truesdel@ICS.UCI.EDU (Scott Truesdell) (02/15/90)
Well, our Apple CD-ROM finally started getting flakey, just like all the rest. It started refusing to mount "Phil and Dave's Excellent CD". This is a state that could not be allowed to continue. Here's what I did. I disassembled the CD-ROM case. It is a standard Apple snap-together enclosure. Push the release tabs located at various places around the enclosure (none on the front face) with a small screwdriver and keep pulling gently all around until the tabs are all free. Top hinges towards front. DON'T USE ANY TOOLS TO PRY the case apart. Use only your fingers. Remove the power supply. There is a retainer tab in front, then the unit slides up and forward. Disconnect the various power cables. Remove the CD Drive. It's a tight fit. Retainer latches are in back, under SCSI cable. Take care with the SCSI select connector. Use clean "canned air" to blast away at the CS drive from all angles. Also clean the entire interior of the enclosure. Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly. DO NOT reconnect the fan. Apple's "fix" is to leave this fan disconnected. It will cut down on the amount of dust drawn into the device. I believe 'em. Ever disassemble an 3 year old Mac Plus next to a 1 year old Mac SE? The Mac Plus is remarkably clean compaired to the SE. --scott DISCLAIMER: If you break anything, I certainly don't want to hear about it.
dplatt@coherent.com (Dave Platt) (02/16/90)
In article <18201.635020296@ics.uci.edu> truesdel@ICS.UCI.EDU (Scott Truesdell) writes: > > Well, our Apple CD-ROM finally started getting flakey, just like all > the rest. It started refusing to mount "Phil and Dave's Excellent CD". > This is a state that could not be allowed to continue. > Here's what I did... > ... Use clean "canned air" to blast away at the CS drive from all angles. > Also clean the entire interior of the enclosure. > > Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly. DO NOT reconnect the fan. > Apple's "fix" is to leave this fan disconnected. It will cut down > on the amount of dust drawn into the device. I believe 'em. Ever > disassemble an 3 year old Mac Plus next to a 1 year old Mac SE? > The Mac Plus is remarkably clean compaired to the SE. There's another approach possible... one which probably isn't needed with the Apple CD-ROM drive (which doesn't generate much heat) but which may be very important in some other drive-boxes. It's a trick I learned from a fan-manufacturer's catalog... [1] Reverse the fan, so that it blows air cool _into_ the case rather than sucking warm air out of the case. [2] Tape a dust-filter across the fan opening. This trick will pressurize the interior of the case with filtered air. It moves the same amount of air as an evacuation fan.. but the air passing across the internal components is largely dust-free... you get cooling without running the risk of dust deposition. I've heard reports that some people have had problems with the Mac IIcx and IIci, because the fan draws a lot of air in through the diskette slots... reportedly causing the diskette-drive heads to become cruddy, and eventually fail. It might make sense to reverse the airmover in the IIcx/ci case, and tape a dust-filter across the vent slots... thus causing clean air to flow _out_ through the diskette drive, rather than pulling dust-laden air _into_ the case. You should probably plan on cleaning the inside of _any_ fan-cooled equipment periodically. Our Sun shoebox disks do have dust-filters in the air inlets... and they still do become somewhat dusty after a year or so of constant use. [The shoeboxes with cartridge-tape drives get MUCH cruddier than those without, as the tape slots permit unfiltered air to enter the enclosure.] -- Dave Platt VOICE: (415) 493-8805 UUCP: ...!{ames,apple,uunet}!coherent!dplatt DOMAIN: dplatt@coherent.com INTERNET: coherent!dplatt@ames.arpa, ...@uunet.uu.net USNAIL: Coherent Thought Inc. 3350 West Bayshore #205 Palo Alto CA 94303