Acill's Amiga Repair Thread

[Pgovotsos]

Wow. That is one sweet piece of work! Are you taking orders? Joking, joking Of course though, if you are  ...

[midway]

This is the youngest amiga in the usa

[Arnuph1s]

These are pretty amazing. If only there were a run of assembled boards in a quantity to keep the price reasonable....

[kirk_m]

These are pretty amazing. If only there were a run of assembled boards in a quantity to keep the price reasonable....

The limiting factor was the chips...at least that's what they were saying on A1K with regards to ever doing another production run...well, that, and the grey-area legality of the whole thing

[Acill]

The limiting factor was the chips...at least that's what they were saying on A1K with regards to ever doing another production run...well, that, and the grey-area legality of the whole thing

Yup, they made just enough to cover the nimber of 23 pin connectors and complete sets of chips they could supply.

I've been told this may be the first one completed in the USA too. Would be flattering if I got the first one done here.

[Arnuph1s]

You should give it a serial number of Acill00001

[EugeneNine]

I wish they would release their work somewhere.  But I've started re-drawing the 2000 schematics in KiCad, was thinking someday maybe I could create a board from it.
What I'd like to do is replace the custom chips.  If the whole Amiga can be redone in an fpga when why not just make replacements for individual chips.

[kirk_m]

I wish they would release their work somewhere.  But I've started re-drawing the 2000 schematics in KiCad, was thinking someday maybe I could create a board from it.
What I'd like to do is replace the custom chips.  If the whole Amiga can be redone in an fpga when why not just make replacements for individual chips.

Their issue with releasing the drawings (besides the quasi-legality of the project to begin with) is that they don't want someone taking their hard work, done for free, and making money off it.  There was quite a stir yesterday over on A1K when one of their boards showed up on eBay (in Germany) with a price tag 4x the price the board sold for (and it was just a bare board, with ZERO parts included).  The example that is constantly cited over on A1K is that of the Cortex firmware.  That was released free...but, unscrupulous vendors capitalized on it and started flashing GoTeks with it for profit.  Now, the author of that software will not release any more versions or updates to it because of that.

[Acill]

Their issue with releasing the drawings (besides the quasi-legality of the project to begin with) is that they don't want someone taking their hard work, done for free, and making money off it.  There was quite a stir yesterday over on A1K when one of their boards showed up on eBay (in Germany) with a price tag 4x the price the board sold for (and it was just a bare board, with ZERO parts included).  The example that is constantly cited over on A1K is that of the Cortex firmware.  That was released free...but, unscrupulous vendors capitalized on it and started flashing GoTeks with it for profit.  Now, the author of that software will not release any more versions or updates to it because of that.

Yup, very sad. This is exactly the reason I started publicly offering repairs and services for Amiga. I got so sick and tired of the prices for this stuff. Its a thankless job, but at least I get to meet some awesome people doing it.

[Acill]

I've had a few request for work and got back replies that I am charging to much. I honestly think I am way under the average for what my level of work is  and the attention to detail I give the things being sent in. Sure I cant fix everything all the time, but my track record is pretty dang high.

This isnt a rant, this is an honest request for feedback. I havent made much at all doing this and all of it i do make has gone into buying systems, tool and test equipmet to do more. So in that here are some of the prices I charge for an average job. Please give me some advice here on this. If its honestly higher than it should be I may just toss in the towel and stop doing this. As much as I would like to do it for free I cant afford to do so. Time is also my enemy here. That i cant help, things get done as I can get the time after work and family to do them.

Recaps:
 A600/1200 is on average $58-60. I use GOOD brand name Panasonic caps, NOT cheap Chinese junk. I honestly only make $26-28 after the cost of caps, solder paste, flux and solder braid.

A4000 is on average of $70 just because it has more caps and some of them cost more. I make about the same off them as I do on the 600 and 1200.

