Atari 800XL Monitor Port Not Aligned (plus I killed my Power LED!)

[bbking67]

Tonight I thought I would take my working 800XL apart. The reason is that the monitor port is not aligned, and I finally found an old DIN connector, so I wanted to try it out. I did the get connector on, but it exerts some force on the motherboard, which I don't like.

 

So i took apart my 800XL (it was harder than I thought to get the motherboard out!) and took off the shielding and all the screws. There was nothing misaligned, so I put everything back together, and the keyboard port is still off-kilter.

 

When I re-tested the 800XL, my LED no longer lights up (it was fine before the disassembly). Before I desolder the LED, is there something obvious I may have nicked in the process? All the keys on the keyboard still work, so I'm thinking the ribbon cable is okay. I was super-careful (the old part I hated was exerting a bit of pressure on the case to get the joystick ports over the lip).

 

Any help would be appreciated!

 

I have a pic, but I just have to figure out how to send that up here... okay hopefully that's going to work (I know crap pic... taken with my Playbook.)

 

/bbking67

[Rybags]

Things won't always be perfectly centred and there's not a lot can be done about it.

 

If the motherboard is screwed in right, the shielding is fitted properly and not bent and the joysticks and SIO are seated in their holes then that's probably the best you'll get.

 

As long as everything can plug in OK then it's good. You don't really look at the back of the computer when using it anyway.

 

Going by the schematic, looks like the bottom contact is for the LED so give it a check first.

[bbking67]

Rybags, what do you mean by "the bottom contact"?

 

On the 800XL, the monitor plug receptacle is recessed somewhat, so the plastic of the DIN connector needs to fit under the edge of the case, and this is what creates the pressure, I may just dremel off some of the plastic to make for a better fit. I think the monitor cable I have was actually for a different computer (did Commodore 64 use the same connector?)... it has 4 female RCA's coming out of the DIN.

Edited January 7, 2012 by bbking67

[Rybags]

C64 monitor socket is the same although the pin assignments are different. A DIN -> multi-RCA cable will usually work OK on both, just ensure that the ground pin is right, ie conducts to outer part of RCA plugs.

 

"Bottom contact" - I mean the last contact on the cable, ie the one that's closest to you when viewing from the front of computer.

 

Here's some schematics.

 

800xl.zip

 

You should double-check your work. I can't see how things could get out of alignment badly - if a screw for the shielding was put in the wrong place then maybe that could cause it.

[bbking67]

aarrrgh! Okay you are right... when i plugged in the ribbon for the keyboard, less that 1mm of the contact delaminated from the mylar/plastic and folded up. It actually happened on 2 of the lines... any suggestions?

 

I was thinking of trying to pry off the folded piece with an x-acto knife and then try to glue it...

 

/bbking67

[Rybags]

That's about all you can do I suppose. If that doesn't work then you'd probably want to recreate the missing trace with a conductive pen.

[+remowilliams]

The reason is that the monitor port is not aligned, and I finally found an old DIN connector, so I wanted to try it out

 

My 800XL monitor port was like that new out of the box. Eventually I just shaved a bit of the case plastic on the top side of the port.

[bbking67]

Rybags, will this stuff do?

 

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3964901

 

I'm in Canada, but i live near the U.S. border and there is a radio shack. The local electronics supply has the MG Products pen http://www.mgchemicals.com/products/8420p.html but they have a minimum order of 10 and they aren't cheap!

[Rybags]

I guess so. People have also used auto demister repair pens for such work.

 

I don't know how well it goes on plastic but if it works on glass then I'd guess it'd be OK on plastic.

 

Around 20 bucks seems to be the price point for these things, they generally contain silver so aren't too cheap.

[sloopy]

The other option, which I only perform when there are several traces that have bunched up, or one has broke... Cut the ribbon above the broken traces, and then sand off the plastic covering the traces further up, and make a 'new' edge... This isnt easy, but will give the absolute best results...

 

I would recommend straightening and then using cyanoacrylate glue first though...

 

sloopy.

[bbking67]

well hopefully i can uncrinkle the two traces and glue. Probably not great if I want to take the ribbon in and out again later, but it hopefully will be okay for a one time insertion. I don't plan to open that system up again for a while... the only think is that I no longer have a 130XE PBI adapter, so if I ever want to use my multi i/o again it will have to be with the 800XL.