On 5 Oct 2005, at 18:15, Scott Baret wrote:
Does anyone have a theory as to why all the capacitors on Mac II series computers seem to have problems? I've seen so many IIcxs and IIcis with this problem...and it's probably what caused my infamous "possessed IIcx" incident from the summer.
Cost cutting. That's my theory. Apple's market got tough around the turn of the early 90s with PCs getting 'better' in the workplace and Commodore's Amiga starting to make inroads on Apple's home and pro markets. Apple set out to revamp the range and cut costs. So instead of using the best components they used the cheapest ones. In the case of the caps these were cheap electrolytic cans that were rated as close to the required spec as was possible, allowing little room for error or aging. As a result the machines worked great for the first 8-12 years (remember just how old these machines are before you criticise the construction!!) which was way longer than they were supposed to last anyway, then after that the caps gave out.
FWIW Amiga users suffer similar problems with some of their desktop models of the same age. We are not alone :o)
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