Cx 2600 a woody power issues

[+RichG1972]

I do think that hookem has an idea worth considering

[+RichG1972]

I do agree that the power jack could have some broken solder points on it, my suggestion would be this; first, re-flow the original solder and then add a little to what is there to ensure the solder joints do not break again due to the age of the existing solder.

 

Or if you are really ambitious you can de-solder each point taking off all the original solder if it doesn't hold and replacing it with fresh. Although often times, a simple re-flow of the existing solder, and then adding just enough extra to each solder point basically should in theory stabilize it and hold solidly enough in most cases.

Also it never hurts to go over the solder side of the circuitry with electronic contact cleaner because some of the solder points are so dang small you almost can't tell if something even as small as a speck of dust is creating a problem and bridging the circuit

[BigO]

Now, on to my issue. It threw a spark due to a short somewhere on the board. I have replaced the vr with a known good one, and have tested the power plug off of the board. It tested good. The power supply hasn't gotten warm while plugged in because I haven't left it plugged in long enough. The spark and the wires getting warm was enough to alert me that something was wrong.

Myself, I wouldn't blame that sparking behavior on a short in the electronics. I've seen that spark many times when plugging into a working 2600 (among other things). If you're seeing the same thing that I've seen, it's just that phono style plug shorting on the outer sleeve/ring of the jack. I would expect such a spark to potentially damage the power supply itself, though that has never happened to me.

 

To prove this, you can reproduce that same spark when plugging into a socket that has nothing at all connected to it. I suspect this is part of the reason that manufacturers switched to the co-axial type connectors: there's very little potential for short circuits under ordinary circumstances.

 

If it were my machine, and I suspected a short, I'd do the measurement on the 5v regulator that zylon suggests. Plug the power supply into a power strip with a switch on it so you can quickly kill all power to the system.

 

If there's really a short in the main board circuitry, the output of the regulator could show low voltage and should get hot in a hurry.

If there's a short before or in the regulator, measuring the input voltage at the regulator should show low and the power adapter and or the wires could get hot.

Edited August 3, 2015 by BigO

[+RichG1972]

Myself, I wouldn't blame that sparking behavior on a short in the electronics. I've seen that spark many times when plugging into a working 2600 (among other things). If you're seeing the same thing that I've seen, it's just that phono style plug shorting on the outer sleeve/ring of the jack. I would expect such a spark to potentially damage the power supply itself, though that has never happened to me.

 

To prove this, you can reproduce that same spark when plugging into a socket that has nothing at all connected to it. I suspect this is part of the reason that manufacturers switched to the co-axial type connectors: there's very little potential for short circuits under ordinary circumstances.

 

If it were my machine, and I suspected a short, I'd do the measurement on the 5v regulator that zylon suggests. Plug the power supply into a power strip with a switch on it so you can quickly kill all power to the system.

You could also make a "breakout" connector with 1/8" plug and socket with wire in between that lets you measure the power supply output voltage from outside the console.

 

If there's really a short in the main board circuitry, the output of the regulator could show low voltage and should get hot in a hurry.

If there's a short before or in the regulator, measuring the input voltage at the regulator should show low and the power adapter and or the wires could get hot.

THANK YOU for vindicating everything I have been trying to explain BigO!!!, I even put it in the plainest of terms that whether there is a short or not the adapter will spark when plugged in. And here is video of my PERSONAL 2600 unit (which has NOTHING wrong with it) verifying this and the insertion of the plug does it 3 separate times:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA9qAAwfdvE&feature=youtu.be

[+DrVenkman]

That spark won't hurt a thing unless there's already a problem on the board, unlike Rich's earlier assertions.

[zylon]

The sparking is normal as the spring loaded "catch contact" inside briefly touches both surfaces on the 3.5mm power jack. It also never gets past that point in the system. Another thing to do is remove the shielding and see if any of the 3 large IC's in there get hot. 4sw systems are more prone to frying one than some other models and they do not always fail to an "open condition". I have seen internal "shorts" on IC's.

Edited August 3, 2015 by zylon

[Lewismug]

After re-flowing a few solder joints, I now have power and a signal to my tv. The screen is very dirty and only a few games will show anything on the screen. Centipede loads, but it is very garbled and once a controller button is pressed the screen freezes along with the audio. Not even close to being playable. I've read that the small chicken looking capacitors may be to blame, but I'm not sure. I've cleaned all contacts on the switches with contact cleaner as well as the pins that interface with the games.

