IIsi saved!

[ktkm]

Hello!

I saved (from Swedish fleamarket) an IIsi, AppleColor High-Res Display and AEK II for 50 SEK (approximately 5.45825 USD) yesterday. No leaking caps and a MacCon ethernet adapter installed.

This is my first IIsi so all tips, tricks or ideas are very welcome!

Cheers from a sunny Stockholm!

/KTKM



 

 

[CC_333]

First of all, check to make sure it doesn't have a red Maxell bomb in the PRAM battery holder, and if it does, and it hasn't created a big ugly mess, get it out ASAP!

Next, a recap is essentially mandatory, as virtually all are leaking by now. If you want you can do it yourself, or I'm sure there's someone on the forums who can help if you don't want to deal with soldering, etc..

After that, you should check out the floppy drive (or have it checked out). They can get caked up with dust and grime, and the 20+ year old grease can harden and seize up the disk loading mechanism.

Another thing you should consider (particularly if the internal hard drive is dead) is a SCSI2SD. They're a little expensive, but they're totally worth it if you want to have the machine remain workable for any length of time.

Hope this helps!

c

 

[tanaquil]

A IIsi for $5? Am I understanding that conversion rate correctly? Sweet!!

Everything @CC_333 said, yes. The IIsi is not super popular with collectors but I have a great fond spot for them.

It looks like your machine came with the same IIsi/SE-30 Ethernet card that was originally in my main IIsi machine. Those cards are worth gold in an SE/30 (and on eBay) because they have the flexibility to fit into the SE/30 case (I moved mine to my SE/30 when I figured this out). The IIsi, by contrast, can fit a range of much less expensive Ethernet cards.

My current Nubus ethernet card is plugged into a PDS-to-Nubus adapter card that also has a slot for an FPU (FPU installed in mine). The FPU is a nice-to-have if you have the opportunity to drop one in.

Have fun! The IIsi is a great machine.

ETA: forgot to say that all three of my IIsi's (none recapped as yet, it's on the project list) have bad sound. This seems to be a routine leaking cap problem with this model. If you have sound issues, try cleaning the speaker contacts, but if that doesn't work, replace those caps.

 

[bibilit]

Great.

The IIsi is a great little machine.

The PSU should probably been recap as well.

 

[PB145B]

The PSU should probably been recap as well.

+1 The caps in my IIsi PSU were leaking badly.

Great find by the way! I have yet to do anything with my IIsi (aside from recapping it) because I don’t have a hard drive or SCSI2SD for it yet.

 

[ktkm]

First of all, check to make sure it doesn't have a red Maxell bomb in the PRAM battery holder, and if it does, and it hasn't created a big ugly mess, get it out ASAP!

No Maxell bomb!   -- The one I removed was blue (can’t remember the brand).

And thanks for all replies suggestions! Next step will be a meticulous cleaning, a new PRAM battery and than a recap. (I’ve been meaning to learn the recapping part for ages!)

If the hard disk is dead I might consider a SCSI2SD (I’ve had good experience with 5.1 in an SE/30).

It looks like your machine came with the same IIsi/SE-30 Ethernet card that was originally in my main IIsi machine. Those cards are worth gold in an SE/30 (and on eBay) because they have the flexibility to fit into the SE/30 case (I moved mine to my SE/30 when I figured this out). The IIsi, by contrast, can fit a range of much less expensive Ethernet cards.

That sound great! I feel like I have won the lottery! I happen to have an extra SE/30 at work as my office mascot.

 

[bibilit]

The IIsi will boot without battery.

The blue ones are Ok, don't remember the name, Sun something, well the logo is a sun anyway.