Tajmaster's A4000 restoration (pr0n and everything, oh no!)

Time for a bit of Monday night hackery! :lol:

At the request of our very own Tajmaster, I'm taking some pictures of his A4000 motherboard as I work on it :)

Taj's A4000 has some poorly SIMM sockets: :(
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_kRG1wB80tiI/TT...0/CIMG0001.JPG

Only the grey Chip RAM socket has it's clips remaining and functional - stopping this Amiga from seeing its motherboard-mounted Fast RAM. But help is at hand - let's fire up the heat-ray of death, and murder some pesky SIMM sockets! :thumbsup:

SIMM sockets turn into chocolate very quickly! :lol:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_kRG1wB80tiI/TT...0/CIMG0002.JPG

...revealing a very clean and tidy PCB underneath. No battery damage here, sir! :thumbsup: I took the capacitor off to make some room as I worked on easing the socket out - they're getting done too, later on :D
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_kRG1wB80tiI/TT...0/CIMG0003.JPG

Slowly but surely, chunk by chunk, the evil SIMM sockets are removed.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_kRG1wB80tiI/TT...0/CIMG0004.JPG

'Ave a banana! :thumbsup2:
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_kRG1wB80tiI/TT...0/CIMG0005.JPG

The end result... a pile of SIMM shrapnel: (Do you want these as a souvenir, Taj? :lol:)
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_kRG1wB80tiI/TT...0/CIMG0006.JPG

And it sure does look good naked:
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_kRG1wB80tiI/TT...0/CIMG0007.JPG

Thanks to Hikey, we also have a perfect set of replacements, with metal clips - way more robust than the chocolate tat Commodore used! :lol: Cheers again for supplying them Hikey! :bowdown:
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_kRG1wB80tiI/TT...0/CIMG0008.JPG

Work continues after a cuppa! :lol: There's only 360 holes to clear of solder, hahaha :p I'll be back... :thumbsup:

Holy heck, that's some extreme repair, I guess it's nice to get the rage out early so your in a good mind-set to repair.

Taj is in good hands, even if the state of the old SIMM's may look worrying. :p

It's the easiest - and only - way to get 'em out without damaging the board.

Nice work there! What temperature are you running the air at? I'm always torn between using too low a temp and not melting things properly, and using too high which scorches the board...

Great work as always d0pefish :thumbsup:

New Simm sockets look the part as well :cool:

Many thanks guys! :) It will be awesome to get this Amiga back to like new condition :)

@chiark
For this job I set my unit (Aoyue 857A++) at 390C, though I'd imagine it to be a fair bit less if measured an inch or so from the nozzle. I was using quite a large nozzle too and a medium-ish airflow. I find that (with my unit anyway) lower temperatures require more heating time - this temperature worked well as I was able to work fairly fast and not have to "hang around" too long - the sockets let go quickly and no damage was done :)

For actual components I use a much lower temperature, and a thin nozzle - these SIMM sockets just needed some persuasion :)

---------- Post added at 20:32 ---------- Previous post was at 19:42 ----------

Getting there... holes cleared on one socket and a quick cleanup:
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_kRG1wB80tiI/TT...0/CIMG0010.JPG

And a test fit - LIKE A GLOVE! :thumbsup2:
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_kRG1wB80tiI/TT...0/CIMG0011.JPG

This is a bit of a tedious procedure (clearing all the holes) but with wick and flux, a bit of music on in the background and some persevering, progress is being made :thumbsup:

Thanks. I've got an Aoyue 738, and I normally use just under 400 with a smallish nozzle, however sometimes I find I need to go hotter - to like 440...

That's incredible. I wish I had the skills and the patience to do such repairs as seen here. Sadly my hands shake worse than a drug addict who hasn't gotten a fix in a week, almost like I have a palsy of some sort. I always have. Which is funny as I very much enjoy to draw and paint, I'm just not terribly good at it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by d0pefish

And a test fit - LIKE A GLOVE! :thumbsup2:

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I always imagine Jim Carrey as Ace Ventura when people say that :lol:

Is it wrong that I am aroused by these photos? :oops:

I just want to say it (again), Dopefish is a fantastic chap and clearly VERY talented :) Hes been nothing but a gentleman in the upgrade of my A3640 and the A4000 motherboard upgrade too.

Dale, youre awesome dude :thumbsup:

[say it like Gerard Butler in 300]

THIS IS AMIBAY! :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tajmaster

Is it wrong that I am aroused by these photos? :oops:

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You don't want to get involved, you merely want to watch... Taj, the solder voyeur...