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Atari TIA socket help!


ubersaurus

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So I need advice on this. I'm trying to replace the TIA in a 2600A, but one of the socket connectors is all bent and jacked, and I've been unable to get it into a proper spot to let the chip in properly. The pin just gets bent and makes a bad connection. Any advice? It's the second from the bottom left.

post-372-0-71557300-1440721724_thumb.jpg

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That's really not right. It looks very much like something is stuck in that hole. Is that a broken pin or a glob of solder that dripped in there? If you don't want to de-solder and remove the original socket and replace it, try applying a soldering iron to ... whatever is in there ... and see if you can remove it with a solder pump.

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Needle nose pliers and small screwdriver usually work easily. I've had many that the plastic came off with the IC. Even a little heat from the soldering iron helps. Those pins are only snapped in and the little part that contacts the IC pin is the part keeping it in place.

Sometimes you can just use slip-joint pliers and use good square grip and wiggle it right off.

Edited by zylon
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  • 4 weeks later...

So in removing the old socket we pulled loose a number of the pads... We tried to gather up the ones we could and solder to those (they weren't connected to any traces) but since there's nothing happening on screen there's clearly an issue here. Any advice on how to fix this? There's still like 4 padless spots, and a good 20 of the rest are loose.

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Why'd anyone want to pull up a socket frame like that? Irrelevant now, next step is to repair the damage. Follow each trace top and bottom layer. And be sure they connect top to bottom at the socket holes. Verify against a working unit or schematic. Rebuild connection.

 

If you're not skilled in such repair or don't have the tools, you need to find someone that can.

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Not sure how I'm supposed to follow the top traces with the pin socket in place, but they looked fine before we slotted it in.

 

Typically a pro-level repair means take the socket off, rewire the traces according to another board or the schematics, repair any vias and feed throughs, then continuity test, then replace the socket with a new one. This would restore the integrity of the board to factory-new.

 

IMHO ripping the socket out isn't the best. Doesn't always work. Depends on the socket design. There's no substitute for a pin-by-pin desolder operation. Especially with classic legacy hardware. Age and environmental conditions? Who knows what these units have been through and exposed to, 30+ years time included.

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Kinda sounds like the desoldering heat got out of control. Yanking on the socket with those through-hole pins soldered on the opposite side shouldn't have been able to pull that many pads.

I destroyed a board or two in my time before I got even the el Cheap desoldering tools I use now.

 

I hate to suggest this, but if it's anything like the messes I've created in the past, you might just be money ahead to find another board.

Edited by BigO
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To specify the other work - I've been able to get one of the controller ports replaced after it broke way back as a kid (leading to us getting a 7800) I was able to clear out debris from the cartridge slot that was keeping games from fitting in there properly, we fixed a botched S-video mod attempted back around 2001, and I got a replacement TIA to fix the color damage done during that mod... and then yeah, this happened with the old socket getting all blortched.

 

If I can get it running again, I'm pretty sure I'm going to play the damn thing every day just to spite the sheer amount of effort that went into repairing it.

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