UK - Compact Mac repair/service

[jalfrezi]

I've 3 working compact Macs which I would like to get someone to take a look at. I suspect they have not been recapped and that I am living on borrowed time. I'm not confident with electronics and wouldn't want to risk opening the cases myself and shipping the motherboards in case I caused any damage. I've tried to find a company in the UK who would be willing to clean and service for me as well as install some cards in an SE/30 without success.

Can any one point me in the direction of a company who would be able to help. I'm happy to drop off/collect anywhere in the UK.

Simon

 

[Snial]

I've 3 working compact Macs which I would like to get someone to take a look at. I suspect they have not been recapped and that I am living on borrowed time. I'm not confident with electronics and wouldn't want to risk opening the cases myself and shipping the motherboards in case I caused any damage. I've tried to find a company in the UK who would be willing to clean and service for me as well as install some cards in an SE/30 without success.

Can any one point me in the direction of a company who would be able to help. I'm happy to drop off/collect anywhere in the UK.

It's probably quite hard to find computer repair companies that are knowledgable with 68K retro Macs. You might find some expertise at a computer Museum (Retro Computer Museum or Bletchley Park or the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge). I often think there's a good opportunity for the 68KMLA.UK to provide pop-up workshops for this kind of thing. The 68KMLA.UK is fairly well distributed across the UK, so providing a rough location of where you live would help locate the nearest competent person.

That person isn't me. I have some basic skills: I can open a compact Mac without blowing it up, smashing the CRT neck, or electrocuting myself. I've replaced a flyback on a Mac SE (I get a display now, but there's still a fault); I can upgrade RAM or plug in a PDS; install a HD. My current project is to recap two unusually tall SIMMs on my Mac Plus, whose caps have been damaged, but I'm struggling with that - not experienced in recapping. I only have a Mac Plus & SE, so other compact Macs are out of my scope.

I'm a bit confused about your "install some cards", since the SE/30 only has a single PDS doesn't it?

-cheers from Julz

 

[aladds]

I’m based in the outskirts of London and have worked on things like this before, but I am not a company. Feel free to PM me.

 

[cheesestraws]

I'm a bit confused about your "install some cards", since the SE/30 only has a single PDS doesn't it?

I assume a passthrough is in play (e.g. Bolle's combo ethernet riser thingy).

I’m based in the outskirts of London and have worked on things like this before, but I am not a company. Feel free to PM me.

I'll throw in a recommendation for @aladds here - haven't had anything recapped but some electronics I bought were beautifully assembled.

I'm not confident with electronics and wouldn't want to risk opening the cases myself and shipping the motherboards in case I caused any damage

If you're planning to keep and use these machines, you're going to have to get comfortable at least with taking the case off every so often and peering into them. I'm not saying you should attempt the recapping yourself out of nowhere, and no need to, but I would strongly suggest buying the right screwdriver and at least getting familiar with what they look like and how they're laid out inside. If you're putting cards in the SE/30, those will come loose and need reseating at some stage.

If the three compacts are the ones in your signature, then good news - the SE and Plus are insanely robust machines and really rather hard to kill so long as you plug things back in the way you found it. I am an ill-starred wight and all thumbs, and even I've only managed to kill one Plus logic board.

 

[jalfrezi]

I assume a passthrough is in play (e.g. Bolle's combo ethernet riser thingy).

Exactly - I'm looking to purchase a number of Bolle's cards.

I'll throw in a recommendation for @aladds here - haven't had anything recapped but some electronics I bought were beautifully assembled.

If you're planning to keep and use these machines, you're going to have to get comfortable at least with taking the case off every so often and peering into them. I'm not saying you should attempt the recapping yourself out of nowhere, and no need to, but I would strongly suggest buying the right screwdriver and at least getting familiar with what they look like and how they're laid out inside. If you're putting cards in the SE/30, those will come loose and need reseating at some stage.

If the three compacts are the ones in your signature, then good news - the SE and Plus are insanely robust machines and really rather hard to kill so long as you plug things back in the way you found it. I am an ill-starred wight and all thumbs, and even I've only managed to kill one Plus logic board.

I did the same - I also have a now non-working Plus in addition to the units in my sig.

Simon

 

[jalfrezi]

It's probably quite hard to find computer repair companies that are knowledgable with 68K retro Macs. You might find some expertise at a computer Museum (Retro Computer Museum or Bletchley Park or the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge). I often think there's a good opportunity for the 68KMLA.UK to provide pop-up workshops for this kind of thing. The 68KMLA.UK is fairly well distributed across the UK, so providing a rough location of where you live would help locate the nearest competent person.

That person isn't me. I have some basic skills: I can open a compact Mac without blowing it up, smashing the CRT neck, or electrocuting myself. I've replaced a flyback on a Mac SE (I get a display now, but there's still a fault); I can upgrade RAM or plug in a PDS; install a HD. My current project is to recap two unusually tall SIMMs on my Mac Plus, whose caps have been damaged, but I'm struggling with that - not experienced in recapping. I only have a Mac Plus & SE, so other compact Macs are out of my scope.

I'm a bit confused about your "install some cards", since the SE/30 only has a single PDS doesn't it?

-cheers from Julz

Hi Julz -

The SE/30 cards in question can be stacked - only one of them sits directly in the motherboard's PDS slot.

Simon

 

[Snial]

Hi Julz -

The SE/30 cards in question can be stacked - only one of them sits directly in the motherboard's PDS slot.

Simon

Then I'm amazed there's space given the 512* SIMM slots the SE/30 has !

[* I know there's really 'only' 8].

 

[cheesestraws]

I did the same - I also have a now non-working Plus in addition to the units in my sig.

Ahh - hence the reluctance to dismantle the others? Understandable...

 

[mg.man]

The 68KMLA.UK is fairly well distributed across the UK, so providing a rough location of where you live would help locate the nearest competent person.

@jalfrezi - I may have missed it, but I don't believe you've answered this?

 

[jalfrezi]

@jalfrezi - I may have missed it, but I don't believe you've answered this?

I missed it! North Essex.

 

[Gothikon]

I'm also looking for a recapping service in the UK. I'm keen to start doing it myself (I'm relatively experienced in soldering but short on time and have quite a few machines to get through). Any recommendations?

 

[croissantking]

I'm also looking for a recapping service in the UK. I'm keen to start doing it myself (I'm relatively experienced in soldering but short on time and have quite a few machines to get through). Any recommendations?

I can help, check my feedback first