+hloberg Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 It looks like I'm needing to replace the capacitors on my 600XL. A lot of computers and game systems people sell a pack of all the capacitors needed for usually not much money. I poked around but so far I haven't seen a pack for the XL line (2600, Lynx, Jaguar yes). Ya'll know of anyone selling such a pack for the XL so I don't have to research then buy individual resistors at high cost or get a huge multi-pack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faicuai Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 (edited) You don't need to replace these capacitors, unless you have tested them as faulty (they are out of spec). If DC capacitors show NO signs of any top-surface or side-walls bulging, and no unusual de-coloring, and still firmly planted on their soldering-point, don't even touch them. In many instances, this is mostly a urban myth, born out of sheer psychosis or self-inflicted hysteria. Edited March 1, 2021 by Faicuai 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 Can I ask why you feel the caps needs replaced in the machine? I've never in my 40 years of owning and using every Atari produced seen a cap go bad. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 Never had to replace a capacitor in any of my Atari computers or consoles and I've had over 30 in the last 10 years. Original Xbox on the other hand ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 The only caps I've ever needed to replace in the Atari line over all these years were 1 power filter cap near the power switch of an XL, a couple caps in the reset circuit of 1200XL s, and a handfull of caps in 1050 disk drives... recapping everything is a myth born of a bad run of stolen formula water based caps... only caps made in that time period from the crap formula were an issue... caps can leak, bulge, or blow out.... they can short or open... but if they are testing in spec... there is no need to replace them... they will be fine. just test them after use or for a long enough time to reveal any defect in the material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 Just now, mimo said: Never had to replace a capacitor in any of my Atari computers or consoles and I've had over 30 in the last 10 years. Original Xbox on the other hand ? lmao original XBOX is the repository for terrible caps... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 Just now, _The Doctor__ said: lmao original XBOX is the repository for terrible caps... After the magic smoke left all the capacitors in both of mine within a month of each other I agree 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 @hloberg are you having issues with your XL? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 We had one of the first Xbox pods to display games in the shop, it had to go back within a week as it started spewing smoke...And we were not the only shop that had this issue 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manterola Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 In general, Atari 8bits computers don't need capacitors replacement, that's why you are not finding capacitors pack. Instead you'd find Mylar replacements, delay line attempts, MMU replacement or more commonly RAM replacement (specifically faulty mT branded RAM). Maybe you are suffering some of these problems, instead...? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted March 1, 2021 Author Share Posted March 1, 2021 I am having issue with the video. In another thread I talked about installing a UAV in my 600XL. After I installed it I started having issues with the video getting squirrelly and screen going white after a while. Since I got the 'build yourself' version of the UAV I was told on this board I must had have made a bad solder. I resoldered then eventually bought a new UAV pre-built and still have the same problems. After I let the XL cool for a while it goes back to normal so it is definitely something over heating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 44 minutes ago, Stephen said: Can I ask why you feel the caps needs replaced in the machine? I've never in my 40 years of owning and using every Atari produced seen a cap go bad. Agreed, also if anyone feels the need, best way to prevent any real problems with Cap's is just power your unit on for a while every couple of years and you'll be fine. Personally I have various electronic devices that are 40+ years old, most problems are usually with components that get hot under normal use i.e. power transistors/resistors/diodes etc., never had a cap go ever. