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Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Apple IIc re-capping. Part 0

I recently recovered an Apple IIc portable (let's say... luggable) computer in good aesthetic conditions (albeit a bit dusty). Unknown working state.
The recently recovered Apple IIc
The computer lacks the power supply unit, but that is just a small problem, as it is powered by a single ~15v connection. Before worrying about that, best practice dictates that old computers in unknown status (especially ones with a small case, without good airflow) should be re-capped before being turn on: old electrolytic capacitors, which are prone to degradation with age and high-temperatures, could short out the circuit board and cause hard to repair damage.


The logic board still in the case, after a cleaning

I replaced all the caps on the motherboard and most of the caps in the internal power converter (still missing the huge 3300uF cap you can see in the photo below). This should be enough to test the machine.
The guts of the power converter
Now I just need to find a proper connector for the power supply and test the computer. If it works, I'll swap out the remaining capacitors from the floppy drive and then start fiddling a bit with the system ROM (I'm curious to see which version it is...).
 

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