[NTLK] Off Topic: Macintosh SE/30 - to buy or not to buy?

[Andrei Chichak]

On 2012-November-02, at 1:50 PM, James Fraser wrote:

> 
> See the upright cylinders in the photo (and noted in the caption)?  The ones that look like miniature oil storage tanks?  Those are the surface mount electrolytic capacitors that commonly leak in compact Macs.

The typical failure mode for these capacitors is for the electrolyte to dry out allowing the insulator layer to fail, causing a short, spark, bang, and smoke. The normal evidence of failure is for the vent on  top of the cylinder to be bulged.

Andrei