Anyone wanna mod my 7800?

[godzillajoe]

Sorry if this belongs somewhere else, maybe an admin can move it.

 

Anyway, short version, I bought a 7800 mod kit from 8BitDomain over a year ago, hell, probably two years at this point

 

It's been sitting on the shelf next to my 7800 since then and will probably do so for the foreseeable future.

 

So I decided that maybe I could send it and the 7800 to someone trustworthy and with the skills necessary to do the job.

 

I would pay postage both ways and whatever "labor" costs they would charge to do the job.

 

I'm looking for someone with experience doing these and not just someone who would like to give it a shot for kicks.

 

I actually wanna get the system back in one piece and working flawlessly.

 

Ideas and suggestions?

[Underball]

You could try selling that mod on ebay and doing the easy 7800 video mode described here for a lot less money and effort.

Edited July 25, 2008 by Underball

[godzillajoe]

Yeah I could, but then I would just have to ask someone to do THAT ONE for me.

 

I bought a soldering iron, I practiced on a dead 7800 trying to take the chip out etc.

 

All I managed to do was destroy it even more.

[mimo]

Yeah I could, but then I would just have to ask someone to do THAT ONE for me.

 

I bought a soldering iron, I practiced on a dead 7800 trying to take the chip out etc.

 

All I managed to do was destroy it even more.

did you do the easy way to get the old chip out?

snip off all the legs, use solder wick to clear out the holes. I was a total novice when I did my first one years ago, but it really is easy if you take your time.

If you want to send it to the UK I'll do it for you though

[shadow460]

Yeah I could, but then I would just have to ask someone to do THAT ONE for me.

 

I bought a soldering iron, I practiced on a dead 7800 trying to take the chip out etc.

 

All I managed to do was destroy it even more.

 

The soldering iron is your trouble. Removing the IC without cutting anything requires a desoldering tool. They aren't expensive, but they take some practice and some patience to use.

AFAIK, you can do the "easier" mod without the desoldering tool.

 

Is the video mod the only thing you're looking for, or are you considering other stuff, too?

[+Allan]

I find it a lot easier to use Radio Shack's desoldering tool. As long as you get a good portion the the solder out, the chip comes out easier. Of course the bigger the chip the harder it is and Maria is not a small chip.

 

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.js...rentPage=search

 

Allan

[shadow460]

I pulled the Maria from mine with that desoldering tool. I also pulled a couple of others. I practiced on a dead Beany Bopper cart first. I think in the end it took about fifteen minutes to get the Maria out, and that was including the time I spent removing solder from Sally by mistake. Oops!

[BigO]

I find it a lot easier to use Radio Shack's desoldering tool. As long as you get a good portion the the solder out, the chip comes out easier. Of course the bigger the chip the harder it is and Maria is not a small chip.

 

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.js...rentPage=search

 

Allan

I've had a good level of success removing chips with this. I find it easier to operate than the RS squeeze bulb type:

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/21-8240

Edited July 26, 2008 by BigO

[godzillajoe]

What the hell does it mean when it says be careful not to break the trace or ruin the trace or whatever. That part scares me most.

[tjb]

If you're like me (not a hardware person) and would rather have someone else do the mod for you I recommend Longhorn Engineer. You can PM him here and also, here's his web site:

 

http://www.longhornengineer.com/Videomods/Videomods

 

He AV modded a 7800 and an Intellivision for me. I'm planning on having a 5200 done as well. He does good work. It's particularly convenient for me since he lives in Houston and I'm in San Antonio.

 

tjb

[BigO]

What the hell does it mean when it says be careful not to break the trace or ruin the trace or whatever. That part scares me most.

I don't know exactly what it says, but when desoldering chips there a number of ways things can go wrong.

 

The trace is one term used the copper circuit path on the board. The larger areas of copper around the pins where the soldering takes place are commonly called pads.

 

When heating the area to melt the solder, too much heat can cause the copper trace to release/unbond/delaminate from the circuit board.

When removing the chip, particularly on a two sided board, it's possible to pull the trace away from the board when extracting the chip.

 

 

. . . not that I've ever done either of those things, mind you, but a friend tells me they can happen

Edited July 26, 2008 by BigO

[godzillajoe]

What the hell does it mean when it says be careful not to break the trace or ruin the trace or whatever. That part scares me most.

I don't know exactly what it says, but when desoldering chips there a number of ways things can go wrong.

 

The trace is one term used the copper circuit path on the board. The larger areas of copper around the pins where the soldering takes place are commonly called pads.

 

When heating the area to melt the solder, too much heat can cause the copper trace to release/unbond/delaminate from the circuit board.

When removing the chip, particularly on a two sided board, it's possible to pull the trace away from the board when extracting the chip.

 

 

. . . not that I've ever done either of those things, mind you, but a friend tells me they can happen

 

Say that happens, can it be fixed?

[Underball]

What the hell does it mean when it says be careful not to break the trace or ruin the trace or whatever. That part scares me most.

I don't know exactly what it says, but when desoldering chips there a number of ways things can go wrong.

 

The trace is one term used the copper circuit path on the board. The larger areas of copper around the pins where the soldering takes place are commonly called pads.

 

When heating the area to melt the solder, too much heat can cause the copper trace to release/unbond/delaminate from the circuit board.

When removing the chip, particularly on a two sided board, it's possible to pull the trace away from the board when extracting the chip.

 

 

. . . not that I've ever done either of those things, mind you, but a friend tells me they can happen

 

 

I've definitely caused that to happen a number of times when tinkering with stuff that needed to be soldered to a board.

 

This is why I half jokingly/half seriously recommended selling teh 8-bit mod and doing the easy 7800 video mod we talked about in the other thread. It requires a bare minimum of soldering a few resistors together to build the circuit, and no removal of solder or chips from the board at all. you only need to cut a few resistors off, which you can do with a pair of small wire cutters or pinch-nose pliers. You solder to the prongs left behind that stick up from the board, and don't remove any solder joints.

[shadow460]

What the hell does it mean when it says be careful not to break the trace or ruin the trace or whatever. That part scares me most.

I don't know exactly what it says, but when desoldering chips there a number of ways things can go wrong.

 

The trace is one term used the copper circuit path on the board. The larger areas of copper around the pins where the soldering takes place are commonly called pads.

 

When heating the area to melt the solder, too much heat can cause the copper trace to release/unbond/delaminate from the circuit board.

When removing the chip, particularly on a two sided board, it's possible to pull the trace away from the board when extracting the chip.

 

 

. . . not that I've ever done either of those things, mind you, but a friend tells me they can happen

 

Say that happens, can it be fixed?

 

Yes, it can be fixed by wiring point to point on some boards. The 7800 board does allow this. Such a repair to a 7800 is pretty easy as long as there aren't multiple broken traces. My unit has a solder pad lifted, but I was able to re attach it to the correct IC with no problem.

This kind of repair would be impossible on a PC mainboard, though.

 

. . . not that I've ever done either of those things, mind you,

You lie like a rug.

Edited July 26, 2008 by shadow460