Commodore 64 repair?

[GrandviewCoin]

I have 3 complete boxed systems, but none of them work!

 

Is it even worth getting these units fixed or should I just go the Ebay route? I have a ton of original software to play..

 

it's funny, all my A8 hardware works like a charm, any C64 stuff is always giving me grief.. I also have 2 floppy drives that just issue read errors!

 

Daniel

[98PaceCar]

Depends on what's wrong with them. Boxed systems go for about $10 or so a pop and the most common issue with the systems (one of the 2 CIA chips) are about $8 a pop to replace. If it's memory related, it's a bit cheaper to fix.

 

What are the systems doing?

[GrandviewCoin]

2 of them just give me a black screen, and one comes up with a garbled memory error..

 

Also I've read that power supplies can be the culprit with some of the ram errors..

 

Daniel

[98PaceCar]

It's possible it's the power supply, but the 2 completely dead ones I'd suspect a bad memory chip. If you open it up and turn it on, feel for a ram chip that's hotter than the others. Not scientific by any means, but I have been able to fix them in the past by doing this. I'd also verify the input voltages at the power supply connector on the motherboard. I've also heard of people piggybacking ram chips on the existing ones to see if this is the problem, but I always just shotgun them with sockets and new ram.

 

The one with the garbled memory error could be the CIA, but I'm not 100% certain on that one.

 

There's a good C64 diagnostician (I believe that's what it's called) on the net. The exact site escapes me right now, but do a google for that and see if it turns up. If not, let me know and I'll see if I still have it.

[raycomp]

If you decide to get repairs done there is at least one place that Atarisales.com mentions --- Raymond Commodore Amiga.

 

http://www.raycomp.com

[Flack]

If it were me, I'd just replace them. I run across working 64s all the time, so many that it wouldn't be worth the time, effort or money to fix one (unless you're just interested in the challenge). I picked up a NIB C64C not too long ago for $20.

[GrandviewCoin]

See, thats what I feel..

 

Anybody got a working C64?

 

Daniel

 

For sale??

[Max-T]

Have you thought about pulling and selling the SID chips from your dead C64s? The SIDs are in pretty high demand from people (like me) that are into vintage synthesizers.

 

Have a look at this: http://www.hardsid.com/

This web site sells WinXP-compatible sound cards based on the SID chip, but they can not even sell their own cards with a full complement of SID chips. Because SIDs that are still operational on all three channels are hard to come by.

 

I have also seen a product called "SIDStation" (which is a standalone synthesizer based on the SID chip) sell on eBay for like $800.

 

If you have C64s which don't work due to video or CPU problems, make sure you don't throw them away before you check the SIDs. They could be worth a lot of money.

[CSIXTY4]

If you don't mind a car ride down to Chicago, the members of SWRAP would be happy to repair your machines or sell you some of their extra equipment at a reasonable price.

 

Our Christmas party is next week, but we resume regular meetings in January.[/url]