5200 Repair question

[NoahsMyBro]

Last weekend I recieved a dead 4-port 5200 in trade. It does not power up. It's likely it had an Atari 800 power supply connected to it at some point in the past.

 

Upon opening the unit up, I noticed 3 components, labelled C30, C32, & C33. These components look like discs, mostly olive green, with shiny black coloring at the tops.

 

A) I'm guessing these are capacitors - am I right?

B) Are they supposed to be all green, and is the black on the top indicative that they've fried?

C) Is it reasonable to conclude that the wrong power supply was hooked up, and it fried these capacitors? If so, could I probably get the system working by replacing these capacitors?

 

Thanks for any help,

Steve

[DanBoris]

A. Yes, these are disc capacitors

B. Not necessarily. If the black is glossy then it might be a painted on marking. If the capacitors where fried it would be a duller burnt look, not shinny black.

C. Possibly, but as I said in B it might not be the case. It's more likely that it would have blown out the voltage regulator in the 5200.

 

Dan

[NoahsMyBro]

Another helpful internetizen (just made up that word! It's not very catchy, though.) on rec.games.video.atari also suggested I check the voltage regulator. He explained that it is the black component attached to the large black heatsink, with 3 legs. He also described which leg is the +5v.

 

May I test that with my multimeter, by attaching the negative probe to a ground (the RF Shielding, perhaps?), and the positive probe to the +5v leg? I assume the AC Adapter would be plugged in & connected to the switchbox for this, and the RF/AC cable on the system attached to the switchbox?

 

If I do this and the output isn't +5v (I'm assuming it will be nothing/0/nada/kaput), is it likely I could replace the voltage regulator and be playing games on the system ?

 

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As always, I accept full responsibility for any damage or harm I cause doing this, and I won't sue you or anybody else for anything related to this. SO, all you lawyers, SHOO!

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[NoahsMyBro]

Another ignorant question:

I found the 5200 schematics here on Atari Age. Now, I'm not an expert on reading schematics and I could be completely wrong, but it looks to me like the various schematics don't cover the circuits that handle the power system. IE, where does the DC voltage go after it is delivered to the motherboard from the RF cable?

 

Am I simply ignorant, and the available schematics do detail that? If so, where should I look for it/which schematic?

 

If not, does anybody know where I could find the appropriate schematic online?

 

Thanks,

Steve

[DanBoris]

The RF Switchbox Page of the schematics:

 

http://www.atariage.com/5200/archives/sche...Switch_Low.html

 

shows the power section. Unfortunetly the schematics don't have any of the components labeled with location numbers (C30, R21, etc) so there is no easy way to relate the components on the schematics to the ones on the board.

 

Dan

[eggplant_casserole]

OK, I don't have a machine being in England, but would be happy to try and assist in any way. Give me an e-mail and we'll see what we can do. Do you have a scanner? A scan of the board would be handy, I have the schematics. The scan would help me show you what could've gone.

 

Dan, why is your name familiar? That's gonna bug me now! lol