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SE/30 making horrible crackling sounds, with sparks flying from the CRT! (with video!)

Submitted by SpaceBoy on April 26, 2007 - 6:07am. 680x0 Macs and Lisa

Hi guys,

It's late, I'm restless, and I decided to fire up my trusty old SE/30 after several years of being on display in a box in my garage. I was hoping to get her online, so I can finally start adding some software to my Newton 2100...

So, I plug her in, attach an ADB keyboard and mouse (Extended Keyboard II - best keyboard ever!), and hit the power switch. Immediately, I'm bombarded by a horrible scratching / crackling noise, and the Chimes of Doom. I quickly hit the kill-switch, remove the back casing and try again, and I get the same awful sound, but now I can see that in the clear tube on the back of the CRT, there is a very bright flickering spark, which seems to be the source of the noise. I do hear the normal startup chime, and going by the sound of the HDD I'd say she's booting, but the screen isn't displaying anything up front. Is my beloved SE/30 dead?!

I shot a quick video with my phone and uploaded it to my .Mac account - here's the link:

http://web.mac.com/huckdunsany/iWeb/Homepage/Movie.html

Any ideas? Did she die of loneliness and neglect out in the cold depths of my garage?

Thanks,

Huxley

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Jon's picture

It's been a long time since I

Submitted by Jon on April 26, 2007 - 12:36pm.

It's been a long time since I've seen it but that might be what happens after the glass is broken in the neck. No vacuum means that the cathode rays aren't going to make the jump to the front of the tube, so they just arc around in the neck. I know somebody else is sure to confirm or refute my observation. I haven't seen a cracked neck in at least 8-10 years.

» I am not in this world to live up to other people's expectations, nor do I feel that the world must live up to mine. - Fritz Perls

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FunnymanSE30's picture

Your se/30 is still alive, yo

Submitted by FunnymanSE30 on April 26, 2007 - 12:56pm.

Your se/30 is still alive, you just need to find a crt for it, one from an SE will work fine,almost any crt will work fine that was once in a compact mac.

» iMac Summer 2001: 700mhz, 256mb RAM, 80 Gb, OS 10.4 [main desktop computer]
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FunnymanSE30's picture

Your se/30 is still alive, yo

Submitted by FunnymanSE30 on April 26, 2007 - 12:56pm.

Your se/30 is still alive, you just need to find a crt for it, one from an SE will work fine,almost any crt will work fine that was once in a compact mac.

» iMac Summer 2001: 700mhz, 256mb RAM, 80 Gb, OS 10.4 [main desktop computer]
Powerbook Pismo 400mhz G3 running 10.4, 30gb HD, 640mb of ram[Main Laptop Computer]

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pmjett's picture

ooo. bad.

Submitted by pmjett on April 26, 2007 - 6:22pm.

From my tinkering with vacuum tubes, as Jon says it sounds like the crt has lost it's vacuum. Why it would have done that is anyone's guess. The chimes of doom should be another matter altogether. The logic board has no idea about the CRT once the video signal has left for the CRT socket- so the shot tube matters not. Now. What I don't know is if any damage occurs to any of the IC's in the analog board when you get that arcing. I know that Pina warns specifically against shorting the 2nd anode (the high voltage part of the tube) to anywhere but the ground lug in the front of the chassis.

I have a se/30 CRT that I can donate to the cause if you'll cover the shipping cost. I have enough extra's floating about that I can spot you one. Smiling PM me if you're interested.

I can double check in Pina, but again, it sounds like a gassy CRT.

mike

» 128K now working!, 512K, Mac Plus, Classic, SE/30, ANS 700/200, Indigo iMac, B&W, Sawtooth, iBook G4. Numerous SGI and Sun boxen.

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CRT vacuum loss

Submitted by charlieman on April 26, 2007 - 8:35pm.

Most of us who have broken a compact Mac CRT did it in the same way. We were wrestling with the release clip on the power connector and we knocked the CRT yolk when it suddenly became free. Hissssss. I hope that nobody has done this more than once ;-).

The original poster reports that he didn't do it that way. Did OP bring the SE/30 from storage and power it up, without leaving it to warm up to room temperature? Was the SE/30 exposed to extreme temperature differentials in storage? Was the SE/30 dropped at some time and then put back on the shelf (without telling OP)?

A sad story but not a calamity.

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grannysmith's picture

More explicitly

Submitted by grannysmith on April 29, 2007 - 8:55pm.
FunnymanSE30 wrote:
Your se/30 is still alive, you just need to find a crt for it, one from an SE will work fine,almost any crt will work fine that was once in a compact mac.

... a CRT from the early compact AIOs from 128K to SE/30. See here.

de

» Apple IIe; (68K) 17DT & 4PB; (PPC) 13DT & 3PB; (G3) 6DT. System 6.0.8 to OS 10.4.x

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DrBunsen's picture

I'm amazed you got so close t

Submitted by DrBunsen on April 30, 2007 - 1:45pm.

I'm amazed you got so close to it with your phone, and presumably your face. Not me...

» Damn the Torx screws, full speed ahead!
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