Broken Case Has anyone had bad luck by dropping thier Atari ST ?

[rcamp48]

Has anyone besides me had the unfortunate luck of dropping an Atari ST (in my case it was from 4 feet) anyways I wound up with a broken case, and several cracks. Well I have found a product that rescued my poor Atari , (Gorilla Glue) a small white bottle with both a brush applicator and a nozzle (yellow top) for about $8.00 US. After an hour or two holding broken pieces together for only 2 mins each , it really worked good with the brittle plastic. As a result I have an Atari system that now looks like an Atari system and it has stood up to the test of moving it around no problem. I can send a picture of the finished job it is missing 3 klittle pieces one under the corner by the right hand bottom side of the keyboard, one at the corner by the disk drive and a small piece under the Atari 1040 STFM label on the left hand side of the disk drive. I have replaced all Atari drives in my 3 Ataris with either Sony or ALPS drives. Hope this helps someone who has had similar experiences, and yes it only takes once to drop a machine... Russ

[rcamp48]

 

I dropped this one about 3 months ago, and just glued it the other night , this picture shows the worst of it, all other sides are OK...most of the damage was done to the bottom half , not the top half. Russ

[Keatah]

I was hoping this was going to be about supernatural forces and the occult. But, instead, it's just a repair thread..

[SIO2]

Actually, it is more about physics. Gravity pulled on the ST and set it in motion. An ST in motion wants to stay in motion until it meets an irresistable object like the floor.

 

Sad. I try not to move my ST very often. I have been fortunate not to drop it yet.

 

I have a 7800 shell though that is mostly tape and glue. That shell is soooo brittle, it cracks when you look at it (well almost).

Edited December 13, 2018 by SIO2

[AtariLeaf]

I was hoping this was going to be about supernatural forces and the occult.

 

Maybe if he threw the ST through a mirror sitting under a ladder beside a black cat.

Edited December 13, 2018 by AtariLeaf

[Zogging Hell]

You could also try plastic 'welding'. I used it to repair an Atari monitor case. You can do it from inside and then sand down. You need an old soldering iron, super glue and baking soda, as well as some donor plastic, there are plenty of instructional videos on youtube.

 

Edited December 13, 2018 by Zogging Hell

[Christos]

Me MSTE's keyboard, two drops, 1 row of keys broken.

[Osgeld]

I use solvant welding sci-grip #4

 

But it wont work if glue has already been applied

Edited December 13, 2018 by Osgeld

[tjlazer]

Acetone works really well with some cases. It actually melts the plastic together for a really clean look

[Ute]

Acetone works really well with some cases. It actually melts the plastic together for a really clean look

I've also had good luck using Acetone for cracks.

 

For larger chips where a good portion is missing I've made what I call 'Atari plastic' for lack of a better description. I had a 130XE where I removed the RF Modulator and I wanted to fill up the round hole that was left. I ended up cutting small pieces from another damaged 130XE case, put them in a Mason Jar, poured Acetone over the top and covered them over night. It made a sticky, nasty smelling goop, but I was able to fill the old hole and make it look very similar to the original plastic.

[+DarkLord]

And here I thought this thread was going to be about one of the more interesting trivia

items about the ST - Atari Corp telling ST users to deliberately drop their ST's from

about 4" onto a hard surface to reseat the chips.

 

Anyway, I used the concepts mentioned by previous posters when I put a 1.44 drive

into my STacy. The original drive opening was much different that the bog standard

1.44 drives so I used some of that plastic repair stuff to fill in, then sanded and then

painted. Turned out pretty good.

[+CyranoJ]

Or pick up one off ebay for $10 and just rehouse it....