Longevity & Maintanance of Amiga Hardware

[Sandman]

With our machines getting older, just what are the main issues in maintaining things in good working order?

I've already changed out most of the caps on my A4000 even replacing the surface-mount ones so that is one major step I guess.

Also, I just got my hands on a CS PPC and while I can't wait to play with it and ideally want to keep it,  I realize that like anything electronic it could one day go 'ppfffff!...pop!' when I turn the computer on.  That really gives me the temptation to just sell it and cash out while the going is good........ but I just LOVE my Amiga.

[alexh]

You need to ask someone like stachu100 or anyone else who repairs these boards.

The 68060 socket on these things are infeasibly fragile by design. Press too hard or remove & replace the 060 too many times and you'll need to pay €150+ to get the socket re-worked.

The SCSI on this board is amazing but incorrect active SCSI terminations can blow up the NCR SCSI chip. There are countless CSPPC or CSMKIII boards with dead SCSI chips. Great care and intelligence is required whenever changing the SCSI chain adding and removing devices. But you're mad to connect anything other than just one Ultra Wide SCSI III hard drive as it can slow down everything on the bus.

[orb85750]

My general rule with any vintage equipment is to try to have one nearly identical working backup machine at all times.  But that's not always practical or even possible.

[save2600]

Some common sense preventative maintenance should help insure our systems stay running for some time:

Keep out of direct sunlight and heat.

Using the brush attachment of a vacuum (don't just blow dust around with canned air) out your power supply, any fans, the CPU boards themselves, any peripheral cards, hard drives and the floppy disk drives.

Clean your disk drives either by hand (Q-tip and tape head cleaner) or one of those wet diskette cleaners once a year at least.

Replace the electrolytic caps on an aging power supply.

Keep your gear plugged into a nice (not cheapie) surge protector at all times.

Replace any NiCad batteries BEFORE they leak all over your mobo. Or remove them completely and using a toothbrush, vinegar and baking soda - clean the entire infected area to help prevent the acid from creeping. Replace with a lithium battery mod.

NEVER quickly turn on/off your old computer gear. Always wait at least 10 seconds before turning back on.

Always turn your monitor on first and then your computer. Turning them both on at the same time via a surge protector switch can present too much of a load and when your AC line tries to compensate, you may end up with a surge OR reduced current going to your gear. Both can wreak havoc on our old electronics.

Also not a bad idea to pull and observe the pin condition of some of these I.C.'s. If they're dirty or corrosive, lightly sand 'em with fine grit sandpaper or a fiberglass brush. The act of fully removing them and re-inserting is usually good enough to make better contact and resets the female part of the socket for continued grip.

And lastly, don't plug or unplug anything from the computer while it is on! This includes anything connected to the joy/keyboard ports  

[Franko]

In well over 20 years I've never had an Amiga that had to be repaired or had to be thrown out, the only things I've ever had any problems with or had to repair myself are monitors or floppy drives.

I must be either real careful or just a jammy git when I look at all the post's folk write about having to replace caps, batteries and the like...

[bloodline]

Simple, don't turn it on.

[actung_bab]

In well over 20 years I've never had an Amiga that had to be repaired or had to be thrown out, the only things I've ever had any problems with or had to repair myself are monitors or floppy drives.

I must be either real careful or just a jammy git when I look at all the post's folk write about having to replace caps, batteries and the like...

me neither in fact damm machine doing better than the owner   lost alot my teeth my hair falling out going grey am having to shave once day so dont turn into wareworlf
hehe what got look forward the day when hold on sweety am got get my floppy fixed wont just mean am working on m computer agggggg..my idea night be watching coro and drinkng choclate oh hang on moe l do that know ..

[murple]

Actually, not turning it on can be damaging to components like capacitors and batteries. You should power up the system every now and then if possible.

[bloodline]

Actually, not turning it on can be damaging to components like capacitors and batteries. You should power up the system every now and then if possible.

Bah! Now I have to go and find a power supply

[Tenacious]

With our machines getting older, just what are the main issues in maintaining things in good working order?
....... but I just LOVE my Amiga.

Commodore farmed out the manufacture of the keyboards to a number of different companies.  Some last longer than others.  Having a spare might be a good idea.  I personally love the Amiga's keyboard ergonomics.

The original mice are spotty in their longevity, too.

1084 and other compatible monitors are getting in short supply.

I haven't encountered any problems that could not be repaired or worked around.  I intend to keep them working for as long as I am.  My real concern is the logical end of the Amiga time keeping.  No one talks about this.

[TheGoose]

Simple, don't turn it on.

Yeah I would have said just the opposite. Use it or loose it.

[Mark]

Some common sense preventative maintenance should help insure our systems stay running for some time:


Replace any NiCad batteries BEFORE they leak all over your mobo. Or remove them completely and using a toothbrush, vinegar and baking soda - clean the entire infected area to help prevent the acid from creeping.

Nickel-cadmium batteries do not leak acid, and it's impossible to neutralize their highly caustic leakage with baking soda.

[save2600]

Nickel-cadmium batteries do not leak acid, and it's impossible to neutralize their highly caustic leakage with baking soda.

http://members.iinet.net.au/%7Edavem2/overclock/batt.html

Acid - Noun: a chemical substance that dissolves some metals. Cadmium does indeed leak and dissolves some metals which is why you end up having to replace traces and I.C.'s. So when Cadmium leaks, at the very least, it behaves like an acid  

And the combination of vinegar and baking soda does indeed help as it cleans away much of the fuzzy cadmium funk. Electronic circuit board repairmen have known this for decades. Clean that off and you've retarded its spreading big time. No, that method is not perfect and it depends on how bad the damage is, but it's a hell of a lot better than doing nothing.

Bead blasting is the way to go of course, but MOST here are not at that degree which is why I brought up the vinegar/baking soda application.

[Tenacious]

Isn't vinegar a mild acid and baking soda a mild base?  It seems there was a rocket toy powered by this combination when I was a kid.  One or the other should help neutralize any kind of chemical battery leak.

[Mark]

http://members.iinet.net.au/%7Edavem2/overclock/batt.html

Um, that link of yours doesn't mention acid or baking soda.  IMO, that web page has better advice than your previous post had, however.

Acid - Noun: a chemical substance that dissolves some metals.

Your dictionary does you a disservice.  That is a seriously imprecise definition.  The next time you're going for a term meaning 'nasty substance that dissolves stuff,' might I suggest "corrosive agent" or "caustic chemical" instead.  

 Cadmium does indeed leak and dissolves some metals which is why you end up having to replace traces and I.C.'s. So when Cadmium leaks, at the very least, it behaves like an acid  

Odd that you would say that since cadmium has long been used as a coating on metals to prevent corrosion.

Neither metal-eating cadmium nor lexically suspicious "acid" are needed to explain our damaged Amigas.  The fact is that ni-cad batteries commonly have potassium hydroxide as their electrolyte.  Potassium hydroxide is a highly caustic base, not an acid.  And as Tenacious pointed out, it can be neutralized by a weak acid such as vinegar.  

Baking soda is itself a base and is useless for neutralizing another base.  If your entire purpose is just to clean, not neutralize then a mild detergent is more effective and that's what I would recommend (after the diluted vinegar).

And the combination of vinegar and baking soda does indeed help as it cleans away much of the fuzzy cadmium funk. Electronic circuit board repairmen have known this for decades. Clean that off and you've retarded its spreading big time.

I think it more likely that you've misinterpreted the actions of some poorly informed repair people who know that lead-acid batteries do leak acid which is properly cleaned up with baking soda and water,  and who then leap to the conclusion that ni-cad batteries must be the same.