A600 heat damage my keyboard ribbon!

Hello.

For years, my A600 has had keyboard problems, with some keys not functionning, until i swap for another keyboard and so on.

I have always believed that it was due to some sort of oxydation on the extremity of the ribbon, though i have never been able to solve the problem by cleaning the contacts with alcohol.

Today, as i am working on my A600 with its new A604, i have noticed that the ribbon of this keyboard (UK keyboard as i can't find a new french keyboard now) can split in two parts because of the heat of the Apollo 630 underneath. When it does, keys from the second letter line do not work anymore. If i reconnect the two parts, the keys are ok then.

Indeed this accelerator is heating so much i can't touch the copper heatsinks i have glued on it. The worst parts are the 68882 FPU and the socketed chip on the lower right. It is only 40 MHz though.

This is a big problem, as i can't keep reopening the computer everyday to fixe the ribbon.

Any idea about what to to?

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg855...jpg&res=medium

I used to have the 630 and it got extremely hot until one day it just died.

You need to install some active cooling on it, a fan slightly larger than the 030 chip would be great as it would blow air on the surrounding comonents too.

@Xanxi


The heatsinks getting hot means that they are doing their job well, as Amigafanboi has stated - its time to get some active cooling in there.

There are many methods and ways to do this, from a simple intake or exhaust setup - to full-on ductung ;)

I believe all it would take would be to add an intake that forces air over the CPU module. A600's are notorious for dead-space in terms of airflow (like the A3000 in a way) - so try that and see how you fair - from here you can get more elaborate as the system requires

Good luck and please take pictures.

A little fan mounted on the top grille will make a real difference, alot of people used to do that before the ACA's where about. Also one thing I would look out for is trying to look for a bigger heatsink that will cover the whole area of the 030 rather then barely 1/3rd which is what it looks like ATM. Maybe find the same for the PLCC FPU.

I used to have a small fan screwed on the upper case vents with tape to close the remaining vents and increase the air flow, pretty much like the guy at the Extreme A600, but it was so noisy that i eventually removed everything when i moved from a laptop hard drive to a CF.
This is non sense to use a CF to have a silent computer and have a fan noisy as hell.
How comes no fan is required for the ACA 630? Could it be possible to use one big heatsink to cover the Apollo as for the ACA?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Xanxi

How comes no fan is required for the ACA 630? Could it be possible to use one big heatsink to cover the Apollo as for the ACA?

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Technology in heatsinks I guess, You should be able to find a fairly silent modern fan for the case i'm sure... Failing that just shove the smallest standardized fan designed for gaming rigs. Many of them are pretty thin and should hopefully fit ok.

Hi Mate,

The Heatsinks you have are not big enough, mainly on the 030.

If you put a chipset style cooler (heatsink with fan) on the 030 you should be fine, you probably wont need any cooling on the other parts as it is the heat conducting from the 030 is probably causing the other chips to also overheat.

My Apollo620 was similar when I removed the Fan off the 020, but always fine with just cooling on the 020.

If you want to be really sure you can put slim heatsinks on the other chips but use ones that cover the full surface of the chip not these little ones, as OI say the biggest issue here is the 030 which is grosley undercooled.

Lastly, perhaps you might be intersted in swapping your Apollo for my spare ACA630?

All the best,

Steve.

Yes i need to find a proper chipset heatsink and maybe a suitable silent fan as well.
Problem is all the chipset heatsinks i can find nowaydays are large and tall. They suit well a 040 or 060 but are too big for a 68030. Would you have a reference in mind?

@steve:
Swap, it might be a good idea, though i like my old Apollo (it gives 7250 dhrystones @40 MHz and still outperform any ACA). However, i am unsure if it is removable without harm from this A600. I got it all in one piece in 2005 and i suspect it may have been glued on the 68000 because it seems to hold in place very firmly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Xanxi

Yes i need to find a proper chipset heatsink and maybe a suitable silent fan as well.
Problem is all the chipset heatsinks i can find nowaydays are large and tall. They suit well a 040 or 060 but are too big for a 68030. Would you have a reference in mind?

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I'll try to find a link for the one I used on my BVision, it would be perfect, although fan was a little loud.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Xanxi

@steve:
Swap, it might be a good idea, though i like my old Apollo (it gives 7250 dhrystones @40 MHz and still outperform any ACA). However, i am unsure if it is removable without harm from this A600. I got it all in one piece in 2005 and i suspect it may have been glued on the 68000 because it seems to hold in place very firmly.

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I suggest the trade because for me the Apollo would be a collectors item for ocasional & light use, it seems you give the A600 moderate to heavy usage so a modern turbo board would be a good idea/solution for you.

I guess worst case we could send the Motherboard too! :o

About performance, don't be fooled, the ACA with ACATune is a very fast card - it wipes the floor with my old Apollo 630 (was 33mhz though) only thing lacking on ACA is the FPU...

---------- Post added at 21:58 ---------- Previous post was at 21:48 ----------

Hmm - this could work?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Xilence-Ch...item5d2d843d07

I need to buy one for my uA1 :cool:

Or - this is what I used on the BVision, nice cooler but very loud:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Pin-55mm...item1e62802731

Or maybe this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Coolin...item5ae1d31620

Just use thermal transfer pad to fix to 030:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Thermal-Ad...item1c10b97daf

Or Hot Glue where mounting pegs are (break off pegs) like this:

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_0709.jpg

(This is my old BVision)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Xanxi

Yes i need to find a proper chipset heatsink and maybe a suitable silent fan as well.
Problem is all the chipset heatsinks i can find nowaydays are large and tall. They suit well a 040 or 060 but are too big for a 68030. Would you have a reference in mind?

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My advice is to hunt about on eBay. Often there's details in MM how tall, wide, long heatsinks they sell. Failing that just ask. That's what I did one time. :)