Capacitor Reference - PowerBook 180c

The PowerBook 180c has no electrolytic capacitors on the logic board. This means that the only caps you will have to replace will be those on the Display.


The display capacitors are frequently replaced with ceramic capacitors. These may work, but have been shown to result in drifting contrast on certain LCD displays. This is caused by ceramic capacitors' characteristic where the capacitance varies based on voltage load. As such, I would recommend replacing them with tantalum caps instead. My 180c has drifting contrast issues, and I believe that this may be due to replacing the smaller value electrolytics with ceramic caps on my LCD. I'll update when I get around to replacing them once again with tantalums.

Update: I've now replaced said ceramic caps and now the display contrast acts far less erratically, though still not perfect. It does need a minute or two to "warm up" before the colors become correct. This may be because I've messed with the potentiometers on the front of the LCD, or a defect with my screen. Point is don't use ceramics!

LCD

Trackball


Reference Image

Trackball photo provided by @GRudolf94 on 68kMLA.org

PowerBook 180c Capacitors

Page last updated (MM/DD/YYYY): 07/17/2023
Update Reason: info added on ceramic caps and trackball caps

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