How hot is too hot? The 1040 STE PSU.

[PeBo]

I have been playing with a recently acquired 1040 STE (my first STE in 25 years - cha-ching) and the case seems to get mighty warm to the touch above the PSU.., at least warmer than I remember back-in-the-day.

 

How hot should the power supply be running?

 

I've also had floppy read/write problems - accompanied with minor graphic glitches - but only after the computer been on for a few hours. I'm GUESSING this might be related to a failing PSU, (If I'm way outta whack thinking these issues might be related to the PSU, please let me know)

 

I'm also a bit concerned with having a hot PSU sitting right next to the simms. (which I just replaced)

 

I have other items I would like to acquire first, but if a new PSU is needed, I'll move it to the top of the list. I'd just hate to spend the money on the PSU only to find that that's just how hot they run, and that my other problems are elsewhere.

 

Thanks in advance for the advice

[Zogging Hell]

You could set up a fan to blow down through the grill if your worried about it. If the caps haven't been replaced by now it is probably time to do it anyway. If you are going down the upgrade route a stable PSU is essential. If you can solder just get one of Exxos's recap kits and change over the power supply, far better than buying a new second hand PSU that will likely have the same problems.

[Bikerbob]

I have been playing with a recently acquired 1040 STE (my first STE in 25 years - cha-ching) and the case seems to get mighty warm to the touch above the PSU.., at least warmer than I remember back-in-the-day.

 

How hot should the power supply be running?

 

I've also had floppy read/write problems - accompanied with minor graphic glitches - but only after the computer been on for a few hours. I'm GUESSING this might be related to a failing PSU, (If I'm way outta whack thinking these issues might be related to the PSU, please let me know)

 

I'm also a bit concerned with having a hot PSU sitting right next to the simms. (which I just replaced)

 

I have other items I would like to acquire first, but if a new PSU is needed, I'll move it to the top of the list. I'd just hate to spend the money on the PSU only to find that that's just how hot they run, and that my other problems are elsewhere.

 

Thanks in advance for the advice

open it up and examine the capacitors. Those are what usually go bad, and if they are struggling they get very hot and that could be what you have going on.

 

Exxos makes a replacement PSU - there are a number of articles around the net on replacing the caps on the PSU.. or you could change to a very cool running pico PSU.. which is what I did.. fingers crossed.. so far so good.

 

James

[PeBo]

open it up and examine the capacitors. Those are what usually go bad, and if they are struggling they get very hot and that could be what you have going on.

 

Exxos makes a replacement PSU - there are a number of articles around the net on replacing the caps on the PSU.. or you could change to a very cool running pico PSU.. which is what I did.. fingers crossed.. so far so good.

 

James

 

 

Does Exxos make a PSU for North America voltages? Thought when I was on the site the other day he only had his sexy pico unit for 220/240 (but maybe I just missed it)

 

Not sure if it is the PSU that is causing my problems, but remembering how stable my original STE was, this one has me pretty frustrated. 2-3 hours of active use and I get garbage for filenames on any disc I insert, and if I save to disc during these time, the disc is rendered unusable - permanently. If I turn the system off for a few hours, everything is hunky-dory again (except for any discs that I saved while it was acting weird).

 

But I'm also having graphic glitches in monochrome (random black pixels - colour seems fine), and again only after the system has been on for awhile.

 

Hate that I was so anticipating having an ST again, and I ended up with such a lemon.

[guus.assmann]

Hello PeBo,

 

Start by opening the unit up.

And see if it's dusty inside. Any dust is like a blanket, preventing the parts to cool down.

Sometimes it is really simple, don't assume the worst please. :-)

 

BR/

Guus

Edited October 28, 2017 by guus.assmann

[PeBo]

Hello PeBo,

 

Start by opening the unit up.

And see if it's dusty inside. Any dust is like a blanket, preventing the parts to cool down.

