, unplugged, won't hurt anything? Thanks for the responsiveness--I'll be in touch as soon as I get back from my trip. BTW--I would have to insist on paying you fr your time--but we can work that out

 

[sloanantony]

Hi--I'm so impressed with this forum--so many cool people willing to help. So, actually, I'm in Orange County at least once a month--and driving it to Huntington Beach versus shipping it to Atlanta might make more sense. I just explained to smrieck511, I'm about to go back out on the road for a couple of weeks--may I circle back with you then? In addition to the parts, I would also want to pay you for your time, though--and obviously cover any other expenses. I appreciate the offer to help--I will definitely be back in touch when I'm back home in a couple weeks. I assume the computer will be fine just sitting in my office, unplugged, for a couple more weeks?

 

[adespoton]

Hi--I'm so impressed with this forum--so many cool people willing to help. So, actually, I'm in Orange County at least once a month--and driving it to Huntington Beach versus shipping it to Atlanta might make more sense. I just explained to smrieck511, I'm about to go back out on the road for a couple of weeks--may I circle back with you then? In addition to the parts, I would also want to pay you for your time, though--and obviously cover any other expenses. I appreciate the offer to help--I will definitely be back in touch when I'm back home in a couple weeks. I assume the computer will be fine just sitting in my office, unplugged, for a couple more weeks?

A couple more weeks is unlikely to make much of a difference; it's been 35 years so far, and the already failed caps have likely been failed for over a decade already.

 

[jasonfortheworld]

Hi--I'm so impressed with this forum--so many cool people willing to help. So, actually, I'm in Orange County at least once a month--and driving it to Huntington Beach versus shipping it to Atlanta might make more sense. I just explained to smrieck511, I'm about to go back out on the road for a couple of weeks--may I circle back with you then? In addition to the parts, I would also want to pay you for your time, though--and obviously cover any other expenses. I appreciate the offer to help--I will definitely be back in touch when I'm back home in a couple weeks. I assume the computer will be fine just sitting in my office, unplugged, for a couple more weeks?

That all sounds good to me! I'll send you a private message with the parts you'll want to order. You can reach back out through that message when you're ready to organize a meeting up.

 

[sloanantony]

That all sounds good to me! I'll send you a private message with the parts you'll want to order. You can reach back out through that message when you're ready to organize a meeting up.

Tank you, mate!

 

[sloanantony]

A couple more weeks is unlikely to make much of a difference; it's been 35 years so far, and the already failed caps have likely been failed for over a decade already.

Actually, as recently as about a year ago, it booted up just fine. I don't know if that means anything?

 

[jasonfortheworld]

Actually, as recently as about a year ago, it booted up just fine. I don't know if that means anything?

Not really. Capacitors tend to slowly fail over time. The computer can still chug along just fine even as they are starting to leak. The biggest concern would be corrosion caused by the leaking capacitors, but a few weeks probably won't make a huge difference.

The other possibility is the battery that maintains the clock could have exploded or leaked, but again, it's unlikely that a few weeks will make too much of a difference.