macintosh lc

Apple

Macintosh LC630

Intro: New project begins! 🙂I bought this LC630 on a popular auction site, sold as “unknown condition.”When it arrived, the first thing that hit me was the musty smell escaping from the inside.On opening it up, I found the entire motherboard covered in sticky, damp, old dust. Despite its age though, apart from the dirt on the outside, the computer doesn’t look too bad. With the exception of one known fault—and one new issue that happened during transport—it’s actually in decent shape. So, what’s the plan?A complete cleaning and wash, a recap, and then the first attempt to power it up. Of course, retrobrighting will also be part of the process to restore this once-great machine (even if it was “Low Cost”) to its original look and glory. Fingers crossed—and stay tuned for updates! 🙂 FIrst Cleaning: 17.08.2025 Dissassembly A quick update. The Mac has been taken apart and cleaned of the worst of the dirt to get rid of the musty smell and… cigarette smoke.The plastic parts are in surprisingly good condition, apart from a few minor issues, nothing broken. 18.08.2025 First scrubbing The first scrubbing with water and liquid detergent washed away decades of dirt. The difference is plain for all to see 🙂Before renovation, all elements will of course be washed again to remove any dirt residues that could not be removed now.

Apple

Macintosh Performa 450

Intro: This Performa 450 came to me as a purchase from Germany along with two other Mac computers. When I turned it on, the fan and hard drive started up, and I heard the sound of the system booting up, but there was no image. The problem turned out to be trivial: replacing the capacitors on the motherboard and in the power supply solved the issue. In addition, the case underwent retrobrightning. REPAIR Issues: no image when powered on no system boot Done: full recap of the motherboard and PSU Cleaning and retrobrighting of the case Result: After replacing the capacitors on the motherboard and in the power supply, the computer works properly

Apple

Macintosh LCIII

Intro: This LCIII came to me as a purchase from Germany together with two other Macs. When the power was turned on, the fan and hard drive would start up, but unfortunately there were no other signs of life. The problem turned out to be the capacitors, which had started leaking, as can be seen in the photos. REPAIR Issues: no startup chime when powered on no system boot Done: full recap of the motherboard and PSU Cleaning and retrobrighting of the case Result: After replacing the capacitors on the motherboard and in the power supply, the computer works properly

Apple

Macintosh LC

Intro: In the early 90s when, as a teenager, I read tests of this computer in trade magazines I really wanted to own one someday. I was captivated by the design, the operating system, the performance. At that time I myself owned, if I remember correctly, a Timex 2048 and an FDD3000 disk drive. Dreams come true, I received a Macintosh LC from a friend. The computer turned on but had problems with the image. i decided to restore it. REPAIR Issues: Incorrect image display Done: full recap of the motherboard repair of damaged tracks Cleaning and retrobrighting of the case Result: The displayed image is still not correct. the probably culprit is the VRAM. Unfortunately, I don’t have the right VRAM module at the moment, because the newer models I own have different modules.

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