First ever desktop Mac! - LC

[68kPlus]

Hi everyone,

Haven't been active here in a while - been clearing out a few Macs and just working out what I want to do with my collection.
Recently I came into possession of a complete Macintosh LC set for free, but it has some issues:

-The Mac LC shows no signs of life at all
-There's a stupid anti-theft metal bracket on the side, stuck with adhesive
-I have no prior knowledge on issues with LCs

Would love to hear some pointers for where to go with this Mac LC - it's quite exciting to finally have something faster than a 68000 in my collection!

-68kPlus

 

[Juror22]

I see re-capping in your future, starting with the power supply (likely the cause of the your 'no sign's of life' issue) and because all the LC model's caps are leaking now, even if there are no overt signs. Obviously you will want to check the voltages on the PSU, before you begin to either recap or replace it to be sure.

I've had antitheft devices on a couple of computers and most yielded to either chemical adhesive removers, carefully applied heat, leverage or a combination of all three. The worst one I encountered involved using a cutoff wheel to remove portions of a very well attached metal disk, but the rest came off fairly easily and without damaging the plastic.

Congratulations on your new (and free!) acquisition.

 

[68kPlus]

I think it might require recapping - I just tried it again with a fresh PRAM battery and it's making a repetitive clicking noise - seems like it's coming from the speaker.
There is a fishy-capacitor smell coming from the logic board - that's not a great sign as I haven't done any surface mount soldering before.

I had a feeling it would involve adhesive removers and that kinda stuff - guess I will get started on that.

Thanks for the tips!
It's certainly awesome to finally own an LC - it's also got the colour display with it

 

[joshc]

Congrats, the LC isn't a bad Mac - of course it's slow and low-end, but that's what it was always meant to be.

If it has the original caps, then it is far overdue a recap by now. It's worth finding someone to do that logicboard recap for you if you are not comfortable with it. I think Bruce has stopped doing recapping now though, so I'm not sure if anyone else in Australia offers that. Otherwise, you could practice on scrap boards to gain confidence with SMD soldering. If you want to do that, I am happy to offer advice about the methods I use and what I found that worked for me, as I taught myself and it took some time to gain confidence and skill but it's definitely doable yourself once you have practised a bit.

-There's a stupid anti-theft metal bracket on the side, stuck with adhesive

Gently heat this, if you have a hairdryer or heat gun, before attempting removal. WD40 or Isopropyl alcohol will break down adhesive, so worth hitting it with that too. If it is super stubborn, it might be best left alone.

-I have no prior knowledge on issues with LCs

They are pretty robust machines, once recapped. Bad caps on the logicboard and in the power supply are the main culprit of problems. The other one is the Egret which can cause startup issues, but this is usually because its been affected by cap goo - and sometimes needs to be removed to be fully cleaned underneath. However, I wouldn't concern yourself with that until a recap has been attempted.