A Tale of Two Classics

[phunguss]

Recent finds... one Classic from Free Geek Minneapolis for $10, listed as "No HDD, bad analog board," second one from Craigs List listed as "battary bomb" for $5 (their spelling).

What I spares have on hand: A working system (Classic motherboard and Classic II analog board from an old Hackintosh conversion before I was a collector), and a scrap frame and analog board I found where someone had clipped lots of the wires (with a homebrew transparent case not completed). The tube was damaged (tip broken and gas vented) and I used it to melt my plexiglass cover for the Hackintosh conversion.

This will be an attempt at a "quick fix" to get both working with the spares I have on hand, basically rendering my spares as projects for a full recap and restoration in the future. I can put my working analog board into the bad one. I can put my good frame and motherboard into the battery bombed one.

Step 1: disassembly and damage assessment

Battery bombed was indeed crusty. I could not remove the motherboard so that will have to soak in vinegar for some time. I could not remove the motherboard without fear of damage, so I removed the whole frame from the case (tricky to get those 4 screws when you can't remove the floppy or motherboard).

Bad analog board: Yep, that got some crusty goo as well, but easily repairable frame. I won't delve into the recap yet.

More updates will come after some cleaning and electrical testing.

 

[Garrett]

One of my first Mac purchases after getting back into the hobby was a Classic from a nice lady in Minneapolis. I don't think I paid much for it, but had I taken the time to shake it first... well, I should have paid less! I was able to eventually restore the entire thing to working shape, but I won't say it was a simple recap job like I expected. Lesson learned!

 

[phunguss]

I was able to clean up the bad analog board bottom frame, hit it with a wire wheel and spray painted it. Don't mind the paint runs, you won't see it inside.

It looks like I have 3 bad analog boards, so I am ordering recap kits for two of them. I just don't have all the capacitor values on hand. I still have 3 good tubes (assumed), 3 good frames, 2 working logic boards, two good cases... So this battery bomb one will take some work, but I think it is recoverable, and maybe that will go into my homebrew transparent case.

This bombed logic board popped 3 caps on its own, but I should be able to clean up and mend the traces or at least bodge them if needed. RTC legs need some help as well as the sound chip.

 

[phunguss]

Having too many disassembled parts laying around, so I just put the working parts into the better case (marked bad analog board), so I have less clutter.

I put in an older BlueSCSI 1.1 and I wanted to see the activity/power lights without modifying the case. Cheap and easy way was to use a twisty-tie on the back vent.

So if it's backed into a dark corner, you should see the reflection on the wall.

And a couple of tubes sitting on the shelf until I receive my cap kits for the analog boards.

I found a loose sticker inside the battery bombed case, so I taped it onto the case, not knowing what it was. Maybe cost of repair?

And then I saw a similar tag on the "bad analog board" tube... so maybe the battery bombed one had a tube replaced or serviced at some point.

Looks like that one says 203.18

 

[Nixontheknight]

makes me wish there was a Free Geek in my state. I did find a 637CD Money Magazine at an ewaste facility a few towns away from me. Anyone willing to donate a full 68040?

 

[phunguss]

I received my two analog board cap kits from Console 5 a while ago, but I have been buried in other projects. Finally had the time to dig into the Battery Bombed analog board. The backside was quite goopy.

Then I removed all the caps. Not sure if I lifted that pad or it was too far gone (what is that black etching, do I have to remove it?).

It was definitely leaking most caps, but in particular around that etched part.

Liberal amounts of IPA and a toothbrush to clean it up as best I could. Let it hang dry for an hour. Soldered in new caps. Used the cap leg to bridge the lifted pad.

Reassembled the frame and guts, and hoped for the best.

I guess it was good enough! Image is rock solid but I may have to adjust the vertical size a bit. This motherboard is one I previously recapped, so I still need to go back and see if I can rescue the battery bombed motherboard.

So I now have two fully working Classics and some spare parts that I might still be able to get working (without a case). Or maybe in a homebrew transparent case one day.