A500/1000/2000/3000 are about $85-90 and cost a lot more because they are all through hole and take me 10X the time usualy because of how well they are made. The boards are giant heat syncs. it takes a lot of work to get the caps out cleanly and not distroy the holes. Nearly every board I get in has more dammage on it than stated up front. I honestly dont like to do them if it can be avoided, but I will save them if I can and am asked. Just at a price that takes in account my time.

Repairs:
This one is tricky. I charge a lot of diffrent prices. Here are some of the last few jobs done and what I charged for it.

A4000 battery acid repair, clock restoration and SIMM socket replaced. $120
This required me to desolder the clock chip, all three chips to the left of the battery, the battery itself, the two lower simm sockets and fix several traces. I replaced all the chips with new chips, replaced the simm sockets with new ones and cleaned the entire board before it was done.

68040 to 68060 Adapter including a NOS Rev 6 68060. $180 This included everything to make it work on a A3640 accelerator. It included the adapter, me assembeling it using real 040 and 060 sockets (not the pins like others use), I bought the 060 from someone in Europe and had it sent over to me and I shipped it for that as well. Total made off that was -$18 Yes I lost money because I didnt tke into account the cost of paypal fees and euro being stronger.

All 5 simm sockets replaced on an A4000D $125. I charge $25 each to do them. This is for metal tab glass filled NOS sockets. The price included desoldering the old sockets, cleaning up any bad traces from battery leaks, installing the new sockets. Shipping was another $18 on top of that.

Amiga 500+ (Project Red) This was a scratch built from 100% NOS parts and components. A 100% bare board, hand assembled. I was asked if I would do it and what my fee would be long before it was ready to ship. I charged the owner for a kit of my own, so it averaged out to be about $200 or so for my kit. This board took over 40 hours of labor. It came out amazing and is one of my most, if not THE most proudest accomplishment to date.

Two A500/1200 style PSU restorations and conversions. One was a 500 recap, nothing special but it was the version with like 8 or not big caps in it. Cleaned it completly inside and out like new, replaced caps, new sealent on them to prevent vibrations. The other was the small 1200 style. Did a conversion using the pico to ATX custom boards make in the UK. All fits in the original box. Total shipped was $70 (also offered a discount after being told it was higher than expected and said to pay me waht owner thought was fair) Owner supplied the Pico ATX, I supplied the adapter board after deciding the ATX extender I had him send was the wrong type, but I did use some wire from it.

Current Job on bench is an A1200 recap $58 and fixing an MTec 030 accelerator which I replaced a chip and the caps, cleaned the edge connecto contacts and re-tentioned them all. $38 for that. Shipping back will be $18

Please let me know what you think is fair, or if these are out of line prices. I will not take any hard feelings from it at all.

[mindprober]

Your prices are very fair to me.

Now I just need to find the time to get my recap done!!

[Arnuph1s]

Your prices are more than fair and your work is excellent. You are donating your free time to preserving these machines and are not charging a high labor rate. The entitled haters who are giving you a hard time should have their Amigas taken away and their legs slapped!

[Kremlar]

More than fair.  Some people are just cheap bastards.  Charge what you need to make this worth your while.  If someone thinks it's too expensive they can go elsewhere and come back to you when they need it done right!

[LoadWB]

As someone who has sent several items already, anyone who actually believes you're charging too much I would call misguided, at best.

Acill is performing a great service for the community.  What he does for us is truly a labor of love and he's only asking to make meager margins on his work, his time, and his experience to do it correctly.

I challenge anyone who thinks he's charging too much to do one of the following:

1) Find someone who will do it cheaper and with the same quality
2) Do it yourself

[dovegrace]

Compared to what some of the local electronic shops have quoted me in the past, your prices would be roughly equal factoring in shipping (both ways) and US/Canadian exchange.  The bonus is you know what you're doing when it comes to the Amiga.

[Acill]

Thanks for the feedback and please keep it coming. Also please refrain from calling anyone out. I'd like to keep this as honest and serious as possible.