How long will Amigas last?

[paul1981]

@som99

WD-40 will fix those switches and potentiometers. There's a good chance you won't need to replace them - if you use WD-40.
I've bought plenty of pots back to life with WD-40. Don't ever use switch cleaner on a pot though, as it will fix it at first but then a few days later it will be 10 times worse than it was.
Of course, a pot with a totally worn-through track isn't any good, but unless it's had a really hard life then this is unlikely.

[spirantho]

My A4000 died not too long ago.

It's working just fine now.

That's the great thing about older tech like Amigas, you can keep them running. When a modern PC dies, what can you do? Nothing. But with an Amiga, as with other machines of that age or older, you can repair them. So they'll still be going in ten years, easily!

[vox]

Someone mentioned the other day that Amiga and other old consoles and computers will slowly die. Do you think that our old amigas and computers will work in 5 years or 10 years? it is a scary thought, if all our beloved computers will stop working. But mayby we can keep them going with some love.

Good reason to buy new FPGA computers and AmigaOnes / Mac PPcs / AresOne NOW and preserve them as they are.

[itix]

My A4000 died not too long ago.

It's working just fine now.

That's the great thing about older tech like Amigas, you can keep them running. When a modern PC dies, what can you do? Nothing. But with an Amiga, as with other machines of that age or older, you can repair them. So they'll still be going in ten years, easily!

My Pentium 90 is still running but my first Amiga 1200 died after four years. I dumped it because there were no repair centers anymore and new mobo costs some 10 eur at max.

[Plaz]

The main thing that will kill all equipment is the capacitors. They will only last about 25 years (less if you use them a lot). And when they go bad, they cause other things to fry. Replace all the electrolitic caps in your unit (and it's power supply) and run those things past your retirement age.  (All warrantees are off if you get an unprotected power surge the house though)

Plaz

[matt3k]

From my personal experience, it is much better to leave them on 24/7.  Letting them sit or turning them on and off causes failures.

[commodorejohn]

All's I know is, I have/had machines from the early-mid '80s that have been (literally) thrown around by the primates at the recycle center, stored in moldy barns for fifteen or twenty years, and in one case even subjected to a garage fire, that worked just fine when I got them and were still going strong when I sold them on. On the other hand, the machines I bought new in the last eight years haven't lasted four without something significant failing, if not a total functional collapse. I'm not too worried about my Amiga just yet

[lassie]

From my personal experience, it is much better to leave them on 24/7.  Letting them sit or turning them on and off causes failures.

Then i think i will let them stay on forever :drink:

[Thorham]

That's the great thing about older tech like Amigas, you can keep them running. When a modern PC dies, what can you do? Nothing. But with an Amiga, as with other machines of that age or older, you can repair them. So they'll still be going in ten years, easily!

Not so fast! What about A1200s and A600? Their motherboards are the same as peecee motherboards, because everything except the Kickstart roms are surface mounted, and most of the chips are the ones with those tiny pins. Just try to repair that.

If some caps break, then you'll be able to change these on a peecee motherboard easily enough.

Bottom line: It's mostly the same kind of technology, and what you can and can't repair relies purely on what's broken, and whether or not you have the skill to fix the problem.

[NovaCoder]

My 'new' 1200 has had all of the caps replaced recently and a new battery installed in the Apollo so I hope it will last for a few years yet.

As others have already said, the key is actually using the things, if you just store them away in the loft then they will have issues.

[runequester]

I should really get the caps replaced. Any suggestions on where to go? I don't have any soldering skills.

[NovaCoder]

I used AmigaKit, they took quite a long time but they did a really good job of it (I've never heard a 1200 sound so good).

[amiga-penn-wchester]

the SMD / SMT A1200s were pretty rock solid.  Perhaps I haven't run into some odd batches that weren't, but C= A1200, and Escom / Magic Pack bundles were reliable. I've never had a problem with an A1200 that hasn't been user-hacked.  (& there's not much to hack there)

[Bif]

I was hoping to pick up a supposedly working but long stored away 3000 for $200. I asked the guy to boot it in case the battery had killed it. It didn't boot. I took it for $50 for a worst case as a parts machine anyway in case I ever do find a working 3000. Sadly, opening it up wasn't as pretty a sight as I had hoped. Between that and my 2000 recently not finding the HD has got me a bit down on the old hardware lately. I'm a bit scared to try my 1000 and 4000 that haven't been tried for a while now. I now have all the Amiga models I wanted to collect, I just don't have all working ones, and I fear less will work over time. Now it seems like I probably need a spare of each model just so I can diagnose what is wrong in some cases.

[matt3k]

I was hoping to pick up a supposedly working but long stored away 3000 for $200. I asked the guy to boot it in case the battery had killed it. It didn't boot. I took it for $50 for a worst case as a parts machine anyway in case I ever do find a working 3000. Sadly, opening it up wasn't as pretty a sight as I had hoped. Between that and my 2000 recently not finding the HD has got me a bit down on the old hardware lately. I'm a bit scared to try my 1000 and 4000 that haven't been tried for a while now. I now have all the Amiga models I wanted to collect, I just don't have all working ones, and I fear less will work over time. Now it seems like I probably need a spare of each model just so I can diagnose what is wrong in some cases.

Sorry about this Bif, many amiga computers I have come accross that sat for long periods of time without being used have had issues.  3000's in particular like to be used and maintained, if a battery leaked on a 3000 you will very likely have problems.  The most common failure I have found in a 3k is a black screen with a dim led, when you select on and off the caps lock it will stop after 7 or so times.  Many time this is the CPU, all you need to do is get a cheap accelerator to test this, and you can have a working 3k once again.  The battery placement of a 3000 has a better chance to destroy something important, because of the vital surroundings.

Don't be afraid if the surface damage looks bad, believe it or not 3k's with the least amount of physical surface damage tend to be the most damaged.  If the acid destroyed the surface coating and not hide between the board it is a better sign.

Good luck...

[spirantho]

Not so fast! What about A1200s and A600? Their motherboards are the same as peecee motherboards, because everything except the Kickstart roms are surface mounted, and most of the chips are the ones with those tiny pins. Just try to repair that.

If some caps break, then you'll be able to change these on a peecee motherboard easily enough.

Bottom line: It's mostly the same kind of technology, and what you can and can't repair relies purely on what's broken, and whether or not you have the skill to fix the problem.

The 4000 uses the same SMT chips .... that didn't stop me fixing it.

The point is that Amigas have standardised parts that are the same in all machines, I.e. all AGA machines use Paula, Alice etc.... so there's lots if them about.  With a PC, you need to replace a particular part that will have been used a lot, but also thrown out because they're commodity parts... and it's very difficult in such a fast changing market to find a donor machine with exactly the right replacement part. To repair an A4000, just buy an a1200.

Not only that, but people are designing FPGA replacements for Amiga chips, but who's going to do that for a VL82C107FC or something?

Replacement parts for Amigas will be available long past the parts necessary to keep ok PCs running. It's not the skill to repair a machine that's lacking, it's the parts. Anyone can learn to repair machines, but very few have their own manufacturing plants! Thank goodness for FPGA though, this way there its hope even when thee originals have all gone.