Repairing the cartridge port on the Atari 7800

[BenjaminR]

Hi guys,

 

Recently the cartridge port on my 7800 has been giving me a lot of trouble.

 

Before I elaborate on the problem, I want to mention that I keep each and every game cartridge clean with q-tip and alcohol (91%), and the cartridge port itself has been cleaned as well, so the problem is not the common "dirty game syndrome".

 

Here is the problem; It's almost as though some of the tiny pins on the inside of the cartridge port have been slightly bent back and some games will not register when the system is turned on. Some games like 'Water Ski' only work if I apply a small amount of pressure to them while the system is on. Otherwise the screen will appear black. I am in the process of ordering a new cartridge port from Best Electronics in California. My question is, has anybody else ever had to replace their cartridge port on their Atari 7800? Does anybody know how many solder points are holding the cartridge port in place? Can anybody give me some idea of how difficult this project may be? I have soldering experience from working on the inside of electric guitars, so I would be up for the repair as long as the cartridge port isn't being held in place by 50 pins or something extreme like that.

 

The games that absolutely refuse to play are 'Beef Drop' 'Failsafe', games with thicker PCB's like 'Crossbow' and 'Food Fight' work perfectly fine, that's why I think that some of the pins may be bent out of place.

[FireTiger]

How's your power supply? Seems like a stuid question I know-

I had a dying P/S and it caused that issue (some games failng to load)- with the new power supply I just bought Everything is working-

Funny the carts you list are 'high demand' check ballbazer and Jinks also for that set... (high demand)

How do 2600 carts play? any issues?


Mine was playing 2600 games, most 7800 games , no pokey games w/o pressure and none of the multi chip new carts... (Ex: Soft Cell Tainted Love)

Check your voltage on the P/S and check conductivity?

[BenjaminR]

FireTiger,

 

The power supply is new old stock, I just checked both "Ballblazer" and "Jinks", both games boot right up and work fine. I even played them for a few moments just to make sure.

 

For 2600 games, games like "Frankenstein's Monster" and "K.O. Cruiser" work fine, put "Pac-Man 4K" doesn't work unless it in inserted into the cartridge slot, and then pulled out slightly. The PCB inside of "Pac-Man 4K" may be a slightly thinner than the other games PCB's. This is why I think that the issue may be the connectors inside the 7800's cartridge port. I take it nobody on the boards has ever had to replace this part on their consoles before? I'd just pick up another 7800, but this one has the Electronic Sentimentalities AV mod already installed, so that's why I'd be willing to fix the cartridge port if at all possible.

[Lynxpro]

The last I saw, Curt Vendel had spare 7800 replacement cartridge ports for sale over at Syzygy's website.

[BenjaminR]

Thanks for the heads up, I'll head over there and check it out.

[+GoldenWheels]

I bought the replacement syzygy cartridge guide, but that is just the plastic piece on top of the actual port. I am not sure they have an actual port.

[FireTiger]

Well- I was having that issue- espcially with 'tainted love' and I was also getting issues with my CC2 (having to be in 'just so'- to boot) - the new replacement PS fixed this- I wasn't lucky enough to find a NOS.

If the cartridges are not wiggly in the slot - that is you can jostle the machine and the cart stays put- I doubt the cart guide is failing to hold the cart in the proper way.

Can you use a flashlight and visually check the contects? If you can see them and they don't look warped I doubt it's the contacts- all they have to do is touch- if they are not receivng good power the data may not cross.

I'd concider Pac-Man '4k' to be a high draw cart- any onf the newer carts withthe newer style chips or extra chips ect-

I have about 8 7800's- one's got a bad chip- somewhere... but the slot works- never had a contact issue in the slot...pulled one out of a retenion pond once (ok my parents did) - and properly cleanedout and dried it still worked-

Do you have more then one P/S to check? My dead one was OOS the one that came with my system and it didn't just 'die' in fact is still sends power but not the right amount so some carts fail- some cards go wonky, some carts need a push, and some carts are fine.

If I dig out my broken one (console) are you intrested in it for butcher? (cart guide is broken on it- but it just allows activision titles to fit better.)

Shipping is expensive these days I'm sure it's just one chip (that's broken)- likely one of the sodered ones (with my luck) you won't even need the shell.

[BenjaminR]

Well guys,

 

I was able to get it working again. I took the lid off, took off the black cartridge guide (2 screws on the bottom side of the PCB hold them into place), and upon very close inspection, I found there were tiny strands of q-tip cotton on the left side of the cartridge port, just enough to cause some issues on games. I used some compressed air, blew it all out, and now it's good to go. So glad I didn't have to solder in another cartridge port, I think I counted somewhere around 36 solder points for the cartridge port

 

Good deal! By the way, if anybody is interested, Best Electronics apparently has new old stock brushed aluminum tops for the 7800 for $15.00. If anybody's top is a little scratched up (like mine is) it's good to know you can still get replacements from somebody, I had just asked him through email a few nights back and was happy to find out you could still get them.

[FireTiger]

Hey - see all better now! Great decetive work.