TI99 essential maintenance?

[Tetlee]

Hi all,

 

Let me start by saying I'm not a coder(at all) and gaming aside have zero know how regarding computer internals, there that's that out the way.

 

I fairly recently rebought a TI99/4A from France(mainly to get it with the Scart cable which I didn't know at the time about somebody from here making them) and it's my first foray back into the world of 99 since owning one as a kid back in the eighties.

 

The machine works fine but I am finding game carts crash quite often, and FinalGrom especially is very buggy(I can get it to work perfectly but there are plenty game freezes etc.). This together with reading people suggesting testing of power supplies etc. got me thinking. I'm planning on sending my old Amiga A600 in to retropassion for a recap(owned it since the 90's so thought it could be an idea as I would hate to damage it after owning it all these years) and it seems they can also recap the TI99. I'm guessing this would be advisable regardless issues? They said they can also recap the PSU so I'm guessing I should get this done too. Is there any other essential maintenance for the longevity of these computers I should ask about while it's going in, or should that be sufficient? I don't want to pile unnecessary money into it(I've spent alot already as TI99 stuff is way more expensive here in the UK than it is in the US) so just the basics to give me confidence going forward(at the moment I kind of feel I could end up frying the machine at some point if I keep playing it without bothering)

 

I don't see me ever modding the system(as cool as some of these things sound and nice as the new games that require doing so look), just want to give it a service so it should be able to continue on working for years to come.

 

Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance for any answers.

[AwkwardPotato]

Check on the VDP's thermal paste. The old paste is likely dried out and the VDP is more likely to fail if it starts overheating.

 

Recapping isn't a bad idea -- it may not be entirely necessary for the motherboard, but there have been a couple more reports lately of flakey/marginal power supplies.

 

Also, take out the TI's cartridge slot. The end of it that cartridges plug into has a plastic cover with felt lining: take that cover off, throw it away, and then clean the contacts on the cartridge slot. The felt lining gets full of oil and dirt and causes bad contact between the cartridge and the slot, causing the symptoms you describe.

[+arcadeshopper]

- clean your cartridge port it's probably the major part of the problem.  It has a felt pad in it that is likely disintegrating and causing issues, remove it 

- keep the vdp cool and the paste may need replacing after all this time.. if you haven't replaced it ever, do it.

- don't stack things over the vents on your console, if your console feels hot to the touch might want to use a fan on the air intake or outflow area .. I put a little box fan over the top of the vents behind the cart port pulling air out on my 24/7 BBS TI 

 

working on adding all this to the FAQ here: https://www.arcadeshopper.com/wp/ti-99-4a-faq-maintenance/

[Tetlee]

This is really useful information. Would you say I can do these things you mention above myself, and perhaps check the power supply? Is there a guide for such things?

 

As mentioned I am pretty clueless with tech but I am good at being careful and working with intricate objects so perhaps I can see if it's even necessary to send in for recapping as sounds like that might not be the most essential thing.

 

I did recently but a multimeter recently but I haven't used it yet and have never used one before.

 

Anyway thanks to you both.

[+arcadeshopper]

I'm adding these things to the FAQ as I have time.. in the meantime

 

http://mainbyte.com/ti99/console/console_dis.html

 

[Reciprocating Bill]

I mounted a small laptop fan directly below the internal power supply, powered by it's own 3v power source. The other bottom vents are covered - I wanted to encourage some circulation from the back vents over the logic board. It moves a significant amount of air out of the console and keeps the mug warmer at room temperature. 

 

One symptom of a marginal power supply is a modest flickering of display brightness. Typically absent at first, but increasingly evident after 30 - 60 minutes of use. In a recent instance a swap of power supplies eliminated said flickering.