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SE/30 have I bought a dud?

Posted by: dannycivic02 on 2016-01-16 10:51:30 Hi im new to the forum I just purchased my first apple macintosh ever, I have used them in the past at college many years ago but really fancied one of the old compact style ones.  So after a bit of research I decided on the SE/30 being the powerhouse of the compacts, I should also point out im in the uk so I wouldn't say they were readily available but never the less I managed to find one that was described as in working order.  So I received my Shiny pre'loved Macintosh today and first thing I did was remove the logic board to check for leaky caps and to remove the battery.   To late, sadly the battery had already gone although the mess seems to be just in the battery socket. I then noticed that 2 of the ram sticks are erm in a right state is this some how related to the battery going? Is this board possible salvageable? Im not super technical, aside from building a few pcs so any advice is greatly appreciated.  Sorry about the picture quality lightings not the best tonight. Thanks Dan

Posted by: 360alaska on 2016-01-16 11:30:29 I would start out by putting on a pair of gloves and removing that battery, next, remove both the rom simm and all of the ram and put that board in your dishwasher. I'm serious, Right in the dishwasher. You need to stop the corrosion in it's tracks! Then, you can send it to someone who would be able to repair/recap it...

Posted by: techknight on 2016-01-16 11:38:06 Bare minimum new SIMM sockets would be required.

Posted by: dannycivic02 on 2016-01-16 11:59:40 Haha Im not that shocked with the dishwasher been reading a fair bit this week.  Think I might give that a go, im starting to think that it might be cheaper to just source a new board or mac, can you even get replacement SIMM sockets for these?

Posted by: Elfen on 2016-01-16 12:32:33 The damage could have been worst but this looks fixable. After the dishwasher, you need to deal with dead/rotting caps that have leaked out. That can only be done with a ammonia/distilled water bath and then chase it with alcohol and go scrubbed with a tooth brush or q-tip and acetone on the rough spots. Talk to Uniserver, falen5, Ferrix97 And TechKnight. for details. They can figure something out for you. And falen5 is somewhere nearby you, Ferrix97 is in Europe somewhere, and Uniserver is in the USA. TechKnight is also in the USA and can walk you through the valley of death to resurrect a dead SE\30. There are resources here... use them.

Posted by: SE30_Neal on 2016-01-17 01:11:31 Hi Dan, Nightmare, im like you in uk, used to use macs and just brought an Se/30 which is working, as yet i havent opened it as i havent got a right tork screw driver, ill pop to maplin today so i might be in the same boat, i know my one hasnt been recapped so kind of dreading opening it. Neal

Posted by: dannycivic02 on 2016-01-17 04:55:36 Fingers crossed for you neal at least your half way there with it working. Must admit it was a pain getting something to fit in the hole for the case screws I used torc bit with a long screw driver and it wouldn't fit all the way in the hole until I introduced it to my friend dremel. I shaved the bit holder part down until it fit in the hole. I have removed my battery and ram and rom cards now ready for the dishwasher this afternoon then out for supplies for an ammonia bath afterwards.

Posted by: SE30_Neal on 2016-01-17 08:19:33 Good luck Dan, I'm dreading opening mine as I know it'll probably be the same, I might take mine to my sisters now and get the board out to check, better to do sooner than later as it currently works :-/ let me know how it works out!

Posted by: SE30_Neal on 2016-01-17 08:50:06 How much did you pay for it Dan?

Posted by: dannycivic02 on 2016-01-17 09:02:05 It was 90 delivered the pickings were pretty slim though unless I wanted to pay more than double that which in hindsight may of been a better option. Yeah get that battery out seems to do the most damage from what I've been reading.

Posted by: uniserver on 2016-01-17 10:35:36 yeah i would suggest remove the ram  remove the rom remove the battery remove the caps then scrub that board really good and do some basic continuity test for any via's or traces that look shady. and if after the clean up everything tones out good, then install a fresh set of caps... clean and inspect the rom ram,  and Rom and Ram slots. if you have to use solder wick to clean up any pads on the simms then do so. but other then that, if traces are bad and lines have to be run, you will need the schematics, some wire wrap, and some patience, to fix the broken lines. you might also, as techknight said have to source some replacement Ram or Rom slots. or Simms.   I have a standard price i charge for a re-cap. For This board if ended up on my bench,  I would probably revert to my hourly rate + a la carte for what ever parts it would need. Its always best to do as much as you can first to save your self $$.

Posted by: SE30_Neal on 2016-01-17 15:29:52 Hi Dan, OK I paid £175 + £20 postage for mine on Friday with a pds network card fitted, as you know it's working although the hhd light doesn't work and the floppy drive is sticky. Also none original keyboard and mouse from a newer Mac. That said I'm going to send my board to uniserver for a re-cap (www.maccaps.com) as I fear mine will go the same way :-/

Posted by: SE30_Neal on 2016-01-17 15:35:37 Oh did you manage to put it through the dishwasher?

Posted by: aplmak on 2016-01-17 17:06:11 That DAMN Maxell battery.... boy they really did make crap!! If it weren't for that stupid battery!!!

Posted by: uniserver on 2016-01-17 18:10:34 i know those red bombs depress me.

Posted by: dannycivic02 on 2016-01-18 06:00:38 So I gave my board a wash and and an ammonia bath came up a lot better than I thought although some of the corrosion on the RAM SIM socket I just couldn't get cleaned off so I think that will need replacing for sure. All the traces around the battery holder don't look too bad to me although I would of like to of removed it all together to get a good look underneath but I think that's a bit beyond me, I couldn't figure it out. I think it may of been stored on its side though which would explain the ram slots and the case chassis. Oh and 2 of my ram sticks where covered quite a bit so I have written them off so im now down 2.     Defiantly think I need to replace these 2 sockets I just couldn't get this corrosion off im guessing its gone right through from the top of the socket. Thanks for the advice uniserver would you say its worth it on this board?

Posted by: SE30_Neal on 2016-01-18 09:48:46 Thats came up a lot better than I expected Dan, good work! Theres only a few areas that require attention so im sure thats fixable 😉

Posted by: Compgeke on 2016-01-18 10:55:05 It doesn't look too terrible now, although that corrosion through the ram socket pins is a bit worrying. Being able to see the corrosion through the other side leaves a possibility for traces on internal layers to be eaten.

Posted by: Paralel on 2016-01-18 10:58:46 Boards far, far, far worse off have been saved by the experts here, so there is room for plenty of hope.

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