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Comment by drob518

3 days ago

Brilliant. Got my old Macintosh Plus out a few months ago and flipped it on and unfortunately that let out some of the “magic smoke” that keeps all electronics running. I think it’s an electrolytic cap that blew. Just too old. Will have to find time to refurb it.

Always look at caps and look for/test corrosion shorts before energizing old gear.

Caps are easy fixes if you can get the board out. Use quality electrolytic caps if bothering to go through the trouble, or I'd see if modern ceramic alternatives exist that will essentially last forever. (Don't get me started on how (vintage) tantalums suck.)

  • Yea, I should have done that, but I just flipped the switch. My bad. Yea, I’ll see what’s available. It’s a project that I probably won’t get to for a while, unfortunately. Plus, I don’t even think I own a soldering iron anymore, which is ironic for an old hardware engineer.