5200 CX53 Trak-Ball repair - who can get it done without me having to DIY it?

[BIGHMW]

Yes fellow 5200 owners I know I've been out of the loop for quite a while, but with my Atari Flashback 9 I am slowly working my way back to getting my game face back on track, now, I own a 5200 CX53 trak-ball but have issues with her not working, so I was wondering if guys like atari-dna (who repaired my 2-port 5200 last year) or anyone else might be able to help me get it repaired?

 

The issues involve non-responsive bubble contacts for the fire buttons on both sides, the optical reader on the ball not reading, and also those infamous keypads also not working, now, before go on eBay and get one for nearly twice the price for a used one, who can fix it for me so it works again? Or, does Best Electronics make a fix kit specifically for the trak-ball (like the fantastic gold-contact keypads like on the CX52 joysticks which work like a dream) or am I outta luck?

 

I do not want to get rid of Big Sexy, not with her better graphics and the fact that I also own the VCS adapter and plan to reacquire (once I get more money from my job over at Safeway here in Port Townsend, I still have the SD cards for both) both the Harmony Encore and Atarimax Ultimate SD multicarts.

 

With games like Tampest and Qix, both not available for any other systems (Tempest is available for the 2600 I can send a link for some mods done to the original "Blue Speedo" port done up last year that I picked up here on AA), and also the twin-stick games like Space Dungeon and Robotron, I am not giving up hope on her, she just needs a jumpstart and I need to get my game face back on that I USED TO HAVE in the 1980s where I could play every game great without turning it off after 5-10 minutes due to frustration like I do now.

 

Whom can repair my CX53 trak-ball???

Edited June 17, 2019 by BIGHMW

[SoundGammon]

On one of my trak-balls, I mounted an arcade fire button, spring type! A lot easier to fire and no finger fatigue!

[+DrVenkman]

So you're Trak-Ball has a lot of symptoms - does ANYTHING on it work? 

 

The keypad and fire button contacts can be cleaned or otherwise refurbished, but with all those problems I have to wonder if there's something out of whack with the console itself. 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

16 hours ago, DrVenkman said:

So you're Trak-Ball has a lot of symptoms - does ANYTHING on it work? 

 

The keypad and fire button contacts can be cleaned or otherwise refurbished, but with all those problems I have to wonder if there's something out of whack with the console itself. 

Don't be too quick to judge on this...

 

I've got a CX53 trak ball that behaves similar to the OPs. I cleaned the crap outta it etc and in the end was only able to get the buttons to work again. It would appear that both opto's on this trak-ball are dead. There isn't a whole lot on the PCB component wise and all of that seems to check out. But sourcing replacement optos hasn't been fruitful. In the end I scored a nice deal locally through CL where a guy was selling a boxed 5200 4-port in good shape with some games and not one, but two boxed CX-53 trak-ball controllers and they both work just fine. So I keep this third and original one I found to fill more void space in the closet for now. LOL..

 

Point being, it wasn't my 5200 with issues, it was definitely the controller but I was never able to figure out what.

 

Edited June 18, 2019 by -^Cro§Bow^-

[+DrVenkman]

9 hours ago, -^Cro§Bow^- said:

Don't be too quick to judge on this...

 

I've got a CX53 trak ball that behaves similar to the OPs. I cleaned the crap outta it etc and in the end was only able to get the buttons to work again. It would appear that both opto's on this trak-ball are dead. There isn't a whole lot on the PCB component wise and all of that seems to check out. But sourcing replacement optos hasn't been fruitful. In the end I scored a nice deal locally through CL where a guy was selling a boxed 5200 4-port in good shape with some games and not one, but two boxed CX-53 trak-ball controllers and they both work just fine. So I keep this third and original one I found to fill more void space in the closet for now. LOL..

 

Point being, it wasn't my 5200 with issues, it was definitely the controller but I was never able to figure out what.

 

Yeah, I know stuff sometimes just doesn't work right. I also know the optos are basically impossible to find - I've had that same discussion with Dan Kramer on Facebook (fortunately not my CX-53!). 

 

However, even though my Mylars didn't work when I got it, I was able to clean them and get things partly working; I ended up having to replace the multiplexors inside my 5200 to get things fully functional; I suspect whatever killed those (at least 3 of the 5 were screwed up), also fried the 4011BE chip inside my CX-53. 

 

Anyway, good luck to the OP.

[john_q_atari]

20 hours ago, DrVenkman said:

Yeah, I know stuff sometimes just doesn't work right. I also know the optos are basically impossible to find - I've had that same discussion with Dan Kramer on Facebook (fortunately not my CX-53!). 

 

I haven't had any problems finding the optos these last few months. Not many out there though so if you need a pointer to them just drop me a PM.

 

[+DrVenkman]

Good to know! Fortunately, my TB has been operating flawlessly since I refurb'd it two years ago.

[+Kaboomer]

On 6/17/2019 at 4:15 PM, SoundGammon said:

On one of my trak-balls, I mounted an arcade fire button, spring type! A lot easier to fire and no finger fatigue!

Would love to see / understand how you did this for doing my own DIY project! Can you please share?

[atari-dna]

PM sent regarding Trak-ball repair [emoji4]