From leaking batteries to bad capacitors, Mac IIcxs often require maintenance to remain in good working order. Read below to find out about what issues may need addressing.
The Mac IIcx has many surface-mount (SMD) electrolytic capacitors on its logic board. These capacitors have a 100% failure rate and will leak a corrosive and conductive electolyte fluid over the board that will damage components and traces given enough time. These capacitors must be replaced for continued operation of any Mac IIcx. Capacitor reference information is available under the resources page, or directly through The Capacitor Reference Library.
The Mac IIcx uses a 1/2AA size Lithium battery for PRAM backup. This battery is not required on the IIcx for operation, and any original battery should be removed. These original batteries often leak, and can cause catastrophic damage that renders logic boards unfixably damaged.
Power supply reliability is pretty poor on these systems. Not the worst, but not great. The first line treatment for a faulty PSU is a recap. If that doesn't solve the issue, it's probably more worth your time to wire in an ATX PSU rather than trying to figure out where the fault lies in the original supply.
Most original SCSI hard drives for these have gone bad, especially those made by Quantum, which suffer from sticky rubber bumpers in the head assembly.
The floppy drives in these often suffer from eject motor failures due to a gear that falls apart with age. This gear can be replaced without too much trouble.
The Mac IIcx's case yellows with age. A retrobrite process can be used to correct this, if it bothers you. The plastic is not nearly as brittle as Macs from the 90s though.
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