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Power Mac 7200 Broken Plastic Tabs
Posted by: Dritz33 on 2019-02-12 19:29:02
Hey everybody. Sorry to bring up an older topic, but I'm newer here and just had a question. 

I received a Power Mac 7200 from eBay today, and when I went to tear it down and take a peak inside, I discovered that most of the plastic tabs holding the computer together haven't held up very well. For example, the plastic enclosure for the CD Drive is demolished, the plastic window to look at the motherboard broke off of one of the tabs, and the front plate of the case lost a tab that holds it together.

Is there any simple way to go about fixing this computer back up?

I'm waiting on a DB-15 to VGA cable so I can see if it is booting in to anything, but it at least turns on so there is that!
Posted by: Byrd on 2019-02-13 15:58:04
Welcome Dritz33 🙂

The plastics on beige PPCs are known to be quite poor quality and over time become very brittle and easy to snap.  Every one of us here has snapped dozens of tabs on &#%@# Mac casings 🙂

In terms of glue and ease of fix, I'm having good success with Loctite Gel superglue as it's easy to apply without running.  However, the strongest bonds come from Acetone/acrylic glue but this can be hard to source.  For strong bonds in regions no-one will look, JB Weld is another good product but you send you use it to "rebuild" larger broken areas covered up by casing, as it solidifies to a grey blob.

JB
Posted by: Dritz33 on 2019-02-13 18:44:24
Well that's reassuring at least that this thing isn't trashed. On another note I just picked up an iMac G3 blue colored all-in-one that got damaged in shipping, and when I went to take it apart...well let's just say I'm trying to think of new options for that PC...
Posted by: slomacuser on 2019-02-13 22:55:00
I have some plastic parts, you can take a picture what is broken and I can look for it ...
Posted by: Dritz33 on 2019-02-16 15:43:24
@slomacuser Let me dig through my plastic pile here...I also got an iMac g3 that took major major damage in shipping :/

looks to be mostly the big plastic cover that went over the mobo, the things that screw on to the disc drive and help it stay in the case, a few clips I can't remember for what, the clips on the front of the case that hold it to the metal, and the enclosure for the power button (which I think I can easily rig up something else to work)

IMG_20190216_184440.jpg
Posted by: Franklinstein on 2019-02-17 01:29:42
In short, welcome to mid-90s Apple. If you look up "brittle" in the dictionary there's a picture of a PowerBook or beige Power Mac, either a 7200-style or 5200-style case, depending on which dictionary you're looking at. 

That big louvered thing is important because it helps direct airflow over the PCI and processor cards, but it's not a big deal if its mounts are busted; just lay it back in place and it should stay. The drive caddies can be had on eBay or from some people here. The black case support and the little flip-out stand aren't essential. Power buttons and case latches are kind of hard to find in one piece.
Posted by: slomacuser on 2019-02-17 06:21:07
This is what I have, I have some more but need to do some extra search

1CA852DC-AB40-48F4-8D8B-367E7B9258CD.jpeg
Posted by: Dritz33 on 2019-02-17 13:42:23
Those seem to be what I broke, except the power switch is some some of black piece of plastic (I think to help keep the white piece in the correct plact?)
Posted by: Dog Cow on 2019-02-17 13:51:54
In short, welcome to mid-90s Apple. If you look up "brittle" in the dictionary there's a picture of a PowerBook or beige Power Mac, either a 7200-style or 5200-style case, depending on which dictionary you're looking at. 
I opened up my dictionary to look up that word, and some beige plastic shards fell out of the pages!  :shocked:

I've just been using tape to hold those bits together. Fortunately I only have 2 mid-90s Macs.
Posted by: Franklinstein on 2019-02-17 22:37:34
Those seem to be what I broke, except the power switch is some some of black piece of plastic (I think to help keep the white piece in the correct plact?)
The black piece is a stand used on the inside of the case to prevent the top case from falling closed when it's opened up. There's a second piece, the weird cup-looking thing at the top right in the picture above, that flips down to prop up the top case on the other side. They're nice when they work. You just have to remember to move the black stand when you're closing the case or you'll break it off.
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