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noobie, 5200 4 port help.


segasaturn

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I've had my 4 port for a while. Of course, with things being this old it doesn't help. I plugged it in..... and no power light. I checked the power supply with a voltage matter.... seem to be getting power but I also checked the switch box....I dont think its getting any power. Is there a way to check the switch box? do they go easy? I also checked the 5200 system and it SEEMS to have a flow of power\traces of it working....I just dont think its getting any power. So like I said, is there a way to check the switch box(4port). This is all new to me because I don't have any solder experience.

Edited by segasaturn
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If you move that box around as you keep hitting the power button you may see it come on . Those boxes are known for doing that . I had one or two and even after getting the jack fixed up I think it still did it . I think there is a cheap fix for that issue though .

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The fact that the red light isn't coming on makes me think that it may be the power supply is to blame instead of the switchbox. I've had issues with both bad power supplies and bad switchboxes... a bad switchbox won't show a picture, but the red light should still come on.

 

See this thread for confirmation as well as tips on how to fix a bad box... http://atariage.com/forums/topic/199871-4-port-switch-box-broken/

 

The 4-port gets a bad rap IMHO, I've used one for years with no problems (the bad switchbox I ran into came with a lot of miscellaneous Atari items.) Nothing wrong with a power mod for folks who want one, but it's not really necessary, and some of us prefer to keep our systems working in their original condition.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Most common is the little IC inside the switchbox. I have about 30 of those chips handy. Mine is getting a little slow so it will get replaced soon. it usually manifests itself by responding slow to turn off. if you give up, you can send box to me to try.

Second culprit is little IC near power switch on console. Ignore the marker, but you can see it is outside of the RF shielding and easy to get at. it is socketed on almost all 4-port consoles.

post-25215-0-81844400-1433481385_thumb.jpg

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The fact that the red light isn't coming on makes me think that it may be the power supply is to blame instead of the switchbox. I've had issues with both bad power supplies and bad switchboxes... a bad switchbox won't show a picture, but the red light should still come on.

 

See this thread for confirmation as well as tips on how to fix a bad box... http://atariage.com/forums/topic/199871-4-port-switch-box-broken/

 

The 4-port gets a bad rap IMHO, I've used one for years with no problems (the bad switchbox I ran into came with a lot of miscellaneous Atari items.) Nothing wrong with a power mod for folks who want one, but it's not really necessary, and some of us prefer to keep our systems working in their original condition.

I'm of the same opinion.

I think you have a power supply issue. Voltage regulator 1 & 2 may be shorted out ,or A26 has failed, possibly MJE210s. No LED at all is a good indicator your system isn't getting DC. I have the parts if you want to ship the board, I could take a look at it for you as well. I just fixed a console received from eBay DOA with the same symptoms (but it was 2 port) and it was the power circuit, VR were internally bad. New ones fixed it real nice.

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I went through this exact same scenario with 2 or 3 5200s recently. I was getting some 16VDC off the power supply, but no power light. My power supply had worked the day before, as I had been testing outputs with my [cheap ass] multimeter.

 

Turns out that when I went to measure amperage, I was blowing the internal fuses in my power supplies (I did this with 2 of them)! Well, I won't be using the amps meter from my multimeter any time soon!

 

As far as I could find, there was only one dude who had a video explaining what's up. The video and lesson are a bit rough, but this provided an accurate solution to my problem: There is a slow-blow 5A 120V fuse inside, and you'll still see voltages even after the fuse is blown!

 

I deduced a more refined method for cracking open my power supplies and sealing them up, but I didn't make a vid:

 

  1. I carefully used a thin cutting wheel with my Dremel on speed 2 to open the power supply.
  2. Cut right along the line and pull up after each few seconds during the cutting process (to avoid burning the plastic).
  3. Go as straight as you can, and don't go more than a few millimeters deep (avoid cutting up other components). Do not cut close to the cords as you'll be sorry! You can file or cut off the last bits of plastic close to the cords.
  4. Inside you'll find the 5A 120VDC fuse. You can actually pull the fuse out of its holder if you go gently but firmly. Just avoid shattering the glass and getting it in your eyes!
  5. You can also do what RetroGam3Nerd did and modify the fuse holder any way you choose. I find his method to be sloppy and I wouldn't be letting components hang out of their casings.
  6. Test the power supply before you seal it up!
  7. Seal up the power supply with a hot glue gun. This worked surprisingly well for me, and held tightly. I only had regular old clear hot glue cylinders, but I believe I saw black cylinders on Amazon. I'll have to try that next time!
  8. I used an artist's Exacto knife to carefully cut the excess glue off of the sides. It came out looking nice!

Sorry I didn't take pics during the process, but there it is. :)

 

post-28334-0-55737200-1434221209_thumb.jpg

post-28334-0-54319700-1434221222_thumb.jpg

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There are screws under the case of the power supply, if you pop off the rubber nubs you will find 2 phillips head screws that can easily be removed with a driver. Not all power supplies are the same design, some will require the Dremel method to access. Not all fuses will be in a holder either, some are soldered directly to the PCB inside the power supply. They should be updated (if blown) with a holder.

