A1200 motherboards found in warehouse

I've found a repair lab that has a dozen new old stock A1200 motherboards. I've been a long time lurker but as soon as I saw those boards I thought of Amibay.

If there's interest I could pick the motherboards and proxy them to the community with no additional charge. I just want them to go in the home of passionate enthusiasts instead of taking dust in a warehouse.

I'm told they are "like new", sealed into bubble wrap.

Also since I only recently came back to the amiga world and I have a lot to catch up, I would need guidance to test them to check everything's working.

UPDATE 2015/07/09

There's surely enough interest, I'm now testing the boards and eventually proceed to buy all the boards I can.


PLESE NOTE

I would only sell through the official sales thread when one is made, let's call this an "interest check". My intention is to grab as many mainboards as I can and give them back to the community at cost, without any profit! For this reason I will disclose the paypal transactions and/or invoices with the original seller.

Why am I doing this? This is not my job, I do not buy and resell stuff. I'm just an enthusiast and I hate speculation on these kind of things. I want these boards to go to other retro-junkies like me at the fairest price. As a side note, I would expect that anyone buying this board won't ever resell it for a profit (basically resell it at the price you bought it unless you augmented it in some way). I don't know yet if each board has an unique serial number, but in case they do, I will post the list of all serial numbers.

where not allowed to say how much anything is worth here im affraid,its against site rules.
but,you could look in the completed sales for a estimate.

also take into account if they haven't been powered on for ages etc and if they have had capacitors replaced these are known to go bad if the boards haven't been power cycled for years.which will/should reflect there going rate.
so,bare that in mind:)
but,people will want them.

maybe posting random pictures of closeups might help.and/or seeing if they work.

thanks and sorry for the estimate request (removed). Like I said, I don't want to make a business out of it. I'm willing to disclose the invoice and paypal transaction so it will be clear that I'm not making a margin but I'm just offering "proxy" service (at no additional charge). But I udnerstand I'm new here so my reputation is pretty low :)

Your concern about the boards is the same I have. They've surely been stocked for years. All I know so far is that they are "new", never used replacement boards with metal plate. A couple of them have been tested and confirmed 100% working. They are V1D4 I believe.

Is there a procedure I should follow to power them up minizing the risk to fry them?

Optimally, the supply voltages should be increased very slowly. For example, the 5V rail could start at 1V for an hour, then go to 2V for another hour and so on. This would help protect and recondition the capacitors. However, if you do not have the equipment to do that, that's easier said than done.

Regarding the price, you could figure out the price per piece if you buy them all, then create a thread here where people can declare interest based on that price. Although you might want to think about how you will handle any defective boards (besides bad capacitors). Perhaps they should all be tested before you calculate the final price so you have a chance to exclude the bad ones.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by demolition

Optimally, the supply voltages should be increased very slowly. For example, the 5V rail could start at 1V for an hour, then go to 2V for another hour and so on. This would help protect and recondition the capacitors. However, if you do not have the equipment to do that, that's easier said than done.

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that would be pretty complex (and time consuming)... but not completely out of the question. If that is what it takes...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by demolition

Regarding the price, you could figure out the price per piece if you buy them all, then create a thread here where people can declare interest based on that price. Although you might want to think about how you will handle any defective boards (besides bad capacitors). Perhaps they should all be tested before you calculate the final price so you have a chance to exclude the bad ones.

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I had a very quick look at the prices, they are very low but none of them are for "new" boards. I don't think I would be able to grab those NOS at such low tiers... oh snap, I'll take a couple for myself :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Matt3o

I'm willing to disclose the invoice and paypal transaction so it will be clear that I'm not making a margin but I'm just offering "proxy" service (at no additional charge).

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All I can say is thankyou....
:thumbsup:

Just to be clear, are these fully populated boards with all components or only the PCB?

Since we're discussing bad caps, I'm sure they are fully populated. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timmie

Just to be clear, are these fully populated boards with all components or only the PCB?

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fully populated motherboards with all original components and full metal armor. I belive v1D4 (not sure yet)

Surely there is someone on Amibay with kit to assist Matt3o with gentle power-up testing for such a golden find?

Although I do re-cap my kit I've not had to do a 1D4 board yet - I'm not as experienced as many here but I suspect the vast majority of these boards will work, and I for one would pay a fair price for NOS over used PCBs.

This seems like too good an opportunity to waste! :D

If these are the same ones I have seen they are fairly well priced, I would assume if you were to buy multiples you would be able to get a discount. The boards are fully populated and look mint, the metal shields are not tarnished, probably the brightest I have seen. The one motherboard that's been opened (a version v1d4) and pictured also looks immaculate, everything is very shiny (caps look fairly good but as always should probably be replaced). The boards are Escom era from the stickers, with 3.1 roms.

