Sun Microsystems Hardware

GW-48T02-1, a Module for Rebuilding the 48T02 RTC/NVRAM

With a large number of vintage Sun machines in the shop, I was stuck with having to repair or replace dead batteries in the 48T02 RTC/NVRAM modules used on many early SPARC systems. Modern replacements are not 100% compatible, so the old modules have to be repaired. There are clearance issues in some Sun systems, so gluing a coin cell holder onto the old module was not an option. I decided to lay out a small PC board to completely replace the "CAPHAT" section of the 48T02.

Repairing Sun SPARCstation IPC Power Supplies

A recent equipment pick-up included many Sun "lunchbox" form factor computers, including two SPARCstation IPCs. Both of the IPCs had dead power supplies, a result of failed capacitors. After recapping, they functioned perfectly. We'll cover which capacitors are valid replacements, clean-up, et c.