JuvUK's A600 repair =)

Zetr0

Ya' Like it Retr0?
Joined
Nov 22, 2007
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Hello there my fellow AmiBayers

amongst the tons of stuff I am getting through this emergency repair came-a-calling - so got my good chummy Juvvie Heres whats going on =)

The A600 motherboard was set to one side and I used a spare that had its RF unit removed (basically rotted so worthless) and the board was cleaned via a dishwasher =D

so, whats to do.

well the 8MB A600 upgrade required repair as the socket had fractured and then snapped, this is a common fault with this adapter when repeatedly attached and removed.

So removed the socket and replaced with another..... and would you believe that is snapped/fractured on the first fit to the CPU.... yeah ... there was some very choice words I can say...

So late last night... in the wee small hours.... I took it upoin myself to make sure that this didn't happen again.. and by joe - I dont think I cracked it!!!

So let me show you what I came up with -

(click for mega-zoom)


Ahh see... I used metal pin headers bent at 90degrees to offer structural support for the corners..... and they say I am just a pretty face...... (those that haven't seen me obviously)


So is that all thats different.... well no.... unfortunately the stress of reworking and the snapping of the socket had taken its toll on one of the PLCC legs - as such this too the pad with it... thus - nothing to solder too...

or was there?

(click for mega-zoom)


As it seems I get to show off some soldery skills too =)

(click for mega-zoom)


it wasn't that hard... using my new eco-wave low temp liquid flux totaly brezzed it and made me look great... (thanks eco flux)

Heres a shot of the supporting angle brackets =)

(click for mega-zoom)


When I manufacture the new A608 I will be using a similar method but it will use a full band round the adapter to ensure structural rigidity.

So, did all this pay off ? does it work ?

(click for mega-zoom)


Well it fires up okay ;)

(click for mega-zoom)


*hehe* okay sorry I shall put you out of suspense

(click for mega-zoom)


Yep it sure does!!!!!


So welcome back Juvies A600 1MB Chip and 8MB Fast -

Next up is to add another 1MB of CHIP =D
 
Very nice work , what adhesive did you use to bond the pins to the socket?
 
Thanks for the kind words guys - I just love every option to share hardware-pr0n =)

@TheoryBoy

I used SuperBond Gel, which is like a super super super super super glue, I gentley roughed up the bonding area of the socket and then used two dabs either side and worked my round the corners.

Once I had worked my way round to the first corner piece I just dabbed a little more on each of the corners to seal it all together.
 
Good repair Keith, but looking at those Macro shots, I would have thought that kind of socket should sit right down on the PCB. As it is now, it's like the legs are all sat on solder blob risers from the pad, making the whole assembly prone to damage. Just how I see it as an Engineer. ;)

Great repair work though, especially the corner reinforcement. (y)

Charlie
 
yay! so now i have a working C64, A500 and an A600 :)

sweet, thanks dude(y)

---------- Post added at 22:48 ---------- Previous post was at 22:47 ----------

Good repair Keith, but looking at those Macro shots, I would have thought that kind of socket should sit right down on the PCB. As it is now, it's like the legs are all sat on solder blob risers from the pad, making the whole assembly prone to damage. Just how I see it as an Engineer. ;)

Great repair work though, especially the corner reinforcement. (y)

Charlie

that is how they come though dude:Doh:
 
Did you ever get that heatsink btw?

I'd say that socket is raised so it can get a better seat on the cpu. Just how I see it as a theoryboy.:LOL:
 
Good repair Keith, but looking at those Macro shots, I would have thought that kind of socket should sit right down on the PCB. As it is now, it's like the legs are all sat on solder blob risers from the pad, making the whole assembly prone to damage. Just how I see it as an Engineer. ;)

Great repair work though, especially the corner reinforcement. (y)

Charlie


Normaly it should sit down on the PCB. But when you make it that way, the RAM expansion will not fit ;). You have to increase the expansion a little bit, otherwise it will collide with some components on the mainboard :(...


@Zetr0:

Very nice repair (y)

I wish i could solder like this :roll:
 
The fluxmaster strikes again! Good work Z and glad to see Juvvy with a full compliment of working Commodores :)
 
@ Zetr0

Nice work!!

For future production, how about supporting the corners of the socket with dabs of hot melt glue, to give extra strength, whilst still being fairly quick to do as part of a production run?

Two-pack epoxy could be another way to go, but that might be a bit too permanent and wouldn't allow for servicing or repairs, whereas hot glue can be warmed up and removed.

Just a thought.
 
Zetr0,

You wouldn't want to push the board down too hard with a design like that!

Nice pics.

Are you suggesting that Mr Juv's 600 is likely to have a little bit of piggybacking?
 
Normaly it should sit down on the PCB. But when you make it that way, the RAM expansion will not fit ;). You have to increase the expansion a little bit, otherwise it will collide with some components on the mainboard :(... <snip>

Thanks for explaining & can appreciate how it became broken in the first place.

Kin
 
@ Zetr0

Nice work!!

For future production, how about supporting the corners of the socket with dabs of hot melt glue, to give extra strength, whilst still being fairly quick to do as part of a production run?

Two-pack epoxy could be another way to go, but that might be a bit too permanent and wouldn't allow for servicing or repairs, whereas hot glue can be warmed up and removed.

Just a thought.

Thanks David,

The problem is here that you are damned if you do and you are damned if you dont. Unfortunately the original design doens't allow for any heat disipation, this this small gap is a life-line when the system has been running an hour or two.

I had hope to modify the connector using a novel stand-off idea, alas I dont have the correct pitch of pins that I need - I have ordered some from farnell, so the next adapter I will test on one the A608 boards I have here.

My hope is this will improve quite a bit on both designs offering both strong rigidity as well next to imposible to fracture. but I need to do some testing - infact it was Multivac from EAB that put the idea in my head (but I dont think he knows it.)

Zetr0,

You wouldn't want to push the board down too hard with a design like that!

Infact with the brackets its surprisingly strong... I am able to both push the adapter down and picup the motherboard from the Mk1 A608 - so its certainly tight on the chip. I wouldn't want to twist it though as I am pretty sure that would be both the end of the PLCC socket and probably the Adapter too.


Nice pics.

Are you suggesting that Mr Juv's 600 is likely to have a little bit of piggybacking?

Indeedy my friend (with lots of pics / how-to for AmiBay) - I cannot rave enough about this eco-wave flux at the moment, I truely am taken buy it.. I was able to run my Silver Bearing solder as low as 180c and its was like painting with solder... personally I think it would work as low as 140c pending the components size!

its awesome!

All that time painting 40K Space Marines (and my Undead Space Marine Army) finally paid of... HAH! that will teach those that said War-Gaming and AD&D is for loosers...... now where are my D10's for a Crit Chart Roll!

=D
 
Such awesome work... How does one become so skilled?
 
Such awesome work... How does one become so skilled?

Practice, we ain't had nothin' but time... lots and lots of practice...

Eyes like the proverbial rat and nerves of steel help quite a bit as well...

@ Zetr0

From what you said, I've now got weird ideas involving pogo pins for that stand-off adapter you mention above going through my head; stop it, I'm thinking of all sorts of Frankenhack ways to solve the problem...... :mrgreen:
 
I had the pleasure of watching the master in action last weekend and I must say he (Zetr0 :p) is a true master of the art.
 
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