Need Amiga Mother Board Repairs in U.S. or I'm Out.

[XDelusion]

I've asked this before and never received a response, so I'm going to ask once more.
Aside allowing my self to be raped shipping my Amigas to Canada, is there anyone here in the U.S. that will work on Amiga mother boards?

 I'd REALLY like to have at least once stable machine (out of the four I own), but I only know one guy and it took him 3 years to get my A600 back to me, only to find that the IDE port needed replaced too.

 I really have no interest in waiting another 3 years, and I've got all sorts of money dumped into this hobby and a lot of ideas I'd like to realize on the hardware...

...but alas, no one seems to exist that can work on these things.

 If I can not find someone soon, then I will take a loss and sell the Amigas as are on Ebay, letting the buyers know they will need re-capped and what not. Then I will piece out my PPC, Flicker Fixers, 80Mhz Apollo 060, and all those other beloved items I had once dreamed of using and will be out for good, or at least until a feature rich alternative to the MiniMig emerges onto the scene, in which case I will return...
...assuming that FPGA board supports MIDI and hopefully my Genlock hardware and what have you...

 In the mean time I will of course continue using MorphOS, and will follow the progress of AROS x86 with fingers crossed, but will for sure be exiting the 680x0 scene for good, except when I emulate a game because God knows WinUAE still sucks when it comes to OctaMED S.S. performing as it should.

 So anyhow, if anyone knows anyone within this country of ours, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get in touch, thank you!

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

AmigaKit lists re-capping services on their website, very reasonable cost last time I checked.  Of course they're not in the US, but beats selling everything you own because of a little problem like caps, right?  :huh:

[eliyahu]

@XDelusion

i feel your pain. most everyone in the US these days just 'bites the bullet' and sends their classic kit to amigakit in the UK for repairs. yes, shipping isn't cheap, but they do a terrific job, you get amiga professionals doing the work, and the turn-around time is (usually) very reasonable.

if this was late summer i'd say to come out to amiwest and just hand them your kit. that way they can use their cheaper freight rates to ship it back to their shop in wales.

i also noticed you're having problems with octamed. doesn't that run on your MOS setup?

-- eliyahu

[XDelusion]

@XDelusion

i feel your pain. most everyone in the US these days just 'bites the bullet' and sends their classic kit to amigakit in the UK for repairs. yes, shipping isn't cheap, but they do a terrific job, you get amiga professionals doing the work, and the turn-around time is (usually) very reasonable.

if this was late summer i'd say to come out to amiwest and just hand them your kit. that way they can use their cheaper freight rates to ship it back to their shop in wales.

i also noticed you're having problems with octamed. doesn't that run on your MOS setup?

-- eliyahu

I'd be better off piecing things out and making some cash as opposed to shipping my goods to Europe.

As for MorphOS, no sadly no one ever bothered to write a Puh Der Baer type aplication or one that allows the Maetrix output to assign to AHI and the SB16... like Amithlon, so no go there. The best I got at the momenst is Digibooster (I still need to order the latest release) which sadly has no MIDI support what so ever, else this crappy little Efika of mine would have one MAJOR use!

[AmigaBruno]

Try this global map of repair groups. The Amiga isn't a totally unique device, so people with enough experience of repairing electronics in general may be able to help you. I regularly attend Restart Project parties in London and I showed them a live version of Aeros. If these other groups are anything like as good as the Restart Project, then they should be able to help. I even met a repairer once who owns three Amiga A1200 computers!

http://www.therestartproject.org/global-map-of-repair-groups/

[spirantho]

Find a regular electronics place or try a different type of forum such as hi-fi forums. There's nothing special about the Amiga capacitors, and many other electronic devices have the same problem.

Why would shipping be so much, though? If you're willing to piece out your Amiga you must be willing to get the motherboard out - just send the motherboard and shipping won't be too much.

[Castellen]

Why would shipping be so much, though? If you're willing to piece out your Amiga you must be willing to get the motherboard out - just send the motherboard and shipping won't be too much.

Agreed.  I've owned operated an international Amiga service centre for nearly 14 years and regularly have many customers from America.  In fact a Kentucky customer's A3640 has just arrived in the workshop, the postage stamp reads US$14.63 and took 13 days for delivery.

Using USPS First-Class Package International Service, it costs around US$27 to send an A4000D main board (1.2kg) to NZ.  See pricing here.

Repair turnaround times are generally 5 to 7 days and includes a full test report, fully detailed and itemised list of work done, etc.  All common parts are in stock for fast turnaround; stock levels and pricing here.  As an indication, most A4000D type repairs are around US$150, which includes parts, labour, full testing and return freight.  Payment via PayPal is quick and easy.

It's not as hard or expensive as many folks perceive it to be.

Let me know if you'd like to know more.
http://amiga.serveftp.net

[Lionheart]

I've asked this before and never received a response, so I'm going to ask once more.
Aside allowing my self to be raped shipping my Amigas to Canada, is there anyone here in the U.S. that will work on Amiga mother boards?

 I'd REALLY like to have at least once stable machine (out of the four I own), but I only know one guy and it took him 3 years to get my A600 back to me, only to find that the IDE port needed replaced too.

 I really have no interest in waiting another 3 years, and I've got all sorts of money dumped into this hobby and a lot of ideas I'd like to realize on the hardware...

...but alas, no one seems to exist that can work on these things.

What's wrong with it and what model do you have?

[Tenacious]

What's wrong with it and what model do you have?

+1.  It would be most helpful if you would list the models that you have and each of their symptoms.

Naturally, the socketed Amigas (1000, 500, 2000 & 3000) are much easier to work on.  That's part of their continuing popularity.  Have you tried to gather the schematics, info, advise, and tools to do the repairs yourself?  Having the technical docs in hand may help you convince a repair shop to give it a go.

[amiman99]

I never tried him, but he was advertizing on Amibay once.
http://www.maccaps.com/MacCAPS.COM/Macintosh_Recaps.html#3
I may someday use his service on my A600.

[QuikSanz]

@amiman99,

Had a look, website is updated. May use him myself for my A2000 & A4000T, I could do the A2000 myself but would take to long. I work for a living. Good find!

Chris

[XDelusion]

I never tried him, but he was advertizing on Amibay once.
http://www.maccaps.com/MacCAPS.COM/Macintosh_Recaps.html#3
I may someday use his service on my A600.

Good find! Thank you, I wrote him!
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For those wondering, I have 2 600's and 2 1200's. A PAL and NTSC of each.

I also have a 2000, but the mother board needs some serious work... though I could care less. Never was much of a 2000 fan.

[Lionheart]

@amiman99,

Had a look, website is updated. May use him myself for my A2000 & A4000T, I could do the A2000 myself but would take to long. I work for a living. Good find!

Chris

Replacing capacitors is relatively easy and shouldn't take up too much time.  However,  there are some brands you should avoid.  See: List of Bad Cap Manufacturers

[Lionheart]

---


For those wondering, I have 2 600's and 2 1200's. A PAL and NTSC of each.

I also have a 2000, but the mother board needs some serious work... though I could care less. Never was much of a 2000 fan.

What kind of problems are you having with them?

[XDelusion]

What kind of problems are you having with them?

I just received an e-mail back from that Charles guy. Quick response I must say!

 Anyhow, all four of them have audio issues. Crackling and all that jazz. The PAL 600 needs it's PCMCIA port replaced. The NTSC 600 needs it's IDE port replaced. The PAL 1200 just needs recapped as far as I can tell. And the NTSC 1200 needs it's kickstart sockets replaced...

...a result of me trouble shooting a purchase from Amigakit.