siritzky@mfci.UUCP (Brian Siritzky) (02/27/90)
This weekend my MacPlus got very sick. The symptom was that the
entire screen image was a thin vertical line down the center of the
screen. It booted fine, just no image. The machine was originally
at 512 which was upgraded to a Plus right after the Plus came out.
Last year I added 2Meg of RAM, to give me 2.5Meg. Okay, so here's the
thing: when I took it to my local Mac-Repair-Doctor I said
"I have a MacPlus with 2.5Meg RAM and ...", before I could
finish he said "Do you have a thin vertical line down the middle of the
screen?". How did he know? 'Cos he's seen a lot of them. He says that
the problem is with the power supply. So, is the extra memory a problem
for the power supply? Am I going to have this problem again with my new
power supply, say when I upgrade to 4 Meg soon? What is the solution?
(Please don't tell me to buy an SE or a II[ci], I'd love to but can't afford
one!)
Thanks,
Brian Siritzky internet: siritzky@Multiflow.com
Multiflow Computer, Inc., uucp: ..!{uunet,yale}!mfci!siritzky
31 Business Park Drive, fax: (203) 483-1624
Branford, CT 06405, U.S.A. voice: (203) 488-6090
--
Brian Siritzky internet: siritzky@Multiflow.com
Multiflow Computer, Inc., uucp: ..!{uunet,yale}!mfci!siritzky
31 Business Park Drive, fax: (203) 483-1624
Branford, CT 06405, U.S.A. voice: (203) 488-6090pdel@zodiac.ADS.COM (Peter Delevoryas) (02/27/90)
To: siritzky@mfci.ads.com Subject: Re: Power supply failure on 2.5 Meg Mac Plus Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware In-Reply-To: <1244@m3.mfci.UUCP> Organization: Advanced Decision Systems, Mt. View, CA (415) 960-7300 Cc: In article <1244@m3.mfci.UUCP> you write: >This weekend my MacPlus got very sick. The symptom was that the >entire screen image was a thin vertical line down the center of the >screen. Oh, no, I just installed 2 meg into my Plus, and have 2 more meg coming in the mail! Q: how soon after you put in the simms did the screen die? And how much did it cost to fix? I've heard about these power supply problems, but never did hear whether it could be fixed *cheaply*. Peter D.
ajauch@ics.uci.edu (Alexander Edwin Jauch) (02/27/90)
Power supply failures on classic style macs are quite common. I had the one on my 512E blow after about 2 years. I have been told that it is normal and there are non-factory parts that are better and avoid this problem. From my experience (whatever that means!!) there is no relation between memory installed and power supply failure. I have had zero problems in my 512E since expanding it to 1M (fingers crossed). Alex Jauch ajauch@bonnie.ics.uci.edu
gordon@milton.acs.washington.edu (Gordon Davisson) (02/27/90)
In article <1244@m3.mfci.UUCP> siritzky@mfci.UUCP () writes: >This weekend my MacPlus got very sick. The symptom was that the >entire screen image was a thin vertical line down the center of the >screen. It booted fine, just no image. The machine was originally >at 512 which was upgraded to a Plus right after the Plus came out. >Last year I added 2Meg of RAM, to give me 2.5Meg. Okay, so here's the >thing: when I took it to my local Mac-Repair-Doctor I said >"I have a MacPlus with 2.5Meg RAM and ...", before I could >finish he said "Do you have a thin vertical line down the middle of the >screen?". How did he know? 'Cos he's seen a lot of them. He says that >the problem is with the power supply. So, is the extra memory a problem >for the power supply? Am I going to have this problem again with my new >power supply, say when I upgrade to 4 Meg soon? What is the solution? >(Please don't tell me to buy an SE or a II[ci], I'd love to but can't afford >one!) First, the problem has nothing to do with the memory. 1-Meg SIMMs don't use significant amounts of power (I've heard they tend to use less than the 256K SIMMs -- the technology is getting better *that* fast). Second, the problem is not in the power supply; it's in the video circuits. It's on the same board as the power supply, but that only matters if you're going to repair it by replacing the entire board (like Apple does). Fixing things this way tends to be unreasonably expensive; you're better off either fixing it yourself or finding someone who does component-level repair (if you can't find someone locally, send it me -- see my .sig). As for the problem: the most common cause of this symptom is a cracked solder joint on the top pin of the yoke connector (it's the 4-pin connector near the top front of the analog board, right under the foam pad that holds on the insulating sheet) (the analog board, by the way, is the one that sits vertically on the left side of the Macintosh, and holds the power supply and video circuits). It's also possible (but much less likely) that some other solder joint in that circuit (the horizontal deflection) has cracked. Check the connections to the components labeled C1, L2, and L3. It also could be that C1 has died (though this doesn't usually collapse the screen as completely as you describe). -- Gordon Davisson Westwind Computing (206) 632-8141 4518 University Way NE, Suite 313, Seattle WA 98105
leburg@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Brian Pierson) (02/27/90)
