I just bought, from an old Apple employee, an NOS Apple ///+, external drive, and monitor ///, along with a bunch of software. The computer and drive have been removed from their boxes to check condition but have never been powered up. The monitor has never been removed from the box.
I'll pick the computer up in a week or two (the next time I'm back in San Jose), but are there any things I should do before putting power to a system this old? A motherboard chip-press or something?
(It would be really nice if the CFFA3000 worked on this system, but I don't think it will...)
I'm not sure about what to do exactly, I've powered up a few Apple IIIs that just worked. If it's new, it's probably got quite a bit more value for resale than something to play with, you could sell it, buy a used one and pocket the difference. I'm not sure what a new in box apple III monitor is worth, but you might want to research this a little bit before you open things up. Even the new, but opened ones seem to sell pretty high, even though that doesn't make sense to me.
There are settings for the CFFA 3000 for the Apple III, I've never done it, but I think it would work.
It certainly does. It would be really nice if you were to keep the system and use it, but I don't think you will...
Why don't you? I do in fact plan to keep and use the system. And I have a spare CFFA3000, so things are good there.
Of course this all assumes that the computer actually works.
I'll post photos when I get it.
Before plugging this thing in, I would get a power line conditioner, to minimize usage wear on the circuitry. Monster makes a decent consumer grade one, available at BestBuy and like stores. You might also want to look around the Apple ///'s power supply to make sure there isn't any capacitor leakage.
I agree. The first Apple /// I picked up from Goodwill, I was so excited, I brought it home plugged it in, hit the power switch and POP!!!! One of the Mains Caps exploded on me. This was fairly easy to fix, however I had to field strip the unit to get all the plastic, metal, and debris out of it. Not Fun!
I learned from that one and now when I get something like this, the first thing I do is take it apart and do a good inspection. I have caught a few caps and other components that were about to go and replaced them before the blew.
The line conditioner is also a very good idea too.
Given your experience, I think I will indeed take it apart and do at least a cursory visual inspection of the various components… Especially the power supply!
(By the way, I was wrong: it's not an Apple ///+, but the next best thing: a 256K Apple /// from the factory. I think this means I get the fixed motherboard and a clock chip. Am I correct?)
Yep. You should be good to go - the not-yet-fixed motherboards were few in number and were aggressively replaced by Apple. I'm less sure about the clock chip, but I bet it will have a working one.