Two EASY options for dead retro Mac power supplies!

The Macintosh IIsi and LC series are known to have power supplies that tend to fail. Instead of rolling the dice by trying to recap and clean your original PSU, let's take a look at two options that offer guaranteed success and minimal hassle (with a bonus option for if you hate yourself).
Links:
CayMac Vintage Power-Up-IIusi PCB kit for Mac IIsi: ko-fi.com/s/e7...
With it, you'll also need the following...
Power supply module for IIsi (affiliate link): amzn.to/3YgXPMT
ATX pico PSU for IIsi (affiliate link): amzn.to/3Nl2gjx
CayMac Vintage Power-Up-Pizza PCB kit or LC series: ko-fi.com/s/fc...
With it, you'll also need the following...
Power supply module for LC-series (affiliate link): amzn.to/3Y1hmPX
ATX pico PSU for LC-series (affiliate link): amzn.to/3Nl2gjx
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Intro music by BoxCat Games (freemusicarchi....

[@mordecaiepsilon]

I love the use of a standard and pico power supply. Such a simple solution elegantly integrated together

[@mortenborg]

The first LC was my first Mac - so much nostalgia! Happy to see you giving them good care.

[@maximcoppieters]

This comes at such perfect timing. I just got an LC that doesn't start. It's my first 68k era mac, so i'm not very comfortable with these restorations yet. Thank you for this!

[@AmigaofRochester]

It's cheap to rebuild the PSU. if you're in the us, i offer rebuild services. I've rebuilt tons of LCs and the PSU rarely are unrecoverable.

[@michvod]

You just need to fully recap it (except the big main filter capacitor) and it will work :) I recapped dozens of those LC PSUs all with great success, all of them started working after a full recap and a good cleanup in an IPA bath

[@maximcoppieters]

Thanks @AmigaofRochester and @michvod. I am in the EU. But if it's a case of recapping I'm definitely going to try it. Since I have to order components for another project soon, I'll look at getting those as well.

[@michvod]

@@maximcoppieters I am in the EU as well. The caps in the TDK PSU are somewhat nonstandard values, but you can use a standard values, just one step up - for example instead of 82uF capacitor, you use 100uF, instead of of 27uF you use 33uF or 47uF, etc. :)

[@erinwiebe7026]

It's always good to see new solutions like this! I recapped my LCIII & Q605 logic boards & PSU's to address these issues a while ago. I'm glad I did, but would have preferred these modern PSU replacements had they been available at the time.

[@mirage809]

I love the vintage Mac scene and their dedication to keeping these machines in working order. Hard drives becoming unreliable? We’re gonna invent a hard drive replacement for them. Power supplies starting to go bad? We’ll just make kits for replacement PSUs, no problem. Also, I miss monitor pass through on PC power supplies. Such a convenient little feature.

[@ChrononSyndrome]

7:44 Cat Jumpscare

[@okonvick]

This is absolutely fantastic! I have been looking for a modern alternative to the old PSU for my LC 375 for years. And in the end, this seems to be much more elegant than I hoped. Thanks for the video Colin, you made my day!

[@cleanycloth]

The power supply recently died in my LCII and I think was causing sporadic issues before that happened. Glad to see there’s replacements! I’m lucky that my caps haven’t damaged the power supply so I’ll repair mine first and see what happens. If not, then I know what to buy!

[@AmigaofRochester]

the LC PSUs are extremely rebuildable. rarely they are not recoverable.

[@cleanycloth]

@@AmigaofRochester I think one cap was slightly wet underneath but I wiped that up straight away. Just need to source the replacements and actually do the repair lol

[@michvod]

@@AmigaofRochester I repaired probably close to 100 of those, all of them just needed a recap. All of them started working after a recap and a good wash (and drying of course)

[@EeveeEuphoria]

wishing you luck on the repair!

[@sirlemonhead7715]

Good luck with the boards you're working on with Kai :)

[@Spillmansgarage]

I’m so happy you posted this! I have a LC II with a bad PSU. I was going to just give it to someone. Now I think I’ll fix it. 😃

[@rass1959]

I’m surely glad I found your channel. I have a lot of those pizza boxes probably 20 and all one year I went around Goodwill‘s and I have I don’t even remember how many of those and then I have a few of two SI’s no problems but I don’t run them very often. I just got them out of storage after four years. I had him in a shed where he used to live and one was on the bottom and it gathered moisture, but I fixed it, but a couple of them had problems one of them. The battery had corrosion and it broke off, but I have so many of these that doesn’t really matter but anyway, I love your procedures. They’re so Preciseanyway this latest video I like so I know there’s a answer to some of the old max which I have over 100.

