Vintage Mac: Leaky Caps

Owning an old Mac is complicated. I was prepared for the software side of things. I was even prepared for hardware compromises and incompatibility in my quest to use a Mac Classic in 2011. What I hadn't considered is the physical deterioration of old electronics after 27 years. Now that I've had an opportunity to become acquainted with my Mac Classic, I'm discovering that things aren't working all that well.

One obstacle is that my hard drive is only recognized periodically. Whenever I first remove the Classic from its bag and boot it up, I get prompted to enter a floppy with a system disk. After the system boots from the floppy the hard disk still isn't recognized. Yet, after several restarts or passage of time (I'm not sure which) the hard drive suddenly reappears and tests out with no errors. I am not sure why I'm experiencing this behavior. It wasn't doing this when I first got the Classic. It started after I re-initialized the hard disk and installed System 6.0.8 instead of System 7.1 that it came with.

Another problem is that the PRAM battery is dead so it doesn't remember settings. I can buy a new battery so that's not a major problem. A third more serious issue is that I have no sound. I didn't even notice it at first and it wouldn't be that big of a deal except that it is a symptom of leaky capacitors on the motherboard. Some people suggest removing the leaky capacitors and replacing them. That process requires a steady hand and quite a bit of soldering. That's a skill I don't have. I never realized that these electronic components fail with age. Another potential solution to the problem is to wash the motherboard in the dishwasher! It sounds crazy but people say that washing the gunk from the leaky capacitors off the motherboard fixes sound and video problems the leaking causes. I'm hesitant to open up the Classic to remove the motherboard, however, because the CRT contains high voltage. It's just not worth it for me to get electrocuted so I can play with an old Mac. I'm just not confident that I know what I'm doing to risk it. I've already learned a lot from this process. A big lesson is that if you want to work with vintage computers you need to be comfortable taking them apart and soldering.