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Macintosh Recap

I have one (from new) that's been in storage. It still boots and works. I'm concerned about the ancient battery (soldered onto motherboard) and I see others strongly recommend recapping to keep it going. I'd also be interested in opinions about the Lacie hard drive fragility.
 
Definitely remove & replace the battery ASAP before it leaks and bombs your motherboard with acid (corection base not acid, see GiGaBiTe's post below.) As for recapping, the SE doesn't usually need it. For the Lacie, those 7200 RPM hard drives (Quantum etc.) are a crapshoot. Some seem to go on, others not so much. Even back in the day they could be sketchy though, that's probably why there were so many different "drive tools" on mac! :LOL:

More info:
recapamac.com.au

Macintosh SE - Recap-a-Mac

Similar to the Macintosh Plus, very rarely does the Mac SE require recapping. Although no capacitor is immune from eventual failure, these older...
recapamac.com.au recapamac.com.au
 
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Thank you! I can probably do the battery myself, but soldering skills zero at this point for recapping. What's the consensus on keeping HD reliable?
 
If you go the 2032 battery replacement route, search for "2032 holder" and pick one that looks workable for you.

ic2024 said:
What's the consensus on keeping HD reliable?
Click to expand...
If you seek something more reliable (than an original spindle drive) look at a hdd replacement such as BlueSCSI or the like.
 
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ic2024 said:
What style button battery holder do you recommend please?
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If you want to replace a like for like battery:

Battery:

Battery Holder:

If you can't find a source for the Tadiran battery, it's a 1/2AA size, but CR2 batteries will also work, they just have a slightly lower voltage. Just stay away from Varta batteries, they're horrible.

VeryVon said:
Definitely remove & replace the battery ASAP before it leaks and bombs your motherboard with acid.
Click to expand...

Lithium Thionyl Chloride electrolyte used in those non-rechargeable 3.6V batteries is a base, not an acid. If the battery does leak, it's basically a hazardous materials cleanup operation, because the electrolyte is extremely toxic and reactive. If the leak is old and dried, it's a bit safer to work with, so long as you don't reactivate the electrolyte by getting it wet.

Thionyl Chloride is extremely toxic and reacts with basically everything. It's also a strong oxidizer that reacts with water explosively to create hydrochloric acid and sulfur dioxide. Lithium is problematic itself when it's bio-available in electrolyte form. It readily absorbs through the skin and can cause hallucinations and heart arrhythmia. There's a good reason why Lithium stopped being used as an anti-psychotic, it had too many nasty side effects.

I'd recommend a solvent, a hazmat suit, gloves and a respirator if the battery leaks any appreciable amount.
 
Success! Luckily the original Lithium Thionyl Chloride battery was still intact without any signs of leakage. Removed it and replaced with a coin cell holder and CR2032 modern battery (reading 3.3v). After reassembly, the Mac SE boots and runs normally!
 
GiGaBiTe said:
There's a good reason why Lithium stopped being used as an anti-psychotic, it had too many nasty side effects.
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Since you brought it up ... *takes out MD degree*

It was never a good antipsychotic and was never officially approved for that purpose, although it is occasionally still used off-label in schizophrenia when other, less toxic antipsychotics have failed. Where it continues to have a use is as a mood stabilizer and for manic episodes in particular it's quite effective even if we still don't understand why. It's definitely not first-line and requires a psychiatrist experienced in managing it because there's not much wiggle room, but it's most definitely still in use, even in the United States, even today.

I think it's worth mentioning this because anyone who needs it shouldn't get the wrong idea about it.
 
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