Description

Vintage 1991 Apple Mac Macintosh SE/30 M5119 - Restored/Upgraded/Recapped/Working

The Mac SE/30 is considered to be the best compact Mac ever produced. It is also considered, by some, to be the best Mac ever produced. It is a vintage computer which is very prized by collectors. What is being offered here is a professionally restored and fully functional unit in great cosmetic condition. A rare and fantastic conversation piece that can be used as a working retro computer from 1991, a retro-gaming computer or a fully functional prop/decorative icon from 30 years ago.

This Mac SE/30 was in storage for many years. When acquired it was dirty and dusty. The floppy disk drive was full of dust and some of its mechanical parts did not move as intended: the 30 years old grease used to lubricate these parts had hardened - it did not work. The hard disk was dead and was not being detected by the Mac.

After many hours of disassembly, meticulous dusting and cleaning, including dusting, cleaning, servicing and lubricating the floppy drive and replacing the old troublesome eject gear, it was able to boot from a floppy.

While cleaning the logic board, I noticed that some capacitors were starting to leak. Fortunately, there was no damage to the traces on the logic board and the battery had not leaked or exploded (as often happens with these old computers when stored for many years with the battery inside them). The logic board electrolytic capacitors have been replaced ("recapped") by much more reliable tantalum capacitors which do not leak. The logic board is super clean and is in excellent cosmetic shape with no lifted traces and no bog wires (except for one which was factory installed on the underside of the printed circuit board - see photos).

All troublesome solder joints on the analog board have been reflowed - after many years of using the computer, these solder joints tend to crack and cause video issues. The flyback transformer has had a fresh layer of corona dope applied to it to avoid other video issues.

The failed mechanical SCSI hard disk has been replaced by a much more reliable BlueSCSI which is the solid-state electronic equivalent of a SCSI hard disk. The BlueSCSI uses an SD card to emulate the hard disk. It is configured as a 2GB hard disk… way more than the original 40 or 80 MB disk that came with this model! Mac OS 7.5 is freshly installed on the BlueSCSI and many programs, utilities and games are included as well.

The keyboard and mouse have been disassembled and thoroughly cleaned. They look, and work, like new.

This Mac boots properly and is ready to serve for many years to come. It is equipped with 8MB of RAM and has been extensively tested: sound, keyboard port, mouse port, internal floppy port, external floppy port, internal SCSI port, external SCSI port, serial port have all been tested. The clock/PRAM battery has been removed, but not replaced. The screen is in excellent condition: sharp, bright and stable with no screen burn in. This Mac’s four original rubber feet are still present and in great condition (not missing, mushy or deteriorated).

This SE/30 comes with an Apple ADB keyboard (Canadian bilingual QWERTY layout) - this is the keyboard model with the orange Alps key switches, the original coiled keyboard cable, an Apple ADB mouse, the rare reset/programmer’s switch and an original Apple power cord. It is fully configured and ready to use. The expansion slot plastic cover is a 3D-printed part (not original), otherwise the unit is in great condition with very little yellowing of the plastic! Note that the case has a small engraving on the top (next to the handle) which is mostly covered by a small riveted identifier (about 1.5”x 0.75”).

Many SE/30s sold today, are sold as-is, in an unknown internal condition. A few are supposedly able to boot....however, if the logic board capacitors have not been replaced and the battery has not been removed, these computers will not function reliably for very long! The capacitors in these computers are over 30 years old and are well past their prime. Additionally, surface mount capacitors from the late eighties-early nineties were notoriously prone to leakage. When they leak, these capacitors' electrolyte, which is extremely corrosive, "eats" away printed circuit board traces rendering the computer unusable and difficult/costly to repair. Also, some brands of batteries in these computers had a tendency to literally explode and spill their corrosive guts all over the electronics, rendering  the computer unusable and un-repairable. Unlike most SE/30s being sold, this unit has been restored, recapped, upgraded and tested (see pictures). It is in great cosmetic condition and functions perfectly.

Despite this computer having been extensively tested and found to be fully functional, it IS over 30 years old technology and as such, there is no guarantee offered, or implied, for continued functioning. This lot is being sold as-is with no returns accepted.

You’ll get everything needed to plug it in and start using it right away…for a first class trip in time to the very early 1990s!