If you decide to buy and share this lot of A1200 motherboards, I'm interested for one board. :-)
Thanks a lot!

Just registering my interest too. Would be interesting to find out whqt revision the boards are.

I'll post pictures as soon as I get some samples, hopefully next week. I then need to find a way to test them throroufully (any suggestion welcome).

I can assist funding this venture if need be.

I'd definitely be interested in one!

These mainboards have been never used. What is sure is that we'll need to change the capacitors.
They have sleep for some long years, so, I think that it's perhaps not a good idea to power up the boards before to change the capacitors.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by iRetrOVolver

I can assist funding this venture if need be.

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The guy says he has a lot of them, so your help would be really appreciated!

Maybe some users could team up and sell them as refurbished boards? I'd be keen for a new ish A1200 board to replace mine which has seen better days!

@ Matt3o

Thanks for making this offer to the community. As you can imagine, things like this get people quite excited and I just would like to share a few thoughts.

1. Until one of these boards have been verified as working, technically there's nothing on offer, unless you are offering them as is with no guarantees that they are working.

2. As a result if point 1, technically there's nothing for members to declare interest in at present and you are leaving yourself open to offers via PM that are against the site rules. We also don't allow members to 'claim stake' in this way until there is a definite item on offer and you will need to manage which members are in the queue.

Hopefully a member with repair skills in Italy will come forward to assist, otherwise you may need to send a board overseas for checking.

Indeed a group buy, sales thread thread or similar would need to setup before anyone can buy.

A group buy sounds like a plan, especially if he has a lot of them?

+1 for the group buy, or securing the stock with single member funding.

Personally I think it'd be good to see this venture divided into obtaining/testing the boards, and *then* offering them up in the usual Amibay manner :) There's clearly plenty of interest to warrant an investment! ;)

Whether refurbished, sold as seen or in tested working/faulty condition, I'm sure these units will be well received :D

How can we best help Matt3o?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Merlin

@ Matt3o

Thanks for making this offer to the community. As you can imagine, things like this get people quite excited and I just would like to share a few thoughts.

1. Until one of these boards have been verified as working, technically there's nothing on offer, unless you are offering them as is with no guarantees that they are working.

2. As a result if point 1, technically there's nothing for members to declare interest in at present and you are leaving yourself open to offers via PM that are against the site rules. We also don't allow members to 'claim stake' in this way until there is a definite item on offer and you will need to manage which members are in the queue.

Hopefully a member with repair skills in Italy will come forward to assist, otherwise you may need to send a board overseas for checking.

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Let me stress on this, I'm not taking pre-orders. I have not received any PM and I'm not taking note of who is interested. I just wanted to know if there's interest in such a thing, I'm new to the party and I don't know maybe A1200 motherboards were not a big deal for you guys :)

I've been offered to buy 10 boards right away (but more are available), but I have not accepted. I have instead bought 2, to check that what we've got is genuine. This is the transaction, not very desciptive since it's just for samples with the option of buying more, but anyway... it's €147 for two boards including tracked shipping.

Anyway until I don't get the samples and test them we can't really talk about money, group buys or anything.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by retrodave

+1 for the group buy, or securing the stock with single member funding.

Personally I think it'd be good to see this venture divided into obtaining/testing the boards, and *then* offering them up in the usual Amibay manner :) There's clearly plenty of interest to warrant an investment! ;)

Whether refurbished, sold as seen or in tested working/faulty condition, I'm sure these units will be well received :D

How can we best help Matt3o?

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In the time I'm receiving the samples the guy will surely sell some of his stock, so securing the lot would be nice but I don't think it is wise to do that before I actually tested the samples. If everything goes well we have various options. The first and simplest for me would be to sell them "as is", with a rough testing on my side just to see if they turn on, but nothing more. Another option would be to send them to someone who can actually test every aspect of them. Or I don't know, I'm open to discussion.

I can personally buy a dozen boards, more than that I would probably need your help (group buy? another volunteer?). I understand that it's hard to trust a 0-posts member, so I'm trying to do things right.

I have diagnostic roms, I'm willing to test a board if you can get me one, that way I can tell if it is really working.

I'm new here but I'm very active on the mechanical keyboard community (organizing group buys, releasing open source code, etc). I noticed that some users there are also here so I'm pretty sure they can vouch for me :) (if that makes any difference)

Hello

There will be a huge interests , depending on cost and condition but all i can suggest is you look at the sold area and take a look at the prices they go for but an untested board should be sold as such.

