I'm not in the mode of collecting anymore, but I do have some saved searches on Crag's List and eBay and other sites like that - that I use so that if things come up that I really really want or might really really want, I'll go take a look or I'll go pick it up. I saw a sealed, new-in-box Macintosh Classic come up on eBay Which, is an interesting find for those who know Macintosh Classics. New-in-box - for a Classic - if it was truly never touched means that it's not IF it has problems but the extent of the problems. Even if it was stored in temperature controlled conditions for the past 33 years It won't be able to escape having issues. The capacitors would leak, unprovoked, all the time. Batteries would explode corroding the metal chassis of the case destroying the circuit boards And so - this was a bit of a gamble, actually picking one of these things up because I didn't know if it was even going to be salvageable. A new-in-box machine and you don't know if it's going to be salvageable. But it was a cool project, and so this video is taking a look, opening it up for the first time and seeing if this thing is dead or alive. It's kind of like Schrodinger's Mac. Seeing if we can get it powered on - if it's working and if not - if it's too far gone. Or if it's something that we might be able to salvage. And, just as a reminder, I don't talk during my videos but I do provide more detail in the subtitles. So if you're interested in what's going on or why I'm doing what I'm doing, turn on closed captions - then you'll get a lot more detail. Yeah, this is a fun one so hopefully you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed making it. The backstory is that it was a gift from a partner in 1991. She didn't have any use for it so it sat in storage for the past ~32 years. If you look closely, you'll see that there are actually two strips of tape. Sometimes this means it has been re-sealed but both strips have aged the same, letting me know that this was most likely done in the factory. The box has also been re-badged from an A to an upgraded B model with more RAM and a larger HDD. Only way to tell for sure is to open it up. At first glance, everything looks sealed and completely untouched. Welcome material and system software for System 7.0.1. It will be interesting to see what comes pre-installed. Apple always tended to be a little lighter on their licenses and pack-ins than say... Microsoft :) I've seen some boxed compact Macs come with a Microphone, but this was a budget model and from the Packing List, it looks like the Classic didn't. There is some yellowing of the pads on the bottom of the mouse, but that's to be expected. It is clearly unused. I'm always interested to see if they come with an Apple branded power cord. This one didn't but I wonder when they stopped making them. I've never seen a new keyboard from the 90s. The condition is unreal. Even the Mac I had as a kid was a used one from the local school. This is a first for me. I've never seen one new before. What ever adhesive they use for these security seals definitely stands the test of time. It's incredibly unlikely someone has been in this. I'm convinced. Beauty. Obvious signs of corrosion or damage from battery leakage will be along the ports. I may try to heat this up to move it back, but most likely will just leave it. There's some film on the back that's a bit slimy. A tad concerning, but it could be normal oils from the off gassing plastics. "Aaaah FRESH PORTS!" - LGR This is the memory upgrade module, so far it tracks with the specs on the box. The battery looks fine. That's pretty unreal. And there is no evidence of corrosion or rust on the main board. I'll be replacing this with a modern coin cell adapter. Always look for non-destructive mods. The capacitors on the analog board are notorious for leaking. This was a budget computer and Apple used low quality components. Those orange rings could be electrolytic fluid, or they could just be flux from the manufacturing process. This tube has clearly seen ZERO hours - outside of the factory. No soot buildup, glue is transparent, etc. At this point, I'm actually pretty hopeful that it will power on. I know I'll need to replace the capacitors to prevent future damage, but we may have a working Classic! Well, s@#$. My first thought that it may just be that It won't boot without a PRAM battery. I also jinxed myself by fully re-assembling it before testing. Won't make that mistake again. I looked at the previous footage to confirm that it wasn't blown before. This analog board is definitely unhappy. I knew it would end up here, but I was hoping I'd have a chance to play around with it first. Always discharge the CRT before working around the inside. I don't know what's wrong so I have no way of knowing if the tube had any power. Once you've made contact with the pins inside you're safe to remove the anode cap. Make sure to do this step with the ground wire still connected! Unplug the cables from the analog board and remove the two screws that connect it to the chassis. Remove the plastic pins securing the shield from the underside of the analog board by pressing the center pin back through the hole. Our first look at actual signs of damage. The brown discoloration is definitely old electrolytic fluid from dead capacitors. No capacitors have bulged out the top, but these wouldn't. They would have leaked out of the bottom. There's no use testing them as they need to be replaced anyway. I'm marking the leads on the bottom to make my life easier when desoldering. I keep a diagram of the board up so I can mark off which capacitors I've removed, and I'll do the same when adding new ones back in. Some caps have hot glue added. This is to prevent components from vibrating (from the fan) and getting damaged during normal use. The MOSFET is part of the power regulation circuit. If we've got a blown fuse, it's the first place to check for problems. If the MOSFET is shorted, it's not doing its job which means these two other chips are probably fried as well. My guess is that the capacitor leakage was the root of the problem. Electrolytic fluid is conductive and probably contributed to an initial short. Luckily for me, all of these components are still available today. However some suppliers can be shady, so I ordered multiple sets. I'll put these new components in first and then recap the board. I spared you the whole process. There are a total of 25 capacitors to replace on this analog board model 630-0525 Rev. B. These capacitors need to be installed the correct way. The white band should be facing the opposite direction of the + marked on the board. At this point, I'm feeling pretty confident we'll at least get high voltage to the CRT. Or not. We've actually made SOME progress because the fuse didn't blow again - and neither did any capacitors that may have been accidentally installed incorrectly. A quick bath in isopropyl alcohol will ensure the rest of the electrolytic fluid is gone. I don't show it but I allow the board to air dry for 2 hours before using it. I also use 99% IPA. The higher the concentration, the quicker it evaporates. I've removed the main board so I can easily and safely test the voltages using the disk port. Pins 5, 6, and 7 should read -12, +5 and +12 respectively. And I'm getting none. As I said... shady vendors. This board is surface mount - there should be no leftover residue. Any brown liquid will point to leaky caps. I want to be really careful to not damage the board. CHIPQUIK is a metal alloy with a very low melting point. It's designed to remove surface mount components using very little heat. I apply a little flux and then the CHIPQUIK to each terminal and let it combine with the existing solder. The solder stays molten for long enough to heat the other terminal and remove the cap. There's no need to heat up the board and risk damaging or melting the surrounding components. It's incredibly important to remove the excess when you're done because you don't want it hanging around when you replace the components. I'll be using tantalum capacitors for their high performance and longevity. Looks pretty good if I do say so myself. The main board gets his own bath to clean up any excess flux. You can re-use the IPA you use to clean circuit boards. Just make sure to filter it when you're done and ONLY ever use it for PCB cleaning again. Gently scrub the work area in the IPA to loosen anything remaining and remember to let it dry. You can see the yellow fluid fall away when I lift out the board. Nice. The chime tells us that the main board is working. #LTTMacCracker This boot process is quite a bit slower than the one we just saw. This is due to the added RAM expansion we put back in. The system does a RAM test in the background before it tries to find a boot drive. Now we're getting somewhere. We can see the system is recognizing the full 4mb of RAM. The screen looks amazing. I'll test the brightness but I don't need to adjust it at all. I think we can call this "unboxing" a success.