[@lordofhyphens]

It is generally a bad idea to tin when running leads into terminal blocks. The tinned wire will form a poorer connection to the block (which relies on mechanical force, not unlike crimping), also the solder can flow and worsen the connection as it wears, leading to damage to the connector. If you don't want to put bare wire in (understandable given it is possible to miss a whisker and cause a short), there are crimp-on pin connectors that you can get that solve the problem neatly. They are basically made for terminal blocks and just work

[@lordofhyphens]

And by "damage to the connector", I mean "melted connectors and nonzero probability of fire"

[@bluephreakr]

Nah, sorry Colin. Screw terminals are meant for ferrules. Now granted, as a budget-conscious user I would had went stranded or if I could stuff it in there, _fake_ the ferrule by wrapping the conductor around itself on the insulation but _never_ would I solder the copper; the idea with _not_ doing that is the stress which is caused by bound copper conductors being forced to pancake with the solder, thus introducing the possibility of damaged conductors which would snap apart under tension.

[@crouchinghamster6407]

I love my IIsi! Not having power pass through for the monitor is a major bummer -- it's part of the computer's charm.

[@PCUSER486]

Glad to know. I have a mint condition iisi and not sure yet if it's a dead PRAM battery or power supply yet. ☹️ Not to familiar, but if a PRAM battery dies, will it not turn on? Some say it won't even power up? Thx for this video 😊

[@rolfsinkgraven]

Love the new old stuff, it makes repairs faster.

[@gregcoons7308]

I shoehorned a Meanwell unit into my IIsi...a bit more soldering and no softpower (more because I was lazy), but it works like a charm! Wish I'd known about these options :)

[@ChairmanMeow1]

Ive fixed a lot of stuff but messing with PSUs is still beyond my comfort level :D

[@VictorNelvanaShows]

I am so glad you fix the psu.

[@cURLybOi]

thankfully, power supply is just a power supply. no need for exotic chips no longer made. you can have a completely different power supply design but as long as it provides stable enough dc voltage, it is 100% compatible :)

[@owenkelsey6279]

In some cases it’s capacitors that are no longer made and they are the size of a febreeze can.

[@cURLybOi]

@@owenkelsey6279 i didn't mean fixing existing supplys but you can replace it by any other psu of the same voltages/current limit

[@only1ydk]

Have a great day 😎💾

[@Markimark151]

I got a few Macintosh computers that have dead power supplies in my cousin’s storage locker, hopefully we can get them fixed otherwise we might think about selling them at an online auction!

[@dreadpiratekristo]

This is awesome. These machines can't die until we say they can, dammit!

[@adiener]

I have a failing LC power supply that I'm going to try recapping. Just got the necessary parts in the mail for it, but it's good to know that I'll have a better option if that doesn't do the trick!

[@michvod]

Remove caps, wash with some degreaser and lots of water, repeat the was 2-3 times. Dry fully with hairdryer then leave 3-4 days to 100% dry. Reinstall new caps, and it will work. I repaired dozens like that and they always worked after that

[@danielschenk91]

Just started on an SE of which the PSU recently died during a power-up. I bet it could be as simple as a fuse (especially because there’s a locked up disk drive in there too) but should the need for a replacement arise I’ll keep this in mind! Looks great!

[@Geekeh_UK]

If you wanted to replicate the original functionality of the pass-through, it'd only require a single 12V switching 110V/220V relay.

[@bensow5491]

thanks for producing

[@myfatdiabeticlife8799]

this is great news for me i was looking to replace my power supply on my IIsi it just failed for the 2nd time

[@GimmeTOKYO]

Completely off topic but your cat is so pretty 🥹💕

[@BollingHolt]

Ahh, yes... I think the Macintosh II era chime is my favorite.

[@macsenplays]

7:44 Cute kitty

[@jonathankleinow2073]

I hope you'll consider making the trek down to VCF Midwest in Chicago next year!

[@bredfrowngames]

Much love to Will at CayMac Vintage! :) He does amazing work.

[@DanRawkt]

since the ac-out has now power all the time, never reach to the plug or socket without watching what you do... bcuz its easy to touch now by mistake 😊 1:53

[@lordofhyphens]

I suspect that a printed cover is warranted

[@angrydove4067]

What a nice kitty!

[@sinjinhawke]

My LC475 power supply started doing the click of death a couple years ago. These options were not available so I ordered a capacitor kit from Console 5 and tried my rookie hand at cap replacing. Was shocked and delighted when the machine started back up. Now to replace the Analogue power from my Mac Plus. I did a cap replacement for that but still getting the jittery screen. I think it’s the flyback so will be looking at the options that bypass that completely.

[@RacerX-]

Awesome solution! My only criticism with these sort of projects is availability. By the time videos like this come out I have found that these and similar projects are usually sold out. That is the case here. Perhaps they could make them available for other sellers like JCM, to produce and stock.

[@richardbrobeck2384]

Great up grade !!

[@MagnumForce51]

Curious how difficult it would be to add soft-power support to LC/SE/SE30s via custom PSU. Would probably imagine it'd require mods to the mobo though. Would be cool to turn a LC on via the keyboard power button like you can with some of the later Macs. :P

[@liljonwask]

You should not tin the wire ends if you are going to be putting them into block terminals. You've effectively removed the "springy-ness" of the wire ends, and this will eventually lead to a loose connection. I believe the technical term is "solder creep"?

