New Zealand Vintage Computer Forums

Last weekend I won an auction for a MAc SE/30 - a machine I've been looking for for years. I've had rotten luck getting hold of one, having had someone go AWOL after I paid them $60 for one a few months ago, so a Trade Me auction for a working machine and a Buy Now seemed a good opportunity.

The description was of a "floppy disc symbol with the question mark" so I'd expected a dead HDD, but otherwise working machine.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =511686235

I received it yesterday, and after checking the machine out last night I've found:

- The case is in poor condition - especially the Apple logo on the front, and there's moderate corrosion on all connectors,
- All screws are missing from the case,
- The Reset/Interrupt switch is missing,
- Internal shielding is missing,
- Machine is faulty with the well documented "SimasiMac" fault.

The general aesthetic condition of the machine is a disappointment, but there was no specific claim made as to condition in the listing. The SimasiMac fault is generally regarded as repairable, but may require replacement of a number of capacitors on the main board. I have ruled out dislodged SIMMs and low PRAM battery voltage as the cause of the fault.

At this stage I'm not very happy with the accuracy of the auction description or the price paid.

Here are some photos of the Mac

TradeMe is always a crap shoot. One machine I bought for $100 had both the hard disk and the RAM thieved, cost me another hundred to repopulate it.

My translation for condition is something like this:

Excellent = sun burnt but no deep scratches
Good = the thrift shop wouldn't take it
Unknown = I plugged it in and smoke came out

Just to be clear, I'm not assuming that the auction was deliberately deceptive - it's quite possible that the SimasiMac (Zebra Stripe) fault was a result of being knocked around in transit - but I would have expected the description to be clear that it was missing screws at the very least. That would have warned me that it was not necessarily as it appeared.

I have contacted the seller last night and this morning, but have not yet had a repsonse.

lizardb0y wrote:The general aesthetic condition of the machine is a disappointment, but there was no specific claim made as to condition in the listing. The SimasiMac fault is generally regarded as repairable, but may require replacement of a number of capacitors on the main board. I have ruled out dislodged SIMMs and low PRAM battery voltage as the cause of the fault.

Thats a bugger, the SE/30 is a great machine (I recommend getting A/UX going on it once you have it repaired - it is O for Owesome), but sadly most of them will probably fail due to the aging MOBO caps and will need repair. In fact, even when they were in thier prime it wasnt uncommon for them to go quiet (no sound) due to cap failure on the main board - didnt really affect operation otherwise however.

I feel your pain with the overall condition of the unit, but hopefully if you can repair it, it wont seem so bad. My best related trademe experience would probably be the time I purchased an "Original" Mac in "working" condition (complete with picture of it powered up and working). Got it home and in my excitement plugged it in and powered it on - it was 110v. Also, although at some point it had been an original Mac, it had been upgraded to Plus status. When I asked the seller why he failed to mention it was 110v in the listing, he replied it was because it was so old he thought they were all 110v and so I would have known that... he did offer me the 110v transformer that he had been using on the Mac and no longer needed tho.... have to laugh I guess.

I didn't know about A/UX! Thanks for the tip

Another SE from the same vendor??

http://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/vintage/auction-512818961.htm

Yes, same vendor. Still hasn't replied to my email.

The seller has now been in touch, and we're working it through.

Today I have again pulled all the SIMMs, and have been through with isopropyl alcohol on the SIMM contacts and fairly extensively around all the caps. I also tried different combinations of the RAM SIMMs just in case. This has made no difference to the fault, so I expect I'm facing a cap replacement.

Have you washed the motherboard itself to clear any leaked cap juices?

lizardb0y wrote:At this stage I'm not very happy with the accuracy of the auction description or the price paid.

Depending upon how long you've been waiting for a reply, it's at this point that you start reporting the guy's listings to trademe.

My thinking is that the vendor indicated it was faulty and sure enough it was. It would be hard to call him out just because his technical analysis was incorrect, or more likely confused with the one he's selling now. Perhaps post a question to his auction asking for a swap with the one he's selling, or a credit for the $55 you already paid. If he ignores it, post another. Unanswered questions won't look good on the auction, especially since he's asking good money for it.

I've bought two machines off TM and one was like new (as advertised) and the other was stripped out (no indication of condition,) and I paid over $100 for each.

But still it's the cheapest hobby I've ever had.

The seller has been in touch and we have resolved this satisfactorily. I am quite happy with the way he has dealt with this and will be leaving positive feedback.

Paul wrote:My thinking is that the vendor indicated it was faulty and sure enough it was.

The auction description stated that it worked, and booted to the "Floppy-with-question-mark" screen. When it arrived it didn't boot at all, and shows only the Simsimac zebra stripes. Nonetheless, he is adamant that it was booting as described when he shipped it, and I have no reason to disbelieve him. The issue was around the physical condition, missing screws, shielding. We have come to a mutually agreeable resolution for this.

Paul wrote:It would be hard to call him out just because his technical analysis was incorrect, or more likely confused with the one he's selling now. Perhaps post a question to his auction asking for a swap with the one he's selling, or a credit for the $55 you already paid.

He voluntarily offered a swap, but the one listed now is an SE rather than an SE/30 - it is specifically the SE/30 I'm after.

Paul wrote:I've bought two machines off TM and one was like new (as advertised) and the other was stripped out (no indication of condition,) and I paid over $100 for each.

I've done over 500 trades on TM, mainly buying vintage computer gear and related items, over the years. In this time I can still count the bad experiences on the fingers of one hand, which is pretty good if you ask me.

Paul wrote:But still it's the cheapest hobby I've ever had.

I had thought vintage computer collecting would be a cheaper hobby than Italian motorcycles. Turns out I was wrong

SpidersWeb wrote:Have you washed the motherboard itself to clear any leaked cap juices?

I haven;t fully washed the board yet - that's the next step before I do the cap replacement. I did clean the board extensively with IPA to no avail. Regardless of the outcome of washing I'll be doing a capacitor replacement.

lizardb0y wrote:I did clean the board extensively with IPA to no avail.

Sounds like a waste of good beer..