SE/30 Reviving

[Frozen001]

SO I am on a mission to get my old SE/30 that I have had kicking around for a few years up and running.  A few years ago it worked fine, but now it is totally dead.  I have to pick up the right tool to get the case apart since I seem to have lost the one I used to use.

So right now when I turn it on I the fan turns on, I floppy cycles and that is it.  A couple of times it gave me a bong, then one time it gave be the tones of death, so I am leaning toward power supply issues.

On the list of things to do are

1) install a SCSI to SD card adapter

2) A complete recap.

Does anyone have a list of mouser/Digikey part numbers to do a complete recap on an SE/30?

 

[SlateBlue]

Forum member trag sells cap kits for the logic board.

 

[Elfen]

Leaking Caps and broken traces.

You can look up the caps on Mouser, Digikey and/or Newark/Element 14. Their search algorithm is basically straight forward.

Trag is a great source, he'll explain a few things that do not makes sense if you need it explained.

If you are using Tantalum caps, I prefer using black ones over yellow ones. To me the black ones look like they belong there, the yellow ones look like it says "Made in some 3rd world Asian Country using Slave Wage Labor."

 

[Frozen001]

I sent Trag a PM.  I know how to use the search, but caps come in different sizez and packages I fugure someone has already looked them up and done the comparison to size and footprint.

 

[Frozen001]

OK so my case tool came in today, and I opened it up, and found no leaking caps, or bad traces, but one of the SIMMS was loose.  I reseated it and put it back together.  It booted up believe it or not, but when to the disk with the question mark.  I turned it off, waited a few seconds, then turned it back on, and I got a bunch of vertical lines on the screen, and it did not boot.  I found that if I turn it off and let it sit it will boot, and I get the power up sound and then it will go to the question mark.  I am guessing this is a sign of bad caps.  I ordered a set from trag so as soon as those come it it will get recapped, and hopefully back to working.  From there it will be the SCSC2SD install and then who knows where.  I also need to check the PSU out while I am at it.  What is the best what to discharge the high voltage so I to not get a shock.  I will probably leave it off for the weekend since I am going out of town so maybe a few day off will be enough to let the high voltage bleed off.

 

[Elfen]

Of course its bad caps, but from the sound of it it is also either a bad hard drive or the traces to the SCSI Chip and Ports were eaten away by the cap goo. You can not look at the board with your bare eyes and say "Yup, this looks good." You need a magnifying glass and actually look at it and trace it from point to point with a multimeter.

Knowing that it works means that the board as minimal damage and maybe, just maybe, replacing the caps will fix it 100%. But check your work and check those traces.

Almost forget - REMOVE THAT BATTERY! Replace it if you can but if you can't, that's OK too - just remove it so it wont explode on your board!

Edit: I tend to buy an over rated Cap - if the cap being replaced is 15V, I replace it with a 20V one. This way it can handle the surges a bit better and last longer. In theory, my Macs I recapped should last another 50 years, technically longer than I will... but this is a race I intend to win!

You need to measure the space to get an approximate size, but SMT/SMD caps should be around that size to begin with and the pads they rest on are rather large so almost any cap will do. I tend to look at the top 5  10 caps on the list and forget the rest,

 

[aplmak]

Elfen can you imagine the reaction to an SE/30 in 50 years???? It will be priceless to see the reaction... Hopefully there will also be a good amount of collectors looking to acquire them as well.. lol!

 

[Elfen]

Elfen can you imagine the reaction to an SE/30 in 50 years???? It will be priceless to see the reaction... Hopefully there will also be a good amount of collectors looking to acquire them as well.. lol!

It would be great. The Logic board will last that long; they lasted this long, in some cases over 30 years, in the f'ed up condition they are in with bad leaky caps and all. Using the solid state caps (Ceramic, Tantalum, Polyester, etc), they will never leak again. The only things left are the Analog board, PSU, and CRT Tube. If there were solid state caps for that (and I sure they are, but out of the consumer's reach), you can get an Classic Mac to go another 50 to 75 years in theory! We 68KMLA members will still be mousing around while the rest of the planet is mucking around in 3D VR Desktops looking for files they misplaced in 3D VR Space! LOL!

 

[aplmak]

I really think robotics combined with artificial intelligence is going to be big as well... have you checked out Nao V5... I want one so bad but so expensive... sorry totally getting off topic... should make a new thread... And googles robot is crazy as well..

 

[techknight]

Problem with AI is run-away. Skynet anyone? 

 

[aplmak]

Skynet!!! LOL!!! I can see this happening... thank god I will be either close to death or already dead! Perhaps we will be Borg by then... lol

 

[Elfen]

In my topic (around 2014 in the Hack Section) I addressed the possibility of what has to be done to get a Mac Space worthy. Though few answered on the possible idea, as there are a few things in there that carries over to Mac Repairs (such as the SE\30 here), and one of them was to use Solid State Caps.

I also posted a link on that thread about Apple and some company (Sky Corp. I think) of sending several Mac G4 Cubes into space to add to their Text Messaging Service. Question - what did they do to get a G4 Cube to survive in space? Solid state caps, even in the Power Supply Section, though the PSU is modified to run from 20 - 40VDC from solar panels and batteries and not from 120-240VAC. The Hard drive has to be Solid State too. And all that is doable. Thus if a Mac G4 Cube can survive in the cold hard radioactive vacuum of space for 10+ years, a Mac SE 30 with the right amount of work can last in theory 50+ years.

As for the runaway AI... where's that Off Switch! I'm turning it off!