Macintosh SE/30

The Macintosh SE/30 was sold by Apple Computer from January 1989 to October 1991. Like all Macintoshes of its era, its original surface-mount electrolytic capacitors leak their contents and require replacing for both functionality and to protect critical traces on its circuit board from being eaten by electrolyte.

Maxell Battery "Bombs"

 * Causes
 * Apple placed a small lithium battery on the Macintosh SE/30's Logic Board to power and preserve the contents of the Parameter RAM (PRAM). Apple used a number of different brands of battery for this purpose, one of which is Maxell. Maxell lithium batteries are notorious for rupturing in storage and spewing its highly corrosive contents all over the board, which usually travels onto the Logic Board retaining bracket and rusts out that part as well. If your Macintosh SE/30 is still intact with its original PRAM battery, THE BATTERY MUST BE REMOVED IMMEDIATELY, even if it is not Maxell brand.


 * Solutions
 * Macintosh SE/30s with exploded PRAM batteries are pretty much irreparable, save for replacing the entire Logic Board.

Original Parts
From the now-defunct 68kMLA Wiki: "Some logic board revisions may have a different number of capacitors, so make sure to look first and verify this information."