[Lewismug]

Rich, I thought you were arguing against plugging into the wall before the console?! Lol

[zylon]

you are now describing failure of one or more IC's. Most likely the RIOT and/or the TIA. Bad caps may give bad video, but the games would still run fine.

[+DrVenkman]

you are now describing failure of one or more IC's. Most likely the RIOT and/or the TIA. Bad caps may give bad video, but the games would still run fine.

 

FYI, I bought a lot of 5 new-old-stock 6532 RIOT chips on eBay (Mexico 2010 manufacture) from a Hong Kong seller for dirt cheap (~$12 for five, shipped). TIA's are still available from Best Electronics.

[+RichG1972]

I did what I did to prove a point Lewis, to show you that the adapter plug when plugged into the wall would spark at ANY time, not just when something is wrong. That kind of information is erroneous and I figured a video reference might help drive that point home so to speak.

I have a saying I use when I hear something I don't agree with which is simply "And if you believe THAT one I have a famous bridge I can sell you, it's out in my backyard and a little dirty so come get it and get washing".

 

I run and own my own business, and never once have I had any complaints. I have even been told I have a fine business acumen, I am not nor have I ever been out to swat the "little guy", nor have I ever been that way. I simply just wish to put the RIGHT information out there in place of the wrong, and I have several years of knowledge and experience under my belt.

Firsthand experience and learning by OBSERVATION gets you far more than any silk-ribbon wrapped piece of paper or a textbook ever will *cue the flying yellow star with the rainbow behind it*

[zylon]

 

FYI, I bought a lot of 5 new-old-stock 6532 RIOT chips on eBay (Mexico 2010 manufacture) from a Hong Kong seller for dirt cheap (~$12 for five, shipped). TIA's are still available from Best Electronics.

 

I bought a batch of those. Only had one bad one out of the 5 so they were still a great deal. RIOTs fail in multiple ways, including partial failure. Last one I replaced would run simple games like Combat or Bowling, but would not run higher level games like Battlezone or River Raid.

[+DrVenkman]

 

I bought a batch of those. Only had one bad one out of the 5 so they were still a great deal. RIOTs fail in multiple ways, including partial failure. Last one I replaced would run simple games like Combat or Bowling, but would not run higher level games like Battlezone or River Raid.

 

Yeah, the first one out of that batch that I tested didn't work (black screen). The second was perfect. The RIOT that had failed would play all the games I tested (about 25 or so) but the difficulty switches flat would not register, no matter how I cleaned, tested or manipulated the switch or circuitry. Player one was stuck in "A", Player two was stuck in "B" as far as each game was considered. Replacing the RIOT fixed the problem.

[+RichG1972]

This is just great, I block Venkman so I won't see his posts and then someone quotes him which makes my blocking a moot point, how idiotic is that?

[Lewismug]

I've attached a photo of the screen. That photo is the best it looks on any of the games, and none will actually play.

[+DrVenkman]

I've attached a photo of the screen. That photo is the best it looks on any of the games, and none will actually play.

 

With sparkly interference like that, I'm leaning towards a bad TIA chip simply because what it looks like is almost like the starfield graphics in COSMIC ARK, which was created by basically bit-banging the TIA chip beyond what it as suppose to do, giving shimmering, moving graphics in place of the static image the programmer had originally intended. What he did by accident looks like a cleaned up, version of what you're seeing. If the game played despite the interference, I'd be more inclined to think it was a bad RF modulator.

 

Curious if Zylon agrees.

[zylon]

^ Would much rather see how something even simpler runs. The interference could be bad modulator or pitting inside the channel select switch. If a simple game like Combat will play and run fine, then RIOT has a failure. Problems with TIA usually affect all games. Exception to this is the paddle lines which would only show up bad with paddle games. This one could have multiple issues, but you won't know the full extent until you address them one at at time.

I have NOS and also used modulators here if you need one OP, but I will not have access to them after this week.

Typically, a capacitor inside the modulator starts leaking and it corrodes a resistor inside and slowly changes the resistance until it just doesn't work.

Edited August 4, 2015 by zylon

[Darren01274]

Try replacing the 4.7uf 35v Caps one is by the RF board the other is on the main board.