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted March 1, 2021 Author Share Posted March 1, 2021 28 minutes ago, TGB1718 said: Agreed, also if anyone feels the need, best way to prevent any real problems with Cap's is just power your unit on for a while every couple of years and you'll be fine. Personally I have various electronic devices that are 40+ years old, most problems are usually with components that get hot under normal use i.e. power transistors/resistors/diodes etc., never had a cap go ever. I got this computer a few months ago from what I gathered had been probably setting for a really long time in someone's attic. It smelled of smoke and that smell that old attics smell. On the up side since it was probably in someone's attic for years it hadn't yellowed hardly at all. My old Game Gear had to have most of the caps replaced to fix issues with it. On the other hand My TI99/4a has always worked like a charm as well as my 2600 so it depends. I plan to replace the caps anyway, I'll just look them up on the schematics. It's cheap. If that doesn't solve the issue then I'll take a scope to it and look for a variable voltage on the ICs. Maybe GITA is going bad? All I know now is if you let it cool off it goes away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Faicuai said: You don't need to replace these capacitors, unless you have tested them as faulty (they are out of spec). If DC capacitors show NO signs of any top-surface or side-walls bulging, and no unusual de-coloring, and still firmly planted on their soldering-point, don't even touch them. In many instances, this is mostly a urban myth, born out of sheer psychosis or self-inflicted hysteria. I totally agree. My caps are 35 years and look and work fine. Those XLs actually had good components. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted March 1, 2021 Author Share Posted March 1, 2021 OK, if it's not the caps then what you'll think it is? A few minutes after turn on screen gets jittery then it goes mostly white. turn it off a let it cool about 10 minutes and it goes away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manterola Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 Something similar happened to my 600XL and it is an output resistor of the UAV which was soldered in the wrong position. I don't think it is the case, because you already tried a second UAV, but just in case: This Video shows what happened to my computer This is a normal UAV: Mine had R13 and R14 connected.. Check your UAV with a magnifying glass to see of there is something fishy with those SMT capacitors and resistors. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bob1200xl Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 If you look up useful life on aluminum electrolytic capacitors, you generally see 10K hours or less. So, unlike semiconductors and other passive components, we will see significant failures over a period of decades. Doesn't mean they are ALL dead... Bob Cool - some semiconductors spec failures as FIT - Failures In Time. There will be this I-phone bopping along in the 7K soup at the end of Time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted March 1, 2021 Author Share Posted March 1, 2021 1 hour ago, manterola said: Something similar happened to my 600XL and it is an output resistor of the UAV which was soldered in the wrong position. I don't think it is the case, because you already tried a second UAV, but just in case: This Video shows what happened to my computer This is a normal UAV: Mine had R13 and R14 connected.. Check your UAV with a magnifying glass to see of there is something fishy with those SMT capacitors and resistors. will do. the probability of 2 going bad is small but if he was using a automated solder machine and wasn't watching himself when loading, not impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 Have you checked the voltage going to the colour pin of the GTIA when the system starts and when the video goes out? I wonder if you're seeing an issue with the power supply drifting, rather than something in the computer? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 4050, gtia, antic, color circuit transistor.... concentrate your search there if the power supply checks out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 6 hours ago, hloberg said: I am having issue with the video. In another thread I talked about installing a UAV in my 600XL. After I installed it I started having issues with the video getting squirrelly and screen going white after a while. Since I got the 'build yourself' version of the UAV I was told on this board I must had have made a bad solder. I resoldered then eventually bought a new UAV pre-built and still have the same problems. After I let the XL cool for a while it goes back to normal so it is definitely something over heating. What does the RF output do, is it squirrelly? So after you installed the UAV, everything went south? Check the voltage of the power supply? Get a can of compressed air and start cooling down chips until the problem vanishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted March 2, 2021 Author Share Posted March 2, 2021 (edited) OK, problem solved and I feel like the biggest f'n idiot on planet Earth. ? ? I had the jumpers upside down on the UAV board. Didn't just do it once but TWICE! ? Even bought a new UAV. ugh. What so weird is that the board worked fine except for that weird problem. I had used the printed manual that came with the UAV but this time I cross referenced with the digital copy. Guess I just looked at it wrong in the book. Anyway, so the other board was probably fine too. I might use it to mod by 2600. That is as soon as I feel confident enough to work on something more technical than a fork. AND, you all where right, it wasn't the capacitors. Edited March 2, 2021 by hloberg 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 Ha ha...We all have the ability to be an idiot, I'm older than my Atari so I think some of my capacitors have failed No one is perfect, not even Emkay... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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