Mac LC-II battery corrosion, will it ever run again?

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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Mac LC-II battery corrosion, will it ever run again?

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Nice progress, be good to see it booted.

I once had an LC475 and got rid of it due to lack of space at the time, along with 2 or 3 LC's. Really wish I'd held on to it.
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PhilC
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Re: Mac LC-II battery corrosion, will it ever run again?

Post by PhilC »

Well no boot yet but the caps did make some nice sizzling noises :lol: best replace them first then.
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Re: Mac LC-II battery corrosion, will it ever run again?

Post by rubber_jonnie »

PhilC wrote: 27 Oct 2023 14:39 Well no boot yet but the caps did make some nice sizzling noises :lol: best replace them first then.
Hell yeah.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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stephen_usher
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Re: Mac LC-II battery corrosion, will it ever run again?

Post by stephen_usher »

I'd try powering it via the MOLEX connecter for the hard drive with a bench power supply to see what the current draw is. With just the +5V it won't bong but will boot (without a hard drive or floppy it takes a while before you see anything).

Here's one I made earlier... ;-)

IMG_9900.jpg

Anyway, always change the caps on an LCII. If they haven't leaked before you power on they will have afterward.
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Re: Mac LC-II battery corrosion, will it ever run again?

Post by PhilC »

@rubber_jonnie i really wasn’t expecting it to start to be honest and the caps sizzling away made me chuckle, they are being replaced hopefully this weekend.

Oh and must get my monitor adapter made.
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Mac LC-II battery corrosion, will it ever run again?

Post by rubber_jonnie »

PhilC wrote: 27 Oct 2023 17:32 @rubber_jonnie i really wasn’t expecting it to start to be honest and the caps sizzling away made me chuckle, they are being replaced hopefully this weekend.

Oh and must get my monitor adapter made.
Good luck!!

I'll think of you when I'm replacing the caps on my Saturn...
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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PhilC
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Re: Mac LC-II battery corrosion, will it ever run again?

Post by PhilC »

Good suggestion @stephen_usher I’ll give that a try once I make the monitor adaptor.
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Re: Mac LC-II battery corrosion, will it ever run again?

Post by PhilC »

Replaced all the electrolytic caps on the motherboard tonight, plugged it in and sizzle sizzle but not from the motherboard this time, from the PSU. So I've replaced all the low voltage side caps and fixed a whole load of dry joins that weren't visible before the sizzling.

So now on power up it beeps three times, just turned it off as I'm going to make my video adapter before going any further but I'm pretty please so far.
IMG_2904.jpeg
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stephen_usher
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Re: Mac LC-II battery corrosion, will it ever run again?

Post by stephen_usher »

Erm, an LCII should never beep.

Also.... Eek! Radial caps in place of SMD ones! I do hope those pads don't lift when you move the machine around. Mac PCBs of that date are really fragile.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
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PhilC
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Re: Mac LC-II battery corrosion, will it ever run again?

Post by PhilC »

@stephen_usher it turns out that it was the HDD beeping three times, the fan starts etc etc.

I was careful soldering on the caps and the reason I chose that type is because of the poor success rate I have with the SMD variety.

Once it’s working I’ll hot snot the caps into place
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