A group buy could be organised I'm sure but also if you can acquire these for a low enough price you could sell them back to the community here with ease.

If you have any questions , drop me a PM.

mike.

i've had to moderate a couple of posts.

please NO PRICE comments, you cannot decide how much something is worth here on Amibay, watch the price driving comments please.

I'm sorry I now realize I've been over enthusiastic and maybe I should have simply bought the boards and sold them as is in the classified... or maybe just bought a couple for me.

Please forgive my candor in the way I handled this thing, I honestly thought I was going to do a pleasant surprise to the community (again: I'm not willing to make a margin on the boards, I've already disclosed how much I paid for the first two samples).

I will post pictures and test results on the boards I'll receive next week, if everything goes well I'll think about the next move. Probably I will be asking suggestions to mjnurney.

@Matt3o,, not aimed at you,, i moderated your last post because you had quoted the member who was price commenting / driving.

just want to stress on the fact that the boards are sold as working.

It's amazing what still crops up all these years later. Offering them pretty much at cost to the community is a great gesture Matt3o.

Well said DojoDan! :D Let's not lose sight of the fine opportunity Matt3o has offered, and the positive way he's handling it throughout. This is what the Amiga community is all about - great hardware and great people :)

I'm interested in 1 or 2 boards which I'll send directly to a friend in Germany who does great ceramic recaps! :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Interested in 1 or 2 too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tuxbar81

These mainboards have been never used. What is sure is that we'll need to change the capacitors.
They have sleep for some long years, so, I think that it's perhaps not a good idea to power up the boards before to change the capacitors.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rakeim132

I'm interested in 1 or 2 boards which I'll send directly to a friend in Germany who does great ceramic recaps! :)

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In my experience this is not necessary. I've bought 2 NOS A1200 motherboards about 3 years ago. One is in storage, while the other is used every day, and the latter runs very stable. There's no signs of leaky capacitators.
If you buy "new" capacitators and exchange them with your old ones on the motherboard, the chance is that those "new" capacitators also were stored away for about 15 ~ 20 years, and are in fact NOS. So, I see no problem here.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MC680X0

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tuxbar81

These mainboards have been never used. What is sure is that we'll need to change the capacitors.
They have sleep for some long years, so, I think that it's perhaps not a good idea to power up the boards before to change the capacitors.

---

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rakeim132

I'm interested in 1 or 2 boards which I'll send directly to a friend in Germany who does great ceramic recaps! :)

---

In my experience this is not necessary. I've bought 2 NOS A1200 motherboards about 3 years ago. One is in storage, while the other is used every day, and the latter runs very stable. There's no signs of leaky capacitators.
If you buy "new" capacitators and exchange them with your old ones on the motherboard, the chance is that those "new" capacitators also were stored away for about 15 ~ 20 years, and are in fact NOS. So, I see no problem here.

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wrong,new capacitors are new not new old stock kept in storage for 15-20 years,lol
whatever made you think that?...utter nonsense.

it all depends on lots of factors,like: where they were kept for 10-20 years and what sort of ambient temperatures they were in...most people have them in a loft that has massive temperature differences over a year...like very cold to very hot,that will easily damage an electrolyte cap.
you can have the same result from being kept on a storage unit...unless it was monitored of course with a record of storage like other components.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MC680X0

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tuxbar81

These mainboards have been never used. What is sure is that we'll need to change the capacitors.
They have sleep for some long years, so, I think that it's perhaps not a good idea to power up the boards before to change the capacitors.

---

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rakeim132

I'm interested in 1 or 2 boards which I'll send directly to a friend in Germany who does great ceramic recaps! :)

---

In my experience this is not necessary. I've bought 2 NOS A1200 motherboards about 3 years ago. One is in storage, while the other is used every day, and the latter runs very stable. There's no signs of leaky capacitators.
If you buy "new" capacitators and exchange them with your old ones on the motherboard, the chance is that those "new" capacitators also were stored away for about 15 ~ 20 years, and are in fact NOS. So, I see no problem here.

---

If you buy smd electrolytic capacitors from serious sellers like Conrad or Farnell, you'll have real new capacitors. These kind of composants are always under production.
Else, the best way is to replace the original capacitors with ceramic ones. They are not polarized, but they work perfectly. The capacitors of my A4000D are all in ceramic version, and this computer works without any problem. Like that, no more leakage! This is a very common way of proceeding in the German Amiga scene.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by roy_bates

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MC680X0

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tuxbar81

These mainboards have been never used. What is sure is that we'll need to change the capacitors.
They have sleep for some long years, so, I think that it's perhaps not a good idea to power up the boards before to change the capacitors.

