Usually looking at the inside guts of something vintage that isn’t working how it’s supposed to be working.
I sold a platinum Mach III with a DB9 connector (Apple IIC / IIE) version last year and I regret it. The colors were pristine and I had dissassembled, cleaned, and lubed every millimeter of it. It was a real gem of a joystick. I still have a dirty old yellowy nasty grimey Mach III…
If you’ve spent time dissassembling and reassembling vintage Apple computer products, you’ve leared that Apple’s original assembly method used plastic welding (which is literally melting together plastic). The Apple IIC computers use these plastic welds to hold the little speaker in place and to attach the metal shield to the case. You will inevitably be…
Today we troubleshoot a newly purchase A2S4000 and quickly diagnose a bad RAM chip issue. And we learn why you should just always start your day with a self-RAM test. Welcome to the latest fixer upper post. Today we have an Apple IIC A2S4000 with no accessories and no external power supply. It was purchased…
Here’s the basic kit we used for cleaning up an Apple IIC keyboard: Phillips screwdriver (6 screws get you inside the Apple IIC) Isopropyl alcohol (prefer 91% or greater purity to avoid leaving residues), AND/OR: Simple Green cleaner and a medium bristled brush Tweezers – for those of us who are fat-fingered Key puller -…
An Apple IIC floppy disk drive wasn’t working the other day. After lots of headscratching we find that the stepper motor is not functioning. After much circuit tracing, we checked continuity into the inductors of the stepper motor and found one of the four phases was failed, indicating a failed connection inside the stepper motor…
