Yet another light sixer restoration

[theor]

While this may look boring after so many eponym threads, I may have found some new tricks while restoring my freshly arrived light sixer. Keep reeding!

 

It starts casually with a filthy, 40 years old PAL light sixers found on eBay, probably made somewhere between 1978 and 1980. This is actually the first time I see one for real as I was too young in the 80s. Boy, am I excited!

 

 

It's not in bad shape but it's covered in grime and will need a complete clean up. The electronics work, although I'll probably want to replace the voltage regulator later.

 

As expected, the inside is filthy.

 

 

OK, let's start by soaking this up. I'll take care of the PCBs in the meantime.

 

 

The RF shield did a good job protecting the TIA PCB those past 40 years...

 

 

... although I'm surprised by the very crude quality of these late 70s PCB. Look at the weldings under the joystick ports...

 

 

There's iron oxide underneath the TIA socket and on the voltage regulator dissipator. Some WD40 and a good scrubbing took care of it. Otherwise the switch assembly is in good shape. A bit of dielectric grease will still help the switches.

 

 

Back to the housing. Scrubbed with a tooth brush, rinsed, now I won't have to wash my hands after I touch it. Time to soak the bottom part.

 

 

Now comes the painting job. I had already purchased a paint stick for the bezel. I'll let it fully dry first.

 

 

A slight sanding of the bezel helped remove the old paint residues and the new paint stick to it.

The whole painting job merely took a minute. I applied several layers.

 

 

Now comes the hard part: the corroded switches. Vinegar didn't do much, neither did baking soda. I ended up polishing them mechanically using a driller. That may be a new trick.

 

 

 

Better, but still not good as new.

 

Next I used linseed oil on the caps, which may be another new idea. It has three interesting properties:

- it dissolves the oxides

- it makes the aluminum shine

- it forms a shiny, plastic like polymer after drying that will prevent further corrosion

 

 

I could still remove some oxide a hour later, way longer than I expected. I had already remounted the console.

 

 

Now they look new, if slightly worn down after 4 decades. Also there's no more oxide to remove and the threading hasn't been damaged as I feared after a mechanical corrosion removal. So far so good.

 

I also applied some linseed oil on the bezel with a Q-tip to form a shiny protective layer on the matte orange paint. The paint alone wouldn't withstand the years, and I want this restoration to last.

 

The result is gorgeous.

 

 

Next I'll focus on the electronics, then order a Harmony Encore cart. That's for another chapter.

[Osgeld]

I use a drill to spiffy up switch tops as well

[cuda_man]

Beautiful!

 

I like your techniques. I'm restoring a light sixer too! I added the appropriate zener diodes to the joystick caps and am going to make antistatic covers for the switches, since the RIOT had to be replaced. I got the composite mod, but I'm going to keep the parts I remove so it can be reversible, including not cutting on the case.

 

Keep up the good work!

[BassGuitari]

I love restoration threads.

[+save2600]

That Stella of yours sure is beautiful!

[Blackgear]

Can you tell me the UniPosca color you use? many thanks.

[theor]

Sure, I used the "Orange foncé" tint, reference PC1MC. 4€ on Amazon.

 

By the way I moved to the electronic part and cleaned the solder flux off the two PCBs. It's now in a really pristine state, both inside and outside.

 

Here's the switch part with the new voltage regulator. I used gold thermal grease to replace the old paste which didn't age well.

 

 

The TIA PCB also looks a lot better and hopefully will withstand the years better now:

 

[Zitruskeks]

How did you remove the aluminium switch caps? Are they just press fit? Or is there a little splint pin that need to be removed?

[theor]

Pliers and a towel on top of them to avoid any damage to the fragile threading.

 

Be prudent when you pull them off, the levers are just plastic, you wouldn't want to break one pulling too hard. Gentle, clockwise and anti-clockwise motions work best.

Edited July 4, 2018 by theor

[underbutler]

Makes me want to open up and restore mine now... mine looks disgraceful compared to that restored magnificence.

 

Did you replace any of the resistors/capacitors, or is there largely no point to doing it on these machines (I've seen some non atari 80s machines where this is a big issue)?

Edited July 4, 2018 by underbutler

[+DrVenkman]

Makes me want to open up and restore mine now... mine looks disgraceful compared to that restored magnificence.

 

Did you replace any of the resistors/capacitors, or is there largely no point to doing it on these machines (I've seen some non atari 80s machines where this is a big issue)?

 

If it's not broken, don't fix it.

 

Personally, my Sixers have never needed any electronic repairs to speak of. My Light Sixer had a broken Game Select switch when I bought it so I replaced it, but that's been it. Conversely, my 4-Switch Woodies have all had problems, but only one (my Vader) needed any new caps - just the chiclet cap near the voltage regulator. I had to replace that to clear up some video static. The other 4-switch problems have been two RIOT failures and one TIA failure, no doubt due to static discharges over the years. Adding the Zener diode mod for machines that lack it is an excellent preventative measure.