Sometimes it is really simple, don't assume the worst please. :-)

 

BR/

Guus

I opened it up as soon as I started having problems.

 

I made sure that chips were well seated and blew some canned air throughout. 'll post pictures eventually, but this is an amazingly pristine-looking machine...absolutely no dust inside, and the case and keyboard have no discoloration. It was one of the things that made me buy it (that, and the fact that he traded it for comic books - yes I gave up my Daredevil collection for an STE!).

 

Of course it could have been cleaned just before I got it, but this looks fresh-out-of-the-box clean - not freshly-restored clean. It looks like a brand new machine - it just doesn't act like a brand new machine - or even a functional one.

 

Have a feeling a new PSU will probably cure all my ills - just wish my soldering skills were better since re-capping is soooo much cheaper (shaky geriatric hands and eyes sure don't help!). also wish I had a spare as a back up, which would lessen my fear of screwing up in recapping this one.

 

Noticed tonight that the simms are also warm (not hot, but warm) to the touch after a couple hours. I'm thinking that's he motherboard that is heating up, because I've been running without a case or shielding today with a fan-blowing very cool air at the table (which did not stop the glitches - although I did get through a lengthy "Gods" session without problems), so don't see how else the simms would be getting warm.

[Zogging Hell]

If the PSU is firing out some flakey voltages all sorts could get warm!

 

The simms should get a little warm, particularly as they are sitting next to the PSU on the STe, however as a next stop on trouble shooting you could try taking some of them out leaving you with the minimum and if that works swap them over and see if the others cause issues. I would suspect PSU though, Exxos does do a 110v new replacement for £60, search for 110v, he appears to have 4 in stock.

[Bikerbob]

I opened it up as soon as I started having problems.

 

I made sure that chips were well seated and blew some canned air throughout. 'll post pictures eventually, but this is an amazingly pristine-looking machine...absolutely no dust inside, and the case and keyboard have no discoloration. It was one of the things that made me buy it (that, and the fact that he traded it for comic books - yes I gave up my Daredevil collection for an STE!).

 

Of course it could have been cleaned just before I got it, but this looks fresh-out-of-the-box clean - not freshly-restored clean. It looks like a brand new machine - it just doesn't act like a brand new machine - or even a functional one.

 

Have a feeling a new PSU will probably cure all my ills - just wish my soldering skills were better since re-capping is soooo much cheaper (shaky geriatric hands and eyes sure don't help!). also wish I had a spare as a back up, which would lessen my fear of screwing up in recapping this one.

 

Noticed tonight that the simms are also warm (not hot, but warm) to the touch after a couple hours. I'm thinking that's he motherboard that is heating up, because I've been running without a case or shielding today with a fan-blowing very cool air at the table (which did not stop the glitches - although I did get through a lengthy "Gods" session without problems), so don't see how else the simms would be getting warm.

 

PeBo, I am in Oakville, and a buddy that I do my Atari hobby with is in Vaughn. We are pretty close, I have changed my PSU to a PICO.. it works great. You end up with an external brick but there is almost 0 heat in the unit now.. and it works great. Exxos has a page on his site for doing that one too. We my buddy Chris and I do get together in the winter time, as our weekends free up a bit. You are more than welcome to ask me ( I am on here much more than he is) and we can help out if you need it.

 

James

[PeBo]

 

PeBo, I am in Oakville, and a buddy that I do my Atari hobby with is in Vaughn. We are pretty close, I have changed my PSU to a PICO.. it works great. You end up with an external brick but there is almost 0 heat in the unit now.. and it works great. Exxos has a page on his site for doing that one too. We my buddy Chris and I do get together in the winter time, as our weekends free up a bit. You are more than welcome to ask me ( I am on here much more than he is) and we can help out if you need it.

 

James

Vaughan is probably easier not having wheels. Either way I'll PM you about possibly hooking up this winter.

