Thread

Mac SE/30 somewhat successful recap, but not quite.

Mac SE/30 somewhat successful recap, but not quite. Hardware 13 posts Apr 16, 2013 — Apr 23, 2013

#1 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 - 02:38

First of all, hello! I'm new!

Last month I bought an SE/30 off eBay, and it's in otherwise perfect condition except it had very faint sound. I did my research and of course... new capacitors was the answer. I finally got some tantalums in the mail today, and did a pretty fine job of recapping despite this being my first time (beginners luck?)

Good news: the sound is nice and loud now!

Bad news: Simasimac. D'oh!!!

I suspect I didn't solder one of the caps correctly, or whatever. My only question here is does anybody know which capacitors exactly are related to this new problem? (The SE/30 worked fine before the recap) If I know which ones they are, then I can re-attempt them.

The help would be greatly appreciated

And again, hello!

#2 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 - 05:05

Forgive the double post, I'm either blind or I can't edit.

I fixed the simasimac problem. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't find help through the usual pages I see linked. Meanwhile, there was something about how I soldered capacitors C8, C9, and C10 that didn't sit right in my gut... so I redid them. That did it! Anybody know what those capacitors do, specifically? I'm interested to know.

Anyway, log this under a successful SE/30 recap. By a not-even-amateur... this was the first thing I ever soldered in my life. It was dead simple.

Here's an overview image of my work: http://i.imgur.com/FZjsdiS.jpg

You can see I didn't use a surface mount for C6... the only reason being I couldn't find one.

#3 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 - 05:55

Don't forget the PRAM battery. If it explodes, the MoBo is pretty much done for.

Nice job!

#4 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 - 06:03

oh great! good job!'

what thread did you use to help with the recap?

thanks

charles

#5 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 - 06:12

what thread did you use to help with the recap?

Hey Charles! My main resources were the 68kmla wiki to get a list of capacitors needed and various YouTube videos on how to solder surface mount. This photo on Flickr gave me a pretty nice visual to work with, too:

Before I worked on the SE/30 board I practiced on a dead Beige Power Macintosh G3 board which "luckily" has the same capacitors. I practiced taking them off, and putting them back on.

Once I was comfortable enough with that, I moved on to the SE/30

#6 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 - 07:20

yeah 68kmla over all is a great resource.

I'm glad you have success.

#7 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 - 11:33

Great stuff & congrats from someone with a similar experience to yourself.

Did you replace the large radial caps? I did mine, but one of them had a ground (-ve) lead that I just could not desolder from the board, so ended out soldering the new cap lead onto the old one's pin.

Next stop, the analog board perhaps?

#8 Thu, 18 Apr 2013 - 18:14

Great stuff & congrats from someone with a similar experience to yourself.
Did you replace the large radial caps?

Thanks! And no, not yet... I will do those as soon as I can!

Next stop, the analog board perhaps?

Oh most definitely. Although I have a Mac Plus that probably needs more attention as its video can be quite twitchy. I haven't yet found a list of capacitors for replacing on the SE/30 or Plus analog boards, though I could probably just look at the boards with my own eyes and find out... I'm not so trusting of myself! Haha

#9 Tue, 23 Apr 2013 - 04:38

This photo on Flickr gave me a pretty nice visual to work with, too:

I shot that photo indoors on an overcast day, with a tripod of course, putting a sheet of what paper opposite the glass door that let the light in. All said, the photo turned out great.

My personal thanks to Trag for selling kits of those tantalum caps:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=16626

I have done recaps with electrolytics before, but they don't look nearly as nice nor last as long.

I haven't yet found a list of capacitors for replacing on the SE/30 or Plus analog boards...

My Mac 128/512/Plus Analog Board Capacitor List is here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnmQLg8d1xThcE96S1Z0S3oxOUFiMkJEYy1nNzNuZEE&usp=sharing

#10 Tue, 23 Apr 2013 - 09:03

My Mac 128/512/Plus Analog Board Capacitor List is here:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... sp=sharing

That's a good resource! Do you mind if I link to it in my analog board recap kit thread? Maybe an administrator can edit into the first post somehow (please let me know if this is possible!), depending on your answer, of course.
c

#11 Tue, 23 Apr 2013 - 09:08

Please feel free to use it as you see fit. I don't mind at all. I want it to be of help to the vintage Mac community.

#12 Tue, 23 Apr 2013 - 20:06

OK, thank you!

I'd like to get it in the first post somehow, so I'll look into doing that.

c

#13 Tue, 23 Apr 2013 - 21:12

My Mac 128/512/Plus Analog Board Capacitor List is here:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnmQLg8d1xThcE96S1Z0S3oxOUFiMkJEYy1nNzNuZEE#gid=0

Oh that is awesome, thank you!