juan9999 Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 (edited) I recently brought my 65XE out of storage and am having issues with the startup. When I first turned it on the red light came on, and the monitor flickers (using monitor connection) but stays black after the brief white flicker. Tried hooking up to a TV and had a similar issue where it changes from static to a black screen. I was trying to diagnose it and moved the machine and put in a cartridge and suddenly it started working perfectly. I then tried some other cartridges and it worked fine. In fact I played with it all morning and it was great. During that time I turned it on and off multiple times and it worked every time. I then moved the computer to reconnect it to my monitor, and then it stopped working again. I turned it on and off in the same position, it worked one time out of 10. (no physical movement other than use of power on switch). My came over with his working power supply and it now still doesn't work (with TV or monitor- i.e. only black screen). I suspect it's the act of physically moving it that messed up some connection. I remember when I was moving the power supply the screen flickered for a while. Any suggestions on how to diagnose? I clearly don't want to mess up my computer. Edited May 10, 2017 by juan9999 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloopy Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 Take the power cable and move it around a little while it is on and see if there is any change in the display. open the 65XE and see if any of the IC's are socketed... if they are, removed them and then put them back in (dont bend any pins )... replace the DRAMs if there is 8 of them and they have 'MT' written on them... sloopy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juan9999 Posted May 10, 2017 Author Share Posted May 10, 2017 (edited) Thanks, I'll try to do that. It seems that when I lightly shake or bang the computer that that changes things. Other than socketed chips, is there anything that can be loose and affect it? The RAM is soldered. When it was working I ran the built in diagnostic and the cpu and ram check and everything was ok. I also ran the Salt diagnostic and everything tested ok. Edited May 10, 2017 by juan9999 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juan9999 Posted May 11, 2017 Author Share Posted May 11, 2017 It suddenly started working again... without moving it. I simply switched it on and it works... I did leave it plugged in overnight. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 Maybe a solder joint that goes intermittent once it gets warm. Maybe the power supply isn't up to the job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 spray the on off switch with contact cleaner check it with a multimeter repeatedly.... they do go bad and or get scratchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juan9999 Posted May 15, 2017 Author Share Posted May 15, 2017 (edited) spray the on off switch with contact cleaner check it with a multimeter repeatedly.... they do go bad and or get scratchy Ok, so I took the machine apart, and checked with the multimeter behind the power plug the two pins that go to the PCB. I get a steady 5.10 v before powering up, and a 5.04 after powering up. I initially plugged in the keyboard and when I was moving that around, the machine suddenly started displaying. Measured the voltage again, and it was still a steady 5.04. I removed the keyboard and it kept displaying. I inserted 10 cartridges to test (and moved the machine around and it kept displaying. Then, on the 11th cartridge it stopped displaying and voltage was still 5.04. Is there anywhere else other than the two pins that come out of the power socket that I should be testing? I've sprayed a cleaner and am now waiting for it to dry. Edited May 15, 2017 by juan9999 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juan9999 Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 Ok, so I cleaned the PCB there was some corrosion under the composite out. I also used contact cleaner in the monitor input. It then worked perfectly for 24 hours- everytime I turned on/off. Now, it started acting up again (the contact cleaner dried?) If I gently shake the monitor cable nothing happens. What I discovered is if I unplug/replug the monitor out, I then get a white screen. At that time, I can power off then on then it works. Any ideas what can cause this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 So is the video connection just dropping out or is the machine itself losing power or crashing? Contact cleaner shouldn't be conductive and shouldn't have anything to do with a solder joint working then not working once it evaporates. The purpose is for things like edge connectors and plug pins or other mating moving surfaces where electrical connections occur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 corrosion as in rust? you have to clean that off for real.. rust is indeed conductive, get busy with the q tips.... if there is corrosion in or under the rf modulator it needs to be cleaned and the solder might need touch up... this sound like it might be water/moisture damage... as such clean up is a must followed by nice flux with joints being retouched... make sure there are no bulging capacitors or none of them having wicked up water.. carefully make sure nothing has corroded apart or off. If you notice it works fine for 24 hours but then you let it get cold for a day and it fails till it warms up.. you have another situation.... it is hard to clean rust coating a board without an utrasonic cleaner or removing components and cleaning a board... I have seen flooding a board with cleaner and using a magnet with brush work as well but this is a good deal of work... Do you see staining on the pcb / under or around components? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juan9999 Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 Here are pics of before/after I cleaned the contacts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juan9999 Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 corrosion as in rust? you have to clean that off for real.. rust is indeed conductive, get busy with the q tips.... if there is corrosion in or under the rf modulator it needs to be cleaned and the solder might need touch up... this sound like it might be water/moisture damage... as such clean up is a must followed by nice flux with joints being retouched... make sure there are no bulging capacitors or none of them having wicked up water.. carefully make sure nothing has corroded apart or off. If you notice it works fine for 24 hours but then you let it get cold for a day and it fails till it warms up.. you have another situation.... it is hard to clean rust coating a board without an utrasonic cleaner or removing components and cleaning a board... I have seen flooding a board with cleaner and using a magnet with brush work as well but this is a good deal of work... Do you see staining on the pcb / under or around components? Please see above for before/after. The board worked great for 24 hours after the clean up, until I started moving it again... then I ran into the white screen workaround listed above Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juan9999 Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 So is the video connection just dropping out or is the machine itself losing power or crashing? Contact cleaner shouldn't be conductive and shouldn't have anything to do with a solder joint working then not working once it evaporates. The purpose is for things like edge connectors and plug pins or other mating moving surfaces where electrical connections occur. When it doesn't work, I switch it on, the screen flickers and then displays black. Previously if I came back in a while it may start working again. What I have now discovered is If I then take out the video and put it back in and fiddle with it, I get a white screen, at which time turning off and on again restores video operations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 (edited) okay somebody soldered the rf modulator pins and burnt the heck out of the flux and looked to be dirty.... cleaning it was a good Idea.... we see some scrapes to the traces above your pins... I couldn't tell from the picture. make sure the monitor out is also soldered properly... next what cords are you using? rf cord or actual DIN monitor cord... and have you tried other cords? If yes and same results replacing rf modulator is relatively cheap and easy.... with that said if you did replace rf modulator and still problem tracing back thru circuit is needed... also did you clean the channel select switch in modulator... spray and slide repeatedly... Edited May 16, 2017 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juan9999 Posted May 17, 2017 Author Share Posted May 17, 2017 okay somebody soldered the rf modulator pins and burnt the heck out of the flux and looked to be dirty.... cleaning it was a good Idea.... we see some scrapes to the traces above your pins... I couldn't tell from the picture. make sure the monitor out is also soldered properly... next what cords are you using? rf cord or actual DIN monitor cord... and have you tried other cords? If yes and same results replacing rf modulator is relatively cheap and easy.... with that said if you did replace rf modulator and still problem tracing back thru circuit is needed... also did you clean the channel select switch in modulator... spray and slide repeatedly... I'm only using monitor out (have two cables that work fine with my atari 800). I also tried using the RF out, but was experiencing the same issue. Does the rf modulator control the monitor out as well? Why does unplugging and plugging in the monitor cable force it to go white and then start working? Is there voltage I can check? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 (edited) on an XE the modulator makes the composite out signal.. if memory serves Edited May 17, 2017 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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