[@vap0rland]

I sold a crap load of these systems, back in the day. 40% sales margins. That's why they were so much more expensive than PCs.

[@theshadowman1398]

My G4 MDD’s PSU a couple of years ego gave up the ghost. Luckily there was a guy on eBay selling converter cable for ATX PSU’s. So with a 3D printed bracket and an SFX PSU my G4 looks stock and has a much better PSU.

[@kjoh42]

Details on the soft power transistor, please. Is that included in the kit, and does the kit now include the correct one?

[@ThisDoesNotCompute]

Yes to both!

[@bonno666]

Check the plastic clip from the memoryslot in the LCIII not fully bend back at 07:08 minutes in the video. It was bend heavily. But maybe it was corrected after the video.

[@coilgunhacks6211]

Hey. Do you try to let the computer run longer than originally? Then you shouldn't solder the leads that go into screw Terminals....😅

[@puciohenzap891]

Tinned leads will break over time in a screw terminal, no?

[@lordofhyphens]

​@@puciohenzap891correct. There's dedicated pin crimps if you want to keep those wires tidy and they work very well

[@coilgunhacks6211]

@@puciohenzap891 kind of. the tin will soften and the screw will get lose. so they will be prone to shorting.

[@smileyface8124]

is it just me or is the intro music getting less loud every vid

[@ultimatehunter36]

Great Videos my man!

[@FuchsDanin]

@6:17 the solder on that 90 degree ATX connector looks -terrible-. That kind of work definitely can't make it into a finished product. Definitely inspect and refresh the solder there, it will crack with age.

[@JeremyBolanos]

ooo - I need a replacement power supply for a Performa 6300CD. I hope one comes up.

[@Rodville]

What's the power draw of the new solution versus the original power supply? I would imagine using modern parts makes it more efficient and cheaper to run.

[@OctavioGaitan]

Things to do with a LC or IIsi case: use it for a sleeper gaming build. Do they sell those pre-assembled?

[@brandonacevedo9574]

Looks nice but I’m not a fan of the brand of capacitors they’ve used

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

4:05 hopefully you didnt go chasing any waterfalls or fall for any scrubs 😏😂😂😂

[@pishbot]

excellent

[@isaacsorensen8377]

I got a Power Mac 7200/90 with a dead PSU for cheap. The caps weren't leaking so I just replaced them

[@nicktasios1862]

Recently the PSU on my 840AV blew up, and I’m looking for a replacement ATX, but it’s difficult to come by ones with strong enough 5V rail. Unfortunately no replacements are made for these power supplies yet.

[@thewi2kbug]

I would have put a toggle switch for the monitor pass-through

[@rgdickenson]

Thankfully, I got to my IIsi psu before any leaking occurred. Still, nice to have. The original IIsi also has the reputation for being underpowered or not powerful enough to handle the draw of add-on cards - this new psu solve that potential issue?

[@andresbravo2003]

I should really know this

[@drzeissler]

seems critcal to me on LC series with Iie card and one or more external floppys!

[@MartinPittBradley]

I commend this, and wish I had more time

[@desertkun]

2:06 you're undertemping your soldering iron - give it 20-40 more degrees, I can see that it struggles to melt the solder.

[@rascalwind]

Chimy cool.

[@theduckfu]

any plans for making one for a apple g4 DD? no cheap options for those either :(

[@explodinglemur]

Alas, both boards are sold out :(

[@robsquared2]

The name fits 2SI = to sigh.

[@CaptainRufus]

Sadly the iisi kit is already out of stock.

[@KevinTwiner]

❤

[@tyberzann9713]

Do not tin the wires for screw terminals. Just get ferrals and bobs your uncle. Has not to be „nice“ - it’s just safety.

[@2dfx]

I'm not a fan of either of these solutions. A properly designed solution shouldn't require modification of the PSU housing, nor should it rely on the user to wire up sub-assemblies that are not included. These just seem to be rushed in order to sell units. The soft power issue with the IIsi is the perfect example. This should have been caught before these became available for sale.

[@theforerunnerreclaimer]

They're still in beta right now, so I'd assume *most* issues will be fixed by the time the full version comes out

[@radman999]

You should not tin leads that go into phoenix connectors. It is a fire hazard.

[@ukmk3supra]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/inaukpJpgbOSh6M - gee, that looks familiar.... ;)

[@2xtreem4u]

i have a LC without a power supply

[@ajax700]

All the videos you make tend to show that Apple quality was very low/lacking/etc., to not say cr*p, even for high end machines back in the 80s/90s. (cheap?) plastic hinges, cheap plastic cases, bad electrical components, hard to fix proprietary boards. This got worse as mr. Louis Rossmann constantly documents today. Best wishes.

[@gloomyoceanexplorer]

Like for cat :)

[@LxRv]

OMG A CAT

[@willfultrain6779]

Cat!

[@rosariodagosto6484]

just replace old mac power supply's with us brand 😊😊😊

[@scramble45]

NGL the Sony PSU is probably designed better than these.