I have a faulty power socket in my Atari Woody 6 Switcher

[Moonpig]

I have a faulty power socket in my Woody Atari.

 

To get the console to power on I have to rotate the power supply tip to find the sweet spot inside the Atari console socket.

 

I have 2 Power supplies and 2 consoles, so I was able to test each one individual, and both power supplies are working but have the same problem with this console.

 

 

Has anybody come across this problem before, do you have any suggestions on what might be causing this?

[Keatah]

1- Loss of tension and spring action

2- Oxidation or contamination

[Moonpig]

1- Loss of tension and spring action

2- Oxidation or contamination

 

Thanks for the fast reply, i have taken off the case.

 

 

1) How do I test if it the loss of tension with the spring, do I need to remove the black box with the power socket from the motherboard?

 

2) Does this look Oxidation or contamination to you? Do i need to clean the coil that attaches to the socket with white spirit in the centre of the picture, or should I insert a Q tip dabbed in white spirit into the socket ?

 

Thanks

[+SpiceWare]

Check where the power socket is soldered onto the circuit board. It's likely some solder joints have cracked.

 

 

This can be easily fixed:

[Moonpig]

Thanks

 

I think that is the problem, there are 3 bit where the power socket is soldered to the circuit board and the Top one is loose.

 

Looks like I need to buy a soldering iron unless there is another way of fixing ?

[+wongojack]

Its a common failure point but has a lot of possible fixes that aren't very complicated.

 

Cleaning the connector would be a good start. I like to take a very fine grain sandpaper and cut a small strip (about the width of an eyeglass flathead screwdriver) that I can work lightly against the inside of the connector. After that, I'll wrap some scotch tape around the end of the same eyeglass screwdriver and stick a single very small bit of paper towel around that tape. You can dip the paper towel in alcohol this way and it will stay rigid because of the tape (for a while). Work the paper towel in and try to wipe it clean. After that you should at least have more angles to work with as you rotate the power adapter in the socket.

 

If the console was ever picked up roughly by the power cord while it was plugged in, or if it got jerked by the cord in some way, it might have loosened the solder bond the connector has to the main board. I repaired this problem on my own families 2600 after many years of just working around the issue. Usually a visual inspection of the underside of the board will reveal this problem as you'll see some cracking or scorching. You can try to kind of mush the connector against the board and hope it gets better, but if this is your problem, you'll likely need to reflow those connection points with new solder. It's one of the easiest solder jobs to do for your classic consoles and it's just 2 points.

 

Edit - ok maybe its more than 2 points, but its not hard.

[Moonpig]

Thanks for all your great tips.