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| Author | Working System 7 Macs - to recap or not? (Read 24212 times) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bolkonskij
Administrator 1024 MB  Posts: 2023 
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on: June 23, 2021, 08:53
I'm thinking of giving my Power Mac 8600 away to have the logic board and power supply professionally recapped. That won't be cheap. And it would be a preemptive measure as the 8600 still works perfectly fine. But given its age, I do fear a PSU failure in the near future and since finding replacements is a hassle (especially here in Europe) I tend to choose the safe route. Not fully convinced though. What do my fellow System 7'ners do? Do you recap everything or let it run until it breaks? |
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Last Edit: June 23, 2021, 08:56 by Bolkonskij
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cballero
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1024 MB  Posts: 1176 System 7, today and forever
Reply #1 on: June 24, 2021, 05:13
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I have no clue on that one! But a better-safe-than-sorry approach sounds like good insurance so that your Mac will live to fight another day. The thing is Macs seem to last forever.. in computer years, lol! 
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ovalking
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128 MB Posts: 199
Reply #2 on: June 25, 2021, 20:31
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If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
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scouter
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64 MB Posts: 81 Retired IT Administraor
Reply #3 on: June 26, 2021, 09:54
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I have been using my Powermac 6400/200 since 2004 and the only issue I have had is having to get a new PSU which I managed to source on eBay I have the same philosophy as "ovalking" if it ain't broke don't fix it.
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re4mat
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2 MB Posts: 3
Reply #4 on: June 26, 2021, 11:10
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If it's still working, I'd say just keep an eye on it. Open it up every few weeks and check to make sure nothing's leaking, or that none of the electrolytic caps are starting to bulge. Do note that it can be hard sometimes to tell if a surface mounted electrolytic capacitor has started to leak or not. If you start seeing strange behaviour that doesn't seem to be software-related, then it could be a failing cap; they don't have to leak to lose their capacitance, but if they are leaking then of course they're not going to be able to do their job. But so long as you're regularly checking the board, and it's running fine, you should be good without a recap. Eventually, though, you will need to replace the electrolytics. When is hard to say, but they will fail eventually.
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Knezzen
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Administrator 512 MB Posts: 608 Village idiot
Reply #5 on: June 26, 2021, 16:07
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I'd say recap the motherboard and the PSU as proactive maintenance. If the caps on the motherboard dies, worst thing is that the motherboard is non-functioning until you recap it. If the capacitors in the PSU dies they can take the whole computer with them.
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acarteas
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4 MB Posts: 7 System 7 Newcomer!
Reply #6 on: July 09, 2021, 02:51
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When I recently got into collecting old computers, I noticed that the first thing people mentioned doing was to recap their entire computer. I asked two different EE buddies (my background is CS) about this, and both said that if a visual inspection of the caps looked fine and that if the voltage was within tolerance for each rail, there wasn't a need to recap. One of my buddies said it never hurts to reap, but doing so would take the "fun" out of the project and prevent any real learning about electronics. Obviously, most EEs get a kick from playing with old electronics, but that may not be the case for you.
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Syntho
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64 MB Posts: 103 System 7 Newcomer!
Reply #7 on: July 09, 2021, 22:49
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I've considered recapping all of my machines. I've never done a proper recap before, just replaced a few things here and there. I have a good desoldering gun, flux, wick, everything. The job won't be very hard. The hard part to me is knowing which caps to get to replace them and where they go. Is there a document for 9600 machines anywhere?
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Tech_and_Music
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8 MB Posts: 10 Tech&Music
Reply #8 on: July 10, 2021, 00:11
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From my experience, it'll be the first gen PowerPC Macs that soon need replacement now, rather than later. The first-gen PowerPC Mac boards I got from Japan, a country where due to heat and humidity, cap problems are far more aggressive, were all badly leaking. While the ones stored in calmer western climates are still doing alright, it's time to get those recapped. The 8600 is a little further down the line, at least logic board wise, but being proactive on this could potentially buy you a lot of time with your machine. If it is a machine you really care about keeping around for as long as possible, I'd give it serious thought.
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acarteas
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4 MB Posts: 7 System 7 Newcomer!
Reply #9 on: July 10, 2021, 04:01
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Quote The hard part to me is knowing which caps to get to replace them and where they go.With the assistance of a buddy, I recently replaced a cap in an Apple 2 power supply. Overall, it was a fairly easy process. In terms of finding a replacement, he had a bin of miscellaneous capacitors. We just found one that had the same rating and pin spacing. In terms of finding bad ones, mine had an obvious bulge on the top. But you could also test the capacitor using a multi meter.
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Bolkonskij
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Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023
Reply #10 on: July 29, 2021, 09:15
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Thanks for the feedback guys! I'm leaning towards a more cautious approach now that I've read up a bit more on the topic. It seems especially the power supplies are a source of danger as they get older and have failing caps. They may just go up in smoke - or worse. I guess I'm going to be proactive and have all the PSUs in my Macs (8600, IIci, SE) recapped to make sure they'll be around for the next decade :-)
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Bolkonskij
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Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023
Reply #11 on: October 22, 2021, 08:56
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I've decided to do something about it. I figured I should let my Power Mac G4 MDD get a recap first. That new-fangled stuff is more prone to break ;-) (the PSU actually started to send odd voltages causing freezes) I sent it to a professional here in Germany, who knows what he does and I can only wholeheartedly recommend for your retro Mac recapping needs: i-beyer.de (site in German; retro browser compatible) He recapped not just the board but even the wicked MDD's Samsung PSU for a reasonable price. (e.g. 40 euros for a Sonnet CPU upgrade card wit lots of caps). Happy with the result. Had I know I had sent the 8600 first though. Its PSU died before I got the MDD back, after a dutiful service of 24 years. I'll pack that one up next and have it recapped. All I can say is recap your stuff or let someone do it. The pricing was really reasonable and I'm looking into getting at least another 15+ years out of usage of my gear :-)
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