SE/30 recap questions?

[jovianartifact]

Sorry if this is a repost, or common knowledge, or in the wrong place, but here goes- I have an SE/30 that I picked up a few months ago. It booted up and everything seemed to work 100% except sound and a tiny black spot on the display. I thought well, pretty good so far, let’s take a look inside. So I pulled the board out, and a cap fell off. Not good. It’s been sitting in my closet since. Now, I would just do it myself, but seeing as I screwed up simply soldering wires together before, I want to outsource. My questions being:

what is a reasonable price for such a thing?
would someone here do it for an agreed upon amount?
am I being a baby and just need to man up and do it?

I’ve wanted an SE/30 for a long time and this one is in great shape; I’d just hate to ruin it because I bit off more than I can chew. Any suggestions or recommendations from you guys? Thanks!

 

[s_pupp]

If you are not comfortable doing it yourself, don’t do it on an SE/30 board. Fourteen years ago, when first learning surface mount work, I badly damaged an absolutely pristine SE/30 board. My advice is to learn from my mistake, and practice on a waste board until you are comfortable. The Pace soldering lessons and the videos by Mr Solderfix, both on YouTube, are very helpful.

I believe Amiga of Rochester can perform a recap service. There are some services also via eBay.

 

[se30]

Agree, with @s_pupp, do not attempt this if you are not comfortable or have the right equipment, expertise or time to do this. These boards are already becoming super rare. It also makes future repair work more challenging if you fail to repair the board properly. Don't trust just anyone to do this work. Plenty of seasoned people do vintage repair work, just make sure you vet their existing work to ensure that quality replacement parts are sourced and their solder work is solid. It is important that you pick a shop or individual that specializes in vintage rework.

Keep any parts that have come off the board and send them along with the board to whoever you choose to do the replacement work. You should not need to send the entire computer.

If you haven't yet you should also have the analog board inspected and the PSU.

 

[jovianartifact]

Thanks for the replies guys. I've called around already and it doesn't seem like anyone local will do it, so I'll probably just save my pennies (while I still can) and go the eBay route.

 

[smrieck511]

Thanks for the replies guys. I've called around already and it doesn't seem like anyone local will do it, so I'll probably just save my pennies (while I still can) and go the eBay route.

Agreed. an SE/30 board is not where you want to hone your skills. If you're around Atlanta by chance, I'd be happy to help.

 

[obsolete]

@WillJac / Caymac Vintage is another good option to save your SE/30 board.

 

[Fred1212]

+1 for Caymac Will knows them backards