gilsaluki Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Got a Sears H-6er. At first it just showed diagonal lines, black and White. On some carts it show color vertical strips and sound a steady tone. The color of the stripes and their width change when powering on and off. I inspected the Mo-board, is looks good. I reseated the chips, no improvement. Did resolder the device with the heat sink. Switches seem solid. This unit shows little use and is really clean. Would love to get it going again, just don't know where to begin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawnshop Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Did you test the chips, not just reseat them? You should be able to swap them with another console to test. This was the problem I had with my light 6er - it had a bad RIOT chip. Swapped one from another system, worked like a charm. Then I just bought a few chip from ebay for a couple bucks to replace the one i swapped. Check out my thread on the issue here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/242607-help-with-2600-light-sixer-problem/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted September 19, 2015 Author Share Posted September 19, 2015 I have a light sixer (which I didn't know I had). I plugged it in and tried it as well. No video, nothing. Still I swapped the three chips, no good. I think I may have another 2600 or 2600A 4-sw in the attic. I will have to try that one. Sad to see this beauty go into the trash. The shell is near perfect. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawnshop Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Well, don't throw it out! I'm sure there is someone on AA that would take them......there are a lot of repairmen on here, myself included, that would easily buy/trade/take them before you toss them. But this is last resort. Hopefully you can resurrect at least one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airsoftman819 Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Got a Sears H-6er. At first it just showed diagonal lines, black and White. On some carts it show color vertical strips and sound a steady tone. The color of the stripes and their width change when powering on and off. I inspected the Mo-board, is looks good. I reseated the chips, no improvement. Did resolder the device with the heat sink. Switches seem solid. This unit shows little use and is really clean. Would love to get it going again, just don't know where to begin. The internal RF Modulators in heavy's have a rep for failure... Same thing happened to my Sears heavy. I'd say that is the likely cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted September 19, 2015 Author Share Posted September 19, 2015 Thanks for responding. Does anyone know if RF Modulators are available? Not sure that I have seen them anywhere for sale. Can they be repaired? Any guidance would be fantastic! Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 This one sounds like a bad IC. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airsoftman819 Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 This one sounds like a bad IC. Seems like the heavy's have a higher failure rate than other models... Or is it just me? I've had 2 of them and both have had issues. Well it could just be due to their age. But jeeze. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawnshop Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Seems like the heavy's have a higher failure rate than other models... Or is it just me? I've had 2 of them and both have had issues. Well it could just be due to their age. But jeeze. I just picked up a lot of 5 non-working 2600 systems for pretty cheap - 4 of them have bad IC chips. One sixer has a failure on the switch board, not sure what it is, but yeah, the ICs seem to be the culprit a lot of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Seems like the heavy's have a higher failure rate than other models... Or is it just me? I've had 2 of them and both have had issues. Well it could just be due to their age. But jeeze. I just picked up a lot of 5 non-working 2600 systems for pretty cheap - 4 of them have bad IC chips. One sixer has a failure on the switch board, not sure what it is, but yeah, the ICs seem to be the culprit a lot of the time. There's a few factors at play on those models. They are the oldest and have potentially many more hours use on them. They are also an early design and some improvements made later did not get to all of the H6'ers. That first version of the voltage regulator mounting was problematic and that leads to many IC failures later. The wiring from mother board to switch board was not as good and also there was the issue with the early green cart connectors. IMHO, the L6er was an improvement in many ways. The early regulator mounting tended to crack solder joints and overheat. When they overheat, they let more voltage into the IC's, which then fail after repeated cycles of this. The hex buffer IC helps prevent this by failing first, but it is not always the way it happens. I run into far more TIA and RIOT failures on 4sw models than on 6ers, so the buffer does its job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted September 20, 2015 Author Share Posted September 20, 2015 The voltage regulator. Is that the component to the lower left with the heat sink? It did have some broken solder joints and it does not lay flat. Seems the heat sink gel (stuff) is stiff and