Apple PowerCD General Maintenance
Care, batteries and dismantling for the Apple PowerCD. Apple published a user's guide for the player but no service manual; the dismantling notes come from owners' repairs.[1]
Power and batteries
[edit | edit source]Power is present in the player even when it is switched off. To remove all power, unplug the power adapter and take the batteries out.[1] The player runs on an AC adapter plugged into the base, or on eight AA cells for about an hour. Apple's DC input rating is 7-11 V at 1.2 A.[1]
Apple's battery rules:[1]
- Use AA alkaline or NiCad cells only, all eight of the same type and age; do not mix alkaline with NiCad, or old with new.
- Do not fit any cell the wrong way round.
- The remote control takes two AAA cells.
Take the cells out of a player that is being stored. Leaking alkaline cells corrode contacts; see Battery Explosion, Capacitor or Corrosion Damage for cleaning.
Discs and the lens
[edit | edit source]- Do not leave the disc compartment door open: dust can settle on the lens. Apple's advice was to get a lens cleaner from a dealer, and not to wipe the lens with a paper towel or anything abrasive.[1]
- Never move the player with a disc in it. Apple supplied a foam insert for the disc compartment for transport.[1]
- Hold discs by the edge, or by the edge and the centre hole. Clean them with a soft cloth, wiping in straight lines from the centre to the edge, without any cleaning agent.[1]
- Drop the disc onto the spindle; do not press it down. Owners have traced discs that will not spin to a spindle hub that was pushed down onto the motor.[2][3]
The base connector
[edit | edit source]The DB-25 connector between the player and its base is not a SCSI port. A 68kMLA member who took a base apart warns never to connect the player directly to a Macintosh SCSI port. The SCSI controller is in the base.[4][5] Use the base lock/unlock switch to attach and remove the player.[1]
Dismantling
[edit | edit source]Apple warns that repairing the PowerCD yourself may void the warranty, and gives no procedure.[1] An owner who dismantled one on 68kMLA found it came apart fairly easily, with three cables to disconnect that are fairly hard to pull out, and warns that the ribbon cable from the laser to the board is very short and fragile. With the player open there is better access to the lens and the spindle hub, and a cut-out in the metal lets a fine screwdriver reach the hub.[2]
Capacitors
[edit | edit source]Apple published no component list. A TinkerDifferent member who opened a faulty base in 2025 found through-hole electrolytics that showed no leakage, and other members pointed out that this does not mean they are within specification and suggested checking them with an ESR meter.[5] See Capacitor Failure Symptoms.
Related pages
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Apple Computer, PowerCD User's Guide (1993), hosted as File:Apple PowerCD User's Guide (1993).pdf. Turning power on or off p. 16 (PDF p. 23); Using batteries pp. 18-19 (PDF pp. 25-26); Care and handling pp. 19-20 (PDF pp. 26-27); Chapter 8, Troubleshooting, p. 51 (PDF p. 56); Chapter 9, Power p. 58 (PDF p. 62).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "PowerCD repair", 68kMLA forum thread, June to October 2019, 68kmla.org. Posts by bibilit (discs are dropped onto the spindle, not pushed; seized spindle; 5.9 V DC motor) and Byrd (dismantling; three cables; short, fragile laser ribbon cable; penetrating oil around the hub).
- ↑ wottle, "PowerCD problem / fix", TinkerDifferent forum, August 2022, tinkerdifferent.com.
- ↑ "Apple PowerCD 'portable' CD ROM drive", 68kMLA forum thread, February 2018, 68kmla.org. Post by Trash80toHP_Mini.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Apple PowerCD Base Station / Dock Teardown", TinkerDifferent forum, March 2025, tinkerdifferent.com.