Macintosh LC 550 | Common Issues |
The Macintosh LC 550 is prone to multiple issues and very few LC 520s still boot up without any repairs.
The Macintosh LC 550 has many SMD Electrolytic Capacitors on its motherboard. These capacitors WILL fail and leak all over the motherboard. When these fail, sound will quit working and then the computer will quit working entirely. For more information, see this link.
The Macintosh LC 550's power supply and analog board are not of the highest quality. They are beginning to need recapping, but other issues may arise. The biggest challenge with repairing an LC 550 analog board is just getting to it. The plastic on these machines has become so extremely brittle that simply removing screws is enough to break mounts, causing significant problems.
The plastics on the entire LC 500 series are extremely brittle, one of the worst cases of brittle plastic on any Mac. The internal structural integrity of these is built around the plastic case, and parts such as the CRT are mounted directly to the front case. Due to these reasons, this system has been deemed nearly impossible to ship without damage. Even the best packaging has resulted in the Mac arriving in several pieces. Handle any LC 500 series system with extreme care, and never ship it in the mail. If motor transport is required, transport it CRT-down so that it doesn't stress the fragile mounts.
Other issues that are common across all computers from this time include failing hard drives, bad floppy drive eject, dead PRAM batteries, and dust/dirt causing issues, especially with the floppy drive.