not good either. Think the VR might be bad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 (edited) The voltage regulator. Is that the component to the lower left with the heat sink? It did have some broken solder joints and it does not lay flat. Seems the heat sink gel (stuff) is stiff and not good either. Think the VR might be bad? Yes. That is the little IC with only 3 legs. The repeated heat/cool cycles combined with that style of mounting lead to cracked solder joints and hasten the failures. Best sign of failing regulator is if the colors on screen change after system really warms up. Ex- Kaboom goes from green to redish field. The steel caged ones are the least effective, and the aluminum ones are ok. The later flat plate style is best. One of my older boards developed bad traces to the regulator, so I bought some of the later plate heat sinks and installed it as the picture shows. No troubles ever since. If your regulator is bad, it will only kill more IC's later. Edited September 20, 2015 by zylon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted September 20, 2015 Author Share Posted September 20, 2015 Thanks. Great Pics. I have the one with the "Steel cage" heat sink configuration. The VR is lifted up from the surface. I see the thermo-compound (white substance), and the VR is NOT making positive contact with the heat sink. The heat sink also "floats", move about. I soldered the joints, but that did not make a difference. My symptoms are initially I get black and white(ish) diagonal bars. After a few Power ons and offs with a certain cart, I get color vertical bars and color jibberish. Sometimes I get a tone, most times, I do not get any sound. I think I may have a bad set of chips, but who knows, I need known good chips to find out for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 That description is why I said it is likely an IC failure. RIOT's are easy to source new. That's the one below the cart slot. TIA's are available used or new from Best Electronics still. If I had the system, I would replace the regulator and also the hex buffer IC. If you do those things, then replace the failed IC's, the machine will last you many years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawnshop Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 There's a few factors at play on those models. They are the oldest and have potentially many more hours use on them. They are also an early design and some improvements made later did not get to all of the H6'ers. That first version of the voltage regulator mounting was problematic and that leads to many IC failures later. The wiring from mother board to switch board was not as good and also there was the issue with the early green cart connectors. IMHO, the L6er was an improvement in many ways. The early regulator mounting tended to crack solder joints and overheat. When they overheat, they let more voltage into the IC's, which then fail after repeated cycles of this. The hex buffer IC helps prevent this by failing first, but it is not always the way it happens. I run into far more TIA and RIOT failures on 4sw models than on 6ers, so the buffer does its job. where is the hex buffer ic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 where is the hex buffer ic? That is the little one all by itself on the right side of the board. They are extremely cheap. CD4050BE 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 Hey zylon, what's a good source for voltage regulators for a 4-Switch? Mine happens to have some pretty obvious color shifting as it warms up, and I've already had to replace the RIOT. The last time I tested it the voltage regulator seemed okay but I might just as well get a new regulator and replace it pro-actively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 I use mostly these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/10pcs-LM7805-L7805-7805-TO-220-Voltage-Regulator-IC-CG-/161793718805?hash=item25aba83a15 Good for up to around 1.2 amps There are ones with an even higher rating- 78T05, but they cost 10 times as much on sale. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 Great, thank you! Just ordered a 10 pc. lot. I'll proactively replace the one on my 4-Switch Woody when they arrive. It'll be good to have spares for the future as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 Great, thank you! Just ordered a 10 pc. lot. I'll proactively replace the one on my 4-Switch Woody when they arrive. It'll be good to have spares for the future as well. They are also bit tougher than the 7805S versions used in some systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 Since I did not have any known good chips, I simple changed out the MoBo with a brand new one from Best. Works perfect. Now I have cherry-mint Sears H-6er. Now to fix my L-6er. I have a MoBo coming for it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawnshop Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 why replace the hex buffer IC? That is the little one all by itself on the right side of the board. They are extremely cheap. CD4050BE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 why replace the hex buffer IC? Because they do wear out and fail, and when they do, they might take out a RIOT or TIA chip with them. And as zylon says, they are very cheap and still a common part, widely available today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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