---

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rakeim132

I'm interested in 1 or 2 boards which I'll send directly to a friend in Germany who does great ceramic recaps! :)

---

In my experience this is not necessary. I've bought 2 NOS A1200 motherboards about 3 years ago. One is in storage, while the other is used every day, and the latter runs very stable. There's no signs of leaky capacitators.
If you buy "new" capacitators and exchange them with your old ones on the motherboard, the chance is that those "new" capacitators also were stored away for about 15 ~ 20 years, and are in fact NOS. So, I see no problem here.

---

wrong,new capacitors are new not new old stock kept in storage for 15-20 years,lol
whatever made you think that?...utter nonsense.

it all depends on lots of factors,like: where they were kept for 10-20 years and what sort of ambient temperatures they were in...most people have them in a loft that has massive temperature differences over a year...like very cold to very hot,that will easily damage an electrolyte cap.
you can have the same result from being kept on a storage unit...unless it was monitored of course with a record of storage like other components.

---

I said that there is a "chance" that you buy and get 15 ~ 20 year old capacitators. Of course this isn't always the case.
About in what sort of ambient temperatures they were kept in, that's true. It al depents on how hot/cold they were stored in the last 20 years or so. My NOS A1200 mobo's were al those time stored in the right ambient. Heck, I even own an A1200 that I bought new back in 1993, and I never replaced the capacitators and it still runs without any problems.

- - - Updated - - -

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tuxbar81

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MC680X0

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tuxbar81

These mainboards have been never used. What is sure is that we'll need to change the capacitors.
They have sleep for some long years, so, I think that it's perhaps not a good idea to power up the boards before to change the capacitors.

---

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rakeim132

I'm interested in 1 or 2 boards which I'll send directly to a friend in Germany who does great ceramic recaps! :)

---

In my experience this is not necessary. I've bought 2 NOS A1200 motherboards about 3 years ago. One is in storage, while the other is used every day, and the latter runs very stable. There's no signs of leaky capacitators.
If you buy "new" capacitators and exchange them with your old ones on the motherboard, the chance is that those "new" capacitators also were stored away for about 15 ~ 20 years, and are in fact NOS. So, I see no problem here.

---

If you buy smd electrolytic capacitors from serious sellers like Conrad or Farnell, you'll have real new capacitors. These kind of composants are always under production.
Else, the best way is to replace the original capacitors with ceramic ones. They are not polarized, but they work perfectly. The capacitors of my A4000D are all in ceramic version, and this computer works without any problem. Like that, no more leakage! This is a very common way of proceeding in the German Amiga scene.

---

I agree that ceramic capacitors are the better ones.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MC680X0

Quote:

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Originally Posted by roy_bates

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MC680X0

In my experience this is not necessary. I've bought 2 NOS A1200 motherboards about 3 years ago. One is in storage, while the other is used every day, and the latter runs very stable. There's no signs of leaky capacitators.
If you buy "new" capacitators and exchange them with your old ones on the motherboard, the chance is that those "new" capacitators also were stored away for about 15 ~ 20 years, and are in fact NOS. So, I see no problem here.

---

wrong,new capacitors are new not new old stock kept in storage for 15-20 years,lol
whatever made you think that?...utter nonsense.

it all depends on lots of factors,like: where they were kept for 10-20 years and what sort of ambient temperatures they were in...most people have them in a loft that has massive temperature differences over a year...like very cold to very hot,that will easily damage an electrolyte cap.
you can have the same result from being kept on a storage unit...unless it was monitored of course with a record of storage like other components.

---

I said that there is a "chance" that you buy and get 15 ~ 20 year old capacitators. Of course this isn't always the case.
About in what sort of ambient temperatures they were in, that's true. It al depents on how hot/cold they were stored in the last 20 years or so. My NOS A1200 mobo's were al those time stored in the right ambient. Heck, I even own an A1200 that I bought new back in 1993, and I never replaced the capacitators and it still runs without any problems.

- - - Updated - - -

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tuxbar81

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MC680X0

In my experience this is not necessary. I've bought 2 NOS A1200 motherboards about 3 years ago. One is in storage, while the other is used every day, and the latter runs very stable. There's no signs of leaky capacitators.
If you buy "new" capacitators and exchange them with your old ones on the motherboard, the chance is that those "new" capacitators also were stored away for about 15 ~ 20 years, and are in fact NOS. So, I see no problem here.

---

If you buy smd electrolytic capacitors from serious sellers like Conrad or Farnell, you'll have real new capacitors. These kind of composants are always under production.
Else, the best way is to replace the original capacitors with ceramic ones. They are not polarized, but they work perfectly. The capacitors of my A4000D are all in ceramic version, and this computer works without any problem. Like that, no more leakage! This is a very common way of proceeding in the German Amiga scene.

