So I have tentatively decided to show off at VCF East the complete boxed Macintosh I was gifted by a coworker on the eve of the _last_ VCF East. WHEN I say "complete", I mean complete -- every styrofoam insert, every cardboard sleeve, every diskette and audio casette.
The problem -- I havent done anything to restore it yet it or get it in shape to run for tens of hours in April.
I really hope that I can get this done in time. I need to clean it and recap it and I am still a relative n00b.
@d_j_fitzgerald What model Mac?
@yestergearpc an original 128k, with OG "Macintosh" branding. The sales receipt said mid-1984, but it may have been in storage before being sold.
@d_j_fitzgerald Mac 128s very very rarely require recaps. Generally, just snip the RIFA (or replace), swap the PRAM battery, and it's good to go for years.
@yestergearpc my fear is that without a recap the whole thing will fail during VCF East. Maybe I should stress test it first
@yestergearpc also, that C1 capacitor should no question be shot. Those things were not sized well.
@d_j_fitzgerald I've dealt with quite a few early macs. I currently have two Mac Plus', and two SE's, none of them have required a single cap after many 100's hours of use. Many folks on my discord server run their 128s and 512s without having to replace any caps. That being said, that's only my experience.
Nothing wrong with swapping out anything you feel is suspect, if you have the time and motivation. However if either of those are lacking, I wouldn't worry about it too much :)
@d_j_fitzgerald In my experience, the "bad caps" started with the SE/30 board, and anything for the decade or so after that.
@d_j_fitzgerald The only other "preventative maintenance" I do to early macs is swap out the eject gears in the floppy drives. Pretty simple job, and parts are readily available for a few bucks.
@yestergearpc ah, I forgot about that. I have done that on a couple of 800K Macs, this will be my first 400K drive (x2, there is an external)
@d_j_fitzgerald Sorry for the repost, I still haven't figured out how to enable editing my post on my server lol. I said varta instead of RIFA. My head sometimes confuses explosive devices.