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I don't think I've seen a fuse in a 5200 power supply that wasn't soldered down. The fuse replacement part is Littelfuse 315005P. Unfortunately they are discontinued, though I do see some on ebay.

 

Mitch

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There are screws under the case of the power supply, if you pop off the rubber nubs you will find 2 phillips head screws that can easily be removed with a driver.

This is true of course, for the earliest power supplies that came with low-serial number 4-port models. I have one of these. My write-up pertains to the sealed-halves version (more common).

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  • 1 month later...

Most common is the little IC inside the switchbox. I have about 30 of those chips handy. Mine is getting a little slow so it will get replaced soon. it usually manifests itself by responding slow to turn off. if you give up, you can send box to me to try.

Second culprit is little IC near power switch on console. Ignore the marker, but you can see it is outside of the RF shielding and easy to get at. it is socketed on almost all 4-port consoles.

I found this thread while trying to troubleshoot my system. I think the chip under the power switch needs to be replaced; can anyone tell me where to purchase a replacement? Mine also happens to be soldered instead of socketed.

 

Also, what is the round thing at the end of the marker? Is that something that needs to be replacing from time to time?

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I found this thread while trying to troubleshoot my system. I think the chip under the power switch needs to be replaced; can anyone tell me where to purchase a replacement? Mine also happens to be soldered instead of socketed.

 

Also, what is the round thing at the end of the marker? Is that something that needs to be replacing from time to time?

 

The "round thing" i was pointing out in the pic is the pot for calibrating the controllers. It seldom fails. I recycle pictures sometimes. ;) Those 4013BE IC's can be had cheaply on ebay or i can sell you a couple. I also have the ones for inside the switchbox.

Edited by zylon
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The "round thing" i was pointing out in the pic is the pot for calibrating the controllers. It seldom fails. I recycle pictures sometimes. ;) Those 4013BE IC's can be had cheaply on ebay or i can sell you a couple. I also have the ones for inside the switchbox.

Thank you for letting me know. I managed to get it mostly running by "connecting" two of the pins on that defective chip. I think what it's doing is staying on all the time now; sometimes inserting or removing a cartridge turns it off/on. It's not ideal, but it at least functions and I can see that everything else is working.

 

Found them on ebay and once I started searching "flip-flop" a whole bunch came up. Thank you for the tip, I should have looked there first. Now I just need to perfect my desoldering skills, as it is not socketed, unfortunately :(

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Thank you for letting me know. I managed to get it mostly running by "connecting" two of the pins on that defective chip. I think what it's doing is staying on all the time now; sometimes inserting or removing a cartridge turns it off/on. It's not ideal, but it at least functions and I can see that everything else is working.

 

Found them on ebay and once I started searching "flip-flop" a whole bunch came up. Thank you for the tip, I should have looked there first. Now I just need to perfect my desoldering skills, as it is not socketed, unfortunately :(

 

Easiest way is use a dremel with a thin cutting wheel and go along the sides of the IC to cut the pins. Then you can remove them one at a time and desolder easily. Also good to mount a socket at this time.

if you replace the one inside switchbox, LM393P is perfect pin matchup for the old 393N's.

Edited by zylon
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Easiest way is use a dremel with a thin cutting wheel and go along the sides of the IC to cut the pins. Then you can remove them one at a time and desolder easily. Also good to mount a socket at this time.

if you replace the one inside switchbox, LM393P is perfect pin matchup for the old 393N's.

Thank you for the advice.

 

So, I went ahead and followed these directions. Well, as best I could :) You are correct in that cutting the pin out first makes it easier to desolder. My main problem is that the cutting wheel seemed to be to big for the space and there was a bit of collateral damage…nothing major, thankfully.

 

After getting a new chip installed though, I still have the same problem. The on/off switch does nothing. I had this problem for awhile and decided to keep playing around...

 

…And now, I have a machine that won't turn off. It is always on, even without the flip flop chip in. I seriously don't know what I did. Does anyone have an idea? Is safe to use it like this and just use a power strip to turn it on and off?

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It would still be safe to use and you can also swap carts without turning off the power. So you can even remove the game first if worried about that. If changing the flip-flop had no effect, then I would suspect the voltage comparator inside the switchbox.

Third place to suspect is the relay itself inside the box. I use one here that shuts off the system, but never switches the video back until it is unplugged from wall socket. After I do so, it clicks back over in 2 seconds. Troubleshooting things long distance is mostly educated guesswork, so I just draw from experiences. :)

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Is the RCA connector in the switch box dirty or corroded? Is your RF cable rusty or discolored? Also, is the cable loosely fitting on the RCA jack? If so, might want to tighten it up a bit. A weak / intermittent connection of the R/F cable to the switch box itself can cause several weird power symptoms.

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It would still be safe to use and you can also swap carts without turning off the power. So you can even remove the game first if worried about that. If changing the flip-flop had no effect, then I would suspect the voltage comparator inside the switchbox.

Third place to suspect is the relay itself inside the box. I use one here that shuts off the system, but never switches the video back until it is unplugged from wall socket. After I do so, it clicks back over in 2 seconds. Troubleshooting things long distance is mostly educated guesswork, so I just draw from experiences. :)

Well, without all of your educated guesses, I would not got as far as I did with it :) Thank you very much for these.

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