---

I agree that ceramic capacitors are the better ones.

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sorry,a chance of what? being new when buying new ones?? at what percentage? 0.0001% chance of getting old ones? lol

come on..lets be real.

+1 This sounds interesting indeed!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by roy_bates

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MC680X0

Quote:

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Originally Posted by roy_bates

wrong,new capacitors are new not new old stock kept in storage for 15-20 years,lol
whatever made you think that?...utter nonsense.

it all depends on lots of factors,like: where they were kept for 10-20 years and what sort of ambient temperatures they were in...most people have them in a loft that has massive temperature differences over a year...like very cold to very hot,that will easily damage an electrolyte cap.
you can have the same result from being kept on a storage unit...unless it was monitored of course with a record of storage like other components.

---

I said that there is a "chance" that you buy and get 15 ~ 20 year old capacitators. Of course this isn't always the case.
About in what sort of ambient temperatures they were in, that's true. It al depents on how hot/cold they were stored in the last 20 years or so. My NOS A1200 mobo's were al those time stored in the right ambient. Heck, I even own an A1200 that I bought new back in 1993, and I never replaced the capacitators and it still runs without any problems.

- - - Updated - - -

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tuxbar81

If you buy smd electrolytic capacitors from serious sellers like Conrad or Farnell, you'll have real new capacitors. These kind of composants are always under production.
Else, the best way is to replace the original capacitors with ceramic ones. They are not polarized, but they work perfectly. The capacitors of my A4000D are all in ceramic version, and this computer works without any problem. Like that, no more leakage! This is a very common way of proceeding in the German Amiga scene.

---

I agree that ceramic capacitors are the better ones.

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sorry,a chance of what? being new when buying new ones?? at what percentage? 0.0001% chance of getting old ones? lol

come on..lets be real.

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There are vendors selling stuff that's being kept in storage for many years, you know. Don't be so naive...

sorry... what is that you are arguing about?

There's nothing to arguing about. It's just that it could well be that these NOS A1200 motherboards are just working 100% without the need of having the caps replaced, that's all. Nice find! :)

This is not only a leakage problem.
For example, a NOS PSU for AMIGA 1000 is new because never used. These capacitors are new, and yet the output voltages can be bad because far below the norm.
Capacitors, even unused, degrade over time. Specially electrolytic capacitors. To prevent any problems, it is best to change them. Prevention is better than cure!:)
Personally, I change the capacitors of my Amiga. If MC680x0 think it's better to keep the original capacitors, it's his choice. Everyone does as he pleases with his material.

For these boards, they are NOS, they seem to be 100% working, OK, perfect. Future buyers will make as they want. :)

It sounds like there is enough interest to buy all 12 boards...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MC680X0

There's nothing to arguing about. It's just that it could well be that these NOS A1200 motherboards are just working 100% without the need of having the caps replaced, that's all. Nice find! :)

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oh okay. my motto is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" :) but what do I know?!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stoobs

It sounds like there is enough interest to buy all 12 boards...

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so it seems. I'm just waiting for the samples, I hope the guy won't sell too much of them in the meantime

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stoobs

It sounds like there is enough interest to buy all 12 boards...

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Why? There is a For Sale thread opened?
If it's with the interested posts here, mine is available since I have just bought one board from the original seller just now... and I'll change the capacitors...

Anyway, Matt3o, it's really nice of you for wanting to share these very nice boards. (They are really in a great condition) :thumbsup:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tuxbar81

Why? There is a For Sale thread opened?
If it's with the interested posts here, mine is available since I have just bought one board from the original seller just now... and I'll change the capacitors...

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Yes, in this thread alone there appears to be enough interest that a possible group-buy would work.

I'm not sure why you seem to be offering me yours - do you not want to keep it? :blink:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stoobs

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tuxbar81

Why? There is a For Sale thread opened?
If it's with the interested posts here, mine is available since I have just bought one board from the original seller just now... and I'll change the capacitors...

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Yes, in this thread alone there appears to be enough interest that a possible group-buy would work.

I'm not sure why you seem to be offering me yours - do you not want to keep it? :blink:

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Yes, I let mine since I have bought one of these boards directly from the original seller outside of Amibay.
In fact, he has begun to sell some motherboards, and if you want to launch a group buy, I think that you have to react really quickly.

It's very kind of Matt3o of organizing this group buy. But, I wanted a motherboard which wasn't tested. A real new, never powered. Even if I'll change the capacitors!