Belkin 'Y' adapter blew out 2 4000's

[amesie2]

Hey guys,

I agree, never thought I would have to check someone elses work since there has been a standard in place for years and certainly if I buy something in the package from a well known company.

I do have an attorney that I do PC work for that will probably give me some advice on what action I can take. I know that the cost of the dammages isn't cheap due to the somewhat rarity and price for certain Amiga items.

[Hyperspeed]

Another potential problem I've heard of is when people are making home-brew parallel port network cables.

The 2.5" IDE header on the A1200 motherboard isn't perfect either (it's hard to spot the '0' number printed on the motherboard and the header can be put on back to front).

[Ral-Clan]

Ouch.  Your story makes me very sad.  It's especially cringeworthy to hear of the loss of two good A4000 system in one go!  You did nothing wrong - it's something I couldn certainly have fell victim to.  I would definitely try getting these boards repaired if at all possible, especially if it's going to be covered by Belkin.  All original Amigas are now a finite resource and should never be tossed until there is no last resort.

Even if you can't fix them, keep them for parts, or sell them on Ebay as damaged.  There is always SOMEONE out there who needs some obscure Amiga part you never thought was significant to restore a working Amiga.

[amesie2]

@ral-clan

True Amiga motherboards are becoming harder and harder to get especially ones that work and without batt. damage.
I plan on keeping the boards I have and use them for parts or maybe send them off for repair if they can be.

[Ral-Clan]

I wonder if there is enough surviving from both boards to combine the parts and at least get one working A4000.  The fellow in France will know....thank goodness we have people like that still around.  I hope he's young and will be in business many more years!

[Tomas]

@amesie2
It certainly does not hurt to contact the amiga repair center and explain to them exactly the situation and find out wether it is worth it. It would be such a shame to not have it repaired considering how rare these systems are getting.
I myself would repair it even if it would cost a tad more than the mobo.

[amesie2]

@tomas

I did contact ARP and he wasn't sure without having the boards in hand what could be done.

I will probably be sending him the boards to see if they are repairable, he did say that diagnostic is free and that I just had to pay shipping. This sounds very reasonable to me.

[Framiga]

and then (if fixable), ask to Belkin for a refund for the repair service. (ask JJ for a proforma invoice also)

[orange]

ebay

[Doobrey]

Hyperspeed wrote:
Whilst I can sort of understand that 12V might fry circuits intended for 5V I could never work out why static would do so.

Cos static can easily be in the order of 1000's of volts. If you build up enough to create a spark, then you're talking around 10,000+

Also, what was +12v and -12v for in relation to the serial port?

Level shifting.
The Amigas CIAs take 5v I/O, but the RS-232 standard calls for upto +/- 15v.

[X-ray]

Makes me feel lucky...I bought a CF to IDE convertor and just plugged it into my A4000T. I didn't even think about it, just made sure I matched pin 1 with connector 1.
Okay, I had bad luck with a fool who blew one of CIA chips with a Parnet cable, but the amount of PC / generic stuff I have plugged in, this A4000T has been fine. I'm going to be much more careful from now on.

[amesie2]

I did find a 4000D on Ebay to hopefully get mine going again. I just hope my CSMKIII survived the ordeal unlike my dad's accel. which blew one of the PLCC chips on the board. I did find some replacement chips for his but I beleive they are programable chips which might not do me any good.

The markings on the chip are MACH130-15JC-18JI anyone have any clues on this the accel board is an Apollo 3040?

[bloodline]

amesie2 wrote:
I did find a 4000D on Ebay to hopefully get mine going again. I just hope my CSMKIII survived the ordeal unlike my dad's accel. which blew one of the PLCC chips on the board. I did find some replacement chips for his but I beleive they are programable chips which might not do me any good.

The markings on the chip are MACH130-15JC-18JI anyone have any clues on this the accel board is an Apollo 3040?

Even if you did get a new chip, you'd need to program it... which only Apollo can/could do...

[amesie2]

I just tried my CSMKIII in another 4000T and it worked great, I guess the voltage didn't blow the board just the motherboard.

This is awsome!!!!!

[TjLaZer]

Thats great news!  Glad the card is ok.  Thanks for the heads up on your ordeal.  Makes you want to double check everything before you plug it in.

[pauldl63]

Hello,here is something that might be of interest
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Commodore-Amiga-4000-A4000-computer-motherboard_W0QQitemZ120091184836QQihZ002QQcategoryZ4598QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 as this is my first post,cheers to everybody--paul