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> Nice video. I have an Amiga 2000, Amiga 1200, and an old Mac SE in my garage that all worked 30 years ago, but probably need refurbishing at this point (I shu

> Nice video. I have an Amiga 2000, Amiga 1200, and an old Mac SE in my garage that all worked 30 years ago, but probably need refurbishing at this point (I shudder to think of the damage from battery leakage). During the Covid lockdown I was bored (and far from my family) but, by chance, near old computers of mine. So I watched Youtube videos and decided to open/test them all. Atari 600 XL: still working Texas Instruments Ti-99/4a: starting but garbled output, know issue, apparently a relatively easy fix Amiga 500: dunno, lost the power supply (and have to be super careful not to mistake it with the power supply of the C128: same form factor, different pin-out, guaranteed to fry the computer). Commodore 128 (not 128D, sadly): still working and about 1/3rd to one half of the 5"1/4 floppies still working too. Macintosh Classic (which I think is the successor to your SE): still working but I took care of first removing the battery on the motherboard, which had started leaking. Amiga 2000 and 1200: no battery right? (unless you've got an expansion card) Even if you start it, at least just open the SE and remove the battery today (I take it the SE has battery). Just open a YouTube video showing how to do that. So: take the battery/ies out, check the power supply, try to turn them on. Now the other issue is capacitors that begin to leak after 30 to 35+ years: I haven't tried yet to "recap" these machines but... "one day". All least I took the battery out of the SE!

acherion 3y ago
> Amiga 2000 and 1200: no battery right? (unless you've got an expansion card) The 1200 won't have a battery on the board, but the 2000 likely will. The number 1 killer for A2000 motherboards is that bloody Varta battery. If you've opened your A2000 and you've had a look around and couldn't see anything, it /might/ be OK, but snip that battery out ASAP (they're soldered on the board).
einr 3y ago
Now the other issue is capacitors that begin to leak after 30 to 35+ years: I haven't tried yet to "recap" these machines but... "one day". The SMD caps in the A1200 and Mac Classic will have almost certainly started to leak, and the fluid will eventually corrode traces and vias if it hasn't already. On multilayer PCBs this can make for at best very annoying repairs. Ironically the older machines like the Atari, TI and C128 are most likely fine. Those older, larger through-hole caps are generally of high quality and don't leak.

acherion 3y ago

> Amiga 2000 and 1200: no battery right? (unless you've got an expansion card) The 1200 won't have a battery on the board, but the 2000 likely will. The number 1 killer for A2000 motherboards is that bloody Varta battery. If you've opened your A2000 and you've had a look around and couldn't see anything, it /might/ be OK, but snip that battery out ASAP (they're soldered on the board).

einr 3y ago

Now the other issue is capacitors that begin to leak after 30 to 35+ years: I haven't tried yet to "recap" these machines but... "one day". The SMD caps in the A1200 and Mac Classic will have almost certainly started to leak, and the fluid will eventually corrode traces and vias if it hasn't already. On multilayer PCBs this can make for at best very annoying repairs. Ironically the older machines like the Atari, TI and C128 are most likely fine. Those older, larger through-hole caps are generally of high quality and don't leak.