"Market" for old macs?

[Scott Stevens]

On Sun, 4 Dec 2005 23:27:50 -0800 (PST)
Cameron Kaiser <spectre at floodgap.com> wrote:

> > Any illustrated online guides for opening up an SE/30?  I
> > don't like to fiddle around with a screwdriver and hope I
> > don't damage things.
> 
> It should be the same as any Compact Mac. The essential tool is
> a Mac Cracker, a long shaft Torx T-15 screwdriver (Fry's carries
> them under that exact name). Depending on the model, there are
> four or five such screws on the back -- two are invariably deep
> under the handle, hence the need for the shaft, and two or three
> in plain view. Separating the two case halves can be done by
> hand, but you can get a "case cracker" (different from a Mac
> Cracker) to do the separation if you're worried about this. I
> can do it with a flathead screwdriver, but do so very carefully.
> 
> That should get you inside. Mind the CRT, of course.
> 

I just use a long-handled narrow flat blade screwdriver.  For as
often as I open a compact Mac it works fine.  Size the blade by
fitting it in the other screws on the case back.  For repair shops
that open Macs all the time, the torx is important.  For 'the rest
of us' a cheap regular screwdriver is fine.  I 'cracked' an SE
Saturday night with my screwdriver (upgraded the 20M drive with an
Apple 250M after carefully wrapping and preserving the original.)

It's VERY important to be careful inside the Mac once the cover is
off.  It's extremely easy to snap the glass nipple on the CRT and
ruin it.  Apple in their infinite wisdom put a circuit board on
the back of the neck to act as a 'torque amplifier' for this
purpose.  Just bumping the board wrong can let all the 'magic
vacuum' out of your CRT.

But since the compact Mac was expressly designed to NOT be user
servicible, that meets the requirements of the time.