In article <25E9F723.477@paris.ics.uci.edu> ajauch@ics.uci.edu (Alexander Edwin Jauch) writes: >Power supply failures on classic style macs are quite common. I had the >one on my 512E blow after about 2 years. I have been told that it is >normal and there are non-factory parts that are better and avoid this >problem. From my experience (whatever that means!!) there is no relation >between memory installed and power supply failure. I have had zero problems >in my 512E since expanding it to 1M (fingers crossed). > >Alex Jauch >ajauch@bonnie.ics.uci.edu Alex, You are quite right that there is no relation in memory size and power supplie failures. The original poster has several options for his problem. One of the more expensive options is to take it to an Apple repair person. The only benefit that it will give you is a board that is better than the one that came with the Mac. This is because Apple's quality control on the repaired parts is better than the control on original manufacture. Brian Pierson
siritzky@mfci.UUCP (Brian Siritzky) (02/27/90)
In article <11026@zodiac.ADS.COM> pdel@zodiac.ADS.COM (Peter Delevoryas) writes: >>This weekend my MacPlus got very sick. The symptom was that the >>entire screen image was a thin vertical line down the center of the >>screen. Thanks for all of your replies. For some further information, my Mac is over 4 years old. I bought it a few months before the Plus was announced. I use it extensively, its on almost every day for at least 3 hours. I have always used a screen saver, and even when I'm actually working my screen is quite dim because I do not have many other lights on in the room. So, my point is that this is the first failure in all these years, and I don't really think that its a cause for too much Apple bashing. After all, my Jasmine drive gave much more trouble, but that's another story. Of course I would like for this problem not to happen again, and if it does then I'll bash Apple myself. For all those who suggested the "do it yourself" approach, I was really tempted, especially since I work for a company which builds mini-super computers, and we have a fully equipped lab and lots of people here who could do the job. Unfortunately, I needed it repaired immediately (if not sooner), so there was no time to get all the parts, spec sheets etc. Now that I know that it can be done I'll definitely do it myself next time and borrow a Mac. Again, thanks for all the help and replies. Oh, even though someone said that the extra memory didn't cause the problem, FYI it had been in the machine for about 6 months. P.S. Don't think this didn't make me start looking at the SE/30 and the various IIs. Maybe I will be able to afford a IIci after all. Depends on how often the power supply has to be replaced.
eacj@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Julian Vrieslander) (02/28/90)
In article <7913@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> leburg@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Brian Pierson) writes: > You are quite right that there is no relation in memory size and power >supplie failures. The original poster has several options for his problem. One >of the more expensive options is to take it to an Apple repair person. The >only benefit that it will give you is a board that is better than the one that >came with the Mac. This is because Apple's quality control on the repaired parts >is better than the control on original manufacture. I have to disagree with the last statement. The Apple repair facilities that I have dealt with are authorized only to do board swaps for power supply failures of this type. My own experience has been that the replacement boards fail just as often as the originals (which is far too often). I try to avoid Apple repair facilities. I have been sending in our toasted Pluses and 512s only when I could not fix them by resoldering joints on the P.S./video board. Now that I know the replacement boards are no better, in the future I will probably use third party sources for parts and replacement boards. -- Julian Vrieslander Neurobiology & Behavior, W250 Mudd Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853 UUCP: {cmcl2,decvax,rochester,uw-beaver}!cornell!batcomputer!eacj INTERNET: eacj@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu BITNET: eacj@CRNLTHRY
consp22@bingsune.cc.binghamton.edu (Darren Handler) (02/28/90)
The Macs have always had power supply failure problems because of their lack of fans. The heat is just too much if they don't get excellent ventilation. That (the fan) was the first thging I bought for my Plus. I just saw too many come into the store for repairs. I have had my Plus two years with the fan and the computer runs nice and cool without even a flicker. I recommend the Kensington System Saver. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Consp22@Bingsuns.pod.binghamton.edu | SUNY-B Computer Consultants - | | Consp22@Bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu | Trying to keep the world safe from | |---------------------------------------| the SUNY-B Computer users. | | System Consultant - World Computers |-------------------------------------| | Computer Cons. - SUNY Binghamton | Darren `Mac Hack' Handler | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| I don't know if I am going to heaven or hell, I just hope God grades on a curve