 

And one of he most pleasant things I've found about rekindling the Atari flame is how popular the ST series was around Toronto! The first system I got back into (and earned me Dragonstomper posting status here at Atariage) was a TI-99/4A, and I'm beginning to think I was the only person that ever owned one in this city! Everything I've purchased has come from the US and Europe - oh wait my Peripheral Expansion Box came from Ottawa, and I found a couple goodies in Vancouver...but not a single item found within 200 Kms!

 

Then I decided to get a 1040...the machine and monochrome monitor came from a guy who lives a 10 minute walk away, the SC1224 from Scarborough, a couple sampler carts from downtown, and best of all, a collection of over 500 discs (for FREE!) from a guy that works two blocks from my office.

 

Everything I'm looking at for the Atari is now Craigslist and Kijiji, with eBay being used only for reference.

 

The money I'm saving in shipping alone makes the Atari a MUCH cheaper hobby...and parts/peripherals are also a fraction of the price of TI stuff on the re-sale market (although I will say the TI seems to have really active 21st century hardware/software development by comparison)

 

Anyway, hope we can get together in the future...Maybe it's time for a new TAF to form!!

Edited October 30, 2017 by PeBo

[atarian1]

Vaughan is probably easier not having wheels. Either way I'll PM you about possibly hooking up this winter.

 

And one of he most pleasant things I've found about rekindling the Atari flame is how popular the ST series was around Toronto! The first system I got back into (and earned me Dragonstomper posting status here at Atariage) was a TI-99/4A, and I'm beginning to think I was the only person that ever owned one in this city! Everything I've purchased has come from the US and Europe - oh wait my Peripheral Expansion Box came from Ottawa, and I found a couple goodies in Vancouver...but not a single item found within 200 Kms!

 

Then I decided to get a 1040...the machine and monochrome monitor came from a guy who lives a 10 minute walk away, the SC1224 from Scarborough, a couple sampler carts from downtown, and best of all, a collection of over 500 discs (for FREE!) from a guy that works two blocks from my office.

 

Everything I'm looking at for the Atari is now Craigslist and Kijiji, with eBay being used only for reference.

 

The money I'm saving in shipping alone makes the Atari a MUCH cheaper hobby...and parts/peripherals are also a fraction of the price of TI stuff on the re-sale market (although I will say the TI seems to have really active 21st century hardware/software development by comparison)

 

Anyway, hope we can get together in the future...Maybe it's time for a new TAF to form!!

 

The Toronto Atari Federation was one, if not, the largest Atari user group in North America, so I am not surprised at the ease of finding ST stuff. However, it is surprising to see this is the case today (if I am reading your message right). What surprised me though was how fast the TAF fell off the radar. I know from first hand experience that when Atari started going down the tubes in the late 90s, the larger (and maybe stronger?) Atari user groups dwindled down to a handful of people. The formal club structure and officers went away and soon the group became a bunch of buddies hanging out together talking about life and other bulls**t.

 

I was surprised reading about the rapid demise of the TAF in the newsgroups and on GEnie. The membership numbers and people attending the meetings dropped quickly every month to the point where it just suddenly disappeared. I guess the members and former members just didn't think it was worth saving the last bond they had.

[Bikerbob]

Yes I was very surprised at that as well. We had 8-bit groups out our way in Burlington. We had some of the best BBS networks in North America at the time, I remember starting the original one .. helping out .. with the acoustic coupler as the the first modem we had 300baud.

 

I went to more than a few TAF meetings, but yes I was a bit surprised with the hobby scene now, there was not something still around to contact. But there does not.

 

I have been trying to gather locals that I am finding on the forums.. maybe this winter we can have a little get together.

 

 

I had one buddy who bought the TI99/4a back in the day.. 1.. and he was not happy.. everyone else had a C64 or an Atari, he was the outside..

 

That being said.. I could use a bunch of floppies .. if you have any that have been cleaned off of what was on them. I could really use 10.. hard to find now.

