Seriously corroded Macintosh color classic

[amstrudy]

Hi! I’m totally new to this forum and new to the vintage Mac scene, but I love all things retro and when someone gave me a Macintosh color classic to try to fix, I was super excited! The machine turns on (I hear the fan) and emits three monotone beeps. Not the chimes of death, but something I can’t figure out. I busted out the logic board, and wow. There was some serious corrosion. I tried to clean it up with some isopropyl alcohol and cotton balls, but some resistors totally fell off and I can see connectors that are completely worn through. I’ve attached some photos. What should I do? I only see one really leaky cap. Should I try dishwashing it? I’ve heard of this method but I don’t know how to go about I to without a. ruining my dishwasher or b. ruining the board. Any suggestions would be very welcome! Thanks, and glad to be a part of this community!

 

[beachycove]

In and of itself, water will not damage such circuitry. It was washed at the factory, in fact, so a fresh wash in a dishwasher with no soap will not harm things. The key is to dry the board well for a few days before use. 

To be honest, however, that little guy may well be past fixing. The lithium battery has seemingly exploded, and this rather than caps is the source of the major corrosion pictured. Lithium is a nasty, poisonous and environmentally dangerous chemical, so I would certainly not want to put that board anywhere near a dishwasher. if I were you I’d probably just send the logic board off to electronics recycling and look for a Colour Classic, LC520, LC550, or LC575 logic board to start again from a clean slate. You  could start with a want to buy ad.

Any of these will work in a CC chassis, if you know what you are doing, though a genuine CC logic board would be easiest because its use involves no hacks (small software hacks are possible, assuming you have another old Mac to work with, so the hack in question is not necessarily forbidding). 

CCs are, however, dreadfully slow machines with the stock board. Be warned.

I should add that disused CC logic boards have been known to play dead until a few hours after reassembly, with trickle power (switch on the back) turned on. I have had no such trouble from any of the other logic boards mentioned.

Good luck! My CC is one of my favourites, though I run mine with one of these upgrades.

 

[bibilit]

Sorry to say so, the this board is a lost cause.

Many pins are missing from the 68030, not talking about the surroundings of the battery components.

 

[Alex]

Uff, repairing this would be a lot of work, a lot of work indeed. You are best to get a replacement logic board. Contact http://www.applerescueofdenver.com they may have a replacement board for you. They list a lot of stuff on their site but they do have items not listed. I recommend you contact them directly and enquire. Fixing the board you have would be a very tedious job and would require expert intervention.

 

[CVKealey]

Sent you a PM...I may have a board for you.

 

[amstrudy]

Thanks everyone! Sounds like this board is done for. I'm honestly surprised this thing turned on in the first place. My only remaining question - is any part of it usable for parts? Only a small portion of the board has the serious damage on it, and I would love to get it into the hands of someone who could use it.

 

[Bolle]

I have a CC logic board with a broken soundchip. I transplanted my working chip from my spare test board to someone else’s board when doing a recap. If you decide to make this a parts donor board I would happily take it to restore my test board to full functionality.

The soundchip is on the opposite end of the board so it will probably be fine - even more so if it did actually give some beeps when turning on.

 

[AlpineRaven]

Dont chuck out the CC!!!! (which people would! As I am looking for rear piece of CC too) - sad sight of the board I agree and looks like its beyond repair too. What I'd do either; find another CC board, or get LC550 or LC575 - if you're able to get 3/4 board - some other Macs such as LC630 have full size board, so 3/4 boards will fit but full size wont.

Cheers

AP

 

[CVKealey]

Dont chuck out the CC!!!! (which people would! As I am looking for rear piece of CC too) - sad sight of the board I agree and looks like its beyond repair too. What I'd do either; find another CC board, or get LC550 or LC575 - if you're able to get 3/4 board - some other Macs such as LC630 have full size board, so 3/4 boards will fit but full size wont.

Cheers

AP

Not to hijack the thread, but what "rear piece" are you looking for? Something external (the I/O panel) or something internal?

 

[AlpineRaven]

Not to hijack the thread, but what "rear piece" are you looking for? Something external (the I/O panel) or something internal?

Its the rear cover housing - not the i/o panel. Problem is I am in Australia and its quite limited to find parts like that. It got damaged in transit due poor packaging.
Cheers

AP

 

[just.in.time]

That board is definitely dead. It didn’t really turn on. Like a car with a siezed engine... maybe the radio turned on, but it sure isn’t going anywhere.

Everyone has already provided great recommendations for a replacement board.

While the stock Color Classic logic board is relatively slow, it still makes a great System 7.1 board (especially for the software that runs on the CC native resolution). That said, when a part has “Color Classic” in the name you pay a premium at eBay. You can probably find an LC520 board for a bit cheaper, while getting a nice boost in performance.

performance:

CC<<<LC520<LC550/CCII<<<<<<LC575

(LC550 and CCII board are essentially the same board, and offer nearly identical performance)

cost (logic board), in my experience:

LC520<CC<LC550<CCII<LC575

 

[Brett B.]

I would be interested in taking the machine itself off your hands if you decide that you want to part ways with it.  I just happen to have an LC550 board that I've been saving for a board-less Color Classic for about 15 years...