JB; 128k mac repair and 128k macs in Australia in general

[Peter.Howard]

Hello there JB

You are doing great things with that 128k you have there and bringing it back to life

I thought I would start my own thread rather than clutter yours up with my ramblings

128k's seem really really rare here in Australia, I used to collect Apple stuff about 15 years ago and the best I could find was a 128k that had been upgraded to a 512k.

I remember how heavy the logic board was as it had another board added directly on top of the 128k board, about 1/3 of the size of the whole logic board with banks of memory chips. (didn't have any additional ports or connectors)

I had a few 512k's, but finding a 128k back then seemed impossible.

Not sure if I'd ever find another one nowdays

 

[Byrd]

Hi Peter!

Thanks for the post and your stories. Like you I've never come across any original 128Ks in the wilds of Australia until now - 512K, Pluses and SEs have always been common as muck. The sad thing being that most would have been destroyed, or upgraded as you noted. I'm holding onto the spare 512K board I have for parts, with the assumption that more RAM failure may be on the cards in future. I'd keep looking though, certainly mine popped up when i was least expecting it.

So far, so good - the 400K floppy was completely seized, so I ran the metal eject mechanism through my ultrasonic cleaner at work, which freed up some parts but still needed lots of brute force and lubrication to get things moving smoothly after so many years. The drive now works, and I'm surprised at how quick things are - unless you needed heaps of disk space, running everything off a floppy with System 1.1 is amazingly quick. Next job is to clean up the Imagewriter I printer it came with, and to find/make a printer cable for it. Amusingly, someone got to it before me and cut all the cables off (they did the same with a lampshade iMac G4 - silly, why leave what is such a amazing looking computer for $0.02c of cable?).

JB

 

[Peter.Howard]

Yeah if I was you id be stocking up on a few logic boards and even old mac pluses that you can gutt for the power supply and analog board.

Are there any other Australian 128k owners here?

Or Lisa owners for that matter, I did have a Lisa 2/5, running system 5 with the unmodded screen kit (tall trash can)

I am hoping to find ether a Lisa or Mac128k to relive the good old days again.

 

[Mac128]

Check the M0001 database. The Database file has been recently updated to download and import into Excel or other database to do an easy sort & search.

http://mac128.com/m0001

 

[Peter.Howard]

Hey JB I was reading in another thread that you have a second 128k?

do you have any pics or info about that, love to hear more about it and what you are up to with it.

 

[Mac128]

Now the shoe is on the other foot ... a Macintosh 128K, M0001 P from down-under showing up in the US eBay listings!

Only $170 Australian to ship to the US!! Now that's a bargain!! :beige:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220733657193

Anybody know if the convertible 220V PSU is more robust than the 120V US version? Or perhaps if used at 120 instead of 220? Did the international variants have a better repair track record than the US counterparts?

 

[shred]

The Australian Mac 128k machines had 110v power supplies and shipped with an external 240v => 110v step down transformer. However, nearly every 128k that I encountered had at some stage been connected directly to 240v and had its original power/sweep board "blown up".

I suspect that this machine has had its original power/sweep board replaced with a 240v one at some stage during its life.

From what I understand, the convertible / 240v Power/Sweep boards were even LESS reliable than the 110v ones used elsewhere.

 

[Mac128]

The Australian Mac 128k machines had 110v power supplies and shipped with an external 240v => 110v step down transformer.

Wow. That's the first I've ever heard of this! Hard to believe it would have been assigned a separate model number, since it would be 100% identical to the 120V US M0001 128K. An external converter wouldn't warrant a different model number on the main unit, or a 220V agency label. If this analogue board is a replacement, they also replaced the agency label (unless the original label was erroneously applied, which would explain why folks down under plugged it directly into the wall). I presume this changed with the 512K? And if so, perhaps the 128K got an upgraded PSB at that time, but before Apple started using the 128K bucket badge - explaining why this 128K has a 240V agency label (it was manufactured during the 37th week of '84, which is the second week of September which is the same week the 512K was introduced).

Either way, I would love to see a picture of, and get a model number for an original Apple transformer. Was it just a non-discript brick, or did it have the "Manock" treatment? Was this only for the Macintosh, or was it something that was sold for the Apple II and Lisa as well (or did those computers have 220V PSUs)?

Even more flakey, huh? Yeah I suppose I can believe that. More things to go wrong.

 

[shred]

The AU Mac 512k machines were all 240v.

The step down transformer was nothing special: just a white metal box. The Apple IIs were always 240v and I don't know about the Lisas.

I'll see if I can find an old Apple spare parts price list - the transformer would have been available as a spare part.

 

[Byrd]

The Australian Mac 128k machines had 110v power supplies and shipped with an external 240v => 110v step down transformer. However, nearly every 128k that I encountered had at some stage been connected directly to 240v and had its original power/sweep board "blown up".

Hi shred,

out of interest, were you involved in selling Australian Mac 128K machines? It just seems unusual that they were 110V when the "european" 128K models were all 240V - many later Macs sold in Australia shared Apple European part numbers.

Very interesting - makes me wonder where my two 240V 128K Macs originated from Mine are both bone stock, and appear to not be upgraded (eg. with a later analogue board, 512K board). Apart from repairing the RAM in one, both have been rock solid I have to say - unlike many Pluses from a couple of years later which I've found have several analogue board faults. I appreciate there are probably one hundred fold more Pluses out there in the wild, however

 

[Mac128]

It just seems unusual that they were 110V when the "european" 128K models were all 240V - many later Macs sold in Australia shared Apple European part numbers.Very interesting - makes me wonder where my two 240V 128K Macs originated from Mine are both bone stock, and appear to not be upgraded (eg. with a later analogue board, 512K board).

Post your manufacture dates Byrd. After reading Shred's description of the transformer box, it leads me to speculate that Europe got all the 240V 128Ks they were able to produce as it was likely a stronger market for Apple, and in order to get the Mac to Australia at all, Apple chose to ship the surplus 120V models with a hastily assembled transformer (everything else at Apple was beige, but a white transformer?). Isnt't Japan a 110V too? Remember Apple sold record numbers of 128Ks in the first 100 days, as many as they could produce. By mid-'84, the Mac's future was not quite so rosey and they had plenty of time to catch up with 240V PSB production for Australia.

Of course, if your serial numbers turn out to be early '84, then my theory is shot.

 

[Byrd]

Will do Mac128 - one is a "Macintosh" the other a "Macintosh 128K", so will check out the dates on the weekend.

JB