 

 

James

Edited October 31, 2017 by Bikerbob

[PeBo]

Yes I was very surprised at that as well. We had 8-bit groups out our way in Burlington. We had some of the best BBS networks in North America at the time, I remember starting the original one .. helping out .. with the acoustic coupler as the the first modem we had 300baud.

 

I went to more than a few TAF meetings, but yes I was a bit surprised with the hobby scene now, there was not something still around to contact. But there does not.

 

I have been trying to gather locals that I am finding on the forums.. maybe this winter we can have a little get together.

 

 

I had one buddy who bought the TI99/4a back in the day.. 1.. and he was not happy.. everyone else had a C64 or an Atari, he was the outside..

 

That being said.. I could use a bunch of floppies .. if you have any that have been cleaned off of what was on them. I could really use 10.. hard to find now.

 

 

James

Funny that...I sold my original TI to buy an 800xl (my friends all had 400's & 800's), and while the software library was awesome, I kicked myself for selling what I came to believe was the superior of the two systems.

 

I liked the way sprites worked more than player/missile graphics, and liked how much easier it was to use 16 colours at the full resolution in TI BASIC. Of course the built in BASIC on the TI sucked compared to Atari BASIC, but TI Extended BASIC went a long way to flip that disparity (although the double interpreting always made homebrew BASIC programs run at a snail's pace on the TI).

 

My Atari friends used to get quite frustrated as I went on and on about how I should have never traded my TI for an XL. And while hobby preferences are purely subjective, when male menopause made me long for my earlier computer days, the TI was the only system that I even considered re-acquiring. And man do I ever continue to love that machine.

 

The release of the ST line though changed everything, and I once againhad a computer that I absolutely loved, and it was Windows 98 (kept my ST well past Win95) that found me crying about how I should have never given up my ST for a PC!

 

30 years later, and places like eBay, Craigslist and Kijiji has made it possible to finally correct that mistake (Windows 10 just sucked the fun right out of owning a computer as a hobby - and made my favourite Atari emulator (Steem) run far less efficiently - not sure if everyone shares that experience)

 

Anyway, I now have my two prized systems - a TI and an ST sitting side by side for the first time, and I only turn on this Win10 POS to download stuff for those other two systems and to visit these forums. (and to stream Toronto Rock games on NLLTV.com of course)

[Bikerbob]

Nice.. well I will count you in for the get together when we have the chance to put it together. I have space at my store in Oakville, but maybe something closer to TO might get more people, have to see. I am sure we will be able to work some car pooling out for those wanting to bring some stuff and no wheels like in the big smoke.

 

James

[PeBo]

Just thought I'd post a follow up to the post I started and say that I replaced the ST's stock power cord with a spare that came with my PCs 1200w PSU (the thing is mega-shielded - thickest cord I'd ever seen) and that has gone a long way towards cooling down the ST's PSU. Hasn;t been long enough to know if it has absolutely cured my problems, but I accidentally left the ST on overnight (which would have meant waking up to a corrupted system a few days ago) and when I got up this morning everything was stable, and the case while warm (expected, since I had not re-installed the PSU/memory cover/shield), was not hot to the touch as it had been.

 

Think I may have found a cheap fix until I can pick up a replacement PSU. Just thought I'd post my results since I had originally not even thought about a 30 year old power cord possibly being the culprit, and figured it might help someone else (old and senile like me) with similar issues down the road.

[PeBo]

I know - talking to oneself is weird.

 

But for posterity and anyone with a similar problem, nope the better-shielded cord did not do anything for the problem. After about two hours of use the internal drive starts going wonky (*works perfectly for those couple of hours, suggesting that as the PSU heats up, the power output becomes unstable affecting the drive (ram discs continue to work fine until the whole system becomes unstable about an hour after the drive starts to error out.).

 

New PSU, not a new cord IS needed.

 

next pay.