Working with Vintage Macs

Getting Inside Vintage Macs and Swapping Out Bad Parts

Adam Rosen - 2007.12.14 - Tip Jar

Low End Mac Reader Specials

Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com

LA Computer Company: LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, Apple Displays, MacBooks, iMac's, MacBook Pros, Laptop and iPod accessories and more. Apple A/C Adapters for laptops starting at $25.00 Call 1-800-941-7654 or Click Here.

OWC: NewerTech miniStack FireWire/USB 2.0 HD & Hub Up to 1.0TB of Performance Storage + FW/USB2 Powered Hubs - convenient & sleek 6.5" x 6.5" x 1.5" Featured: 500GB $169.99; 750GB $209.99; 1.0TB $339.99

Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.

MacBook/MacBook Pro / MacMini / iMac Intel Core2 DUO DDR2 667Mhz 4GB Kit $84, 3GB Kit $60, 2GB Kit $40 1GB $20. Click to Maximize your Macs...

I deal with older (pre-G3) systems regularly, both through my consulting work and my personal collection, the Vintage Mac Museum. Here are some tips I've found for keeping the old beasts running.

Swapping Parts, Opening Cases

It's handy that old Macs are usually dirt cheap, since they may have hardware problems or failed components and be in need of some spare parts. If you use a particular old Mac regularly or have just acquired one and all isn't working, find some spares to cannibalize parts from. Yard sales, flea markets, craigslist, and eBay are great sources of old systems; if you're in the Boston area, try the MIT Flea in the warmer months.

Getting the case open or the part you need removed can sometimes be challenging. Use your spare to learn how to open the case - that way you can test whether that cracking sound you hear is normal (as the instruction tell you) or a learning experience (hint: small plastic pieces shouldn't fall out of the case). Many good take apart guides are available free online.

Don't force connectors, switches, and cables, they shouldn't be super difficult to connect or remove. If they are, you're probably overlooking a small tab or screw somewhere (this is where the test model with sacrificial plastic is so handy). Floppy drives and CD drives often need lubricants; WD40 has worked well for me (YMMV), though I'm sure I'll get flamed for admitting this.

I tend to replace items as modules rather than doing component repair (resoldering capacitors and the like); this usually comes down to swapping one or more of the following items:

PRAM battery (very common)
hard disk drive (common)
optical or floppy disk drive (try lubricating)
power supply (more common with age)
motherboard, RAM, or video cards (uncommon)
CRT or LCD screen assembly (if working, may be dim or blurry)

I don't repair CRT screens, high voltage power supplies, or monitors: it's easier, safer, and cheaper to just dispose of them (during my town's hazardous waste recycling day each quarter) and replace with a spare.

More Tips and Suggestions?

I'm sure there are many other tips and suggestions on the topic of working with old and vintage Macs; write in to the Low End Mac Mailbag or contact me with your suggestions and we may do a follow-up to this column with additional ideas.

This article was originally published on Adam's Oakbog website. It has been adapted and reprinted here with his permission.

If you find Adam's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Adam's Apple Columns

Tales of old Mac data retrieval, 06.13. Getting apps and documents off 400K floppies, old disk images, and a Mac running System 5.
Mac remote control options built into Leopard, 02.29. Apple has four tools for Macintosh remote control built right into the Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard' operating system.
Software to remotely control and reboot your Mac, 02.15. Commercial software to control your Mac over a network or the Internet. Also how to restart a remote Mac.
More in the Adam's Apple index.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2008 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, PowerBook, MacBook, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.