TangentAudio Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 (edited) I am looking for a donor 800XL, specifically one made by Chelco. Mainly looking for the plastic enclosure (both halves ideally, but upper half is my main concern - preferably non-yellowed), and the RF shield parts. If it's a complete non-working 800XL that's OK too. I think one of the main identifying signs is a black serial number label on the bottom, with a Hong Kong country of origin. The plastics will be stamped CHELCO inside, and the PCB itself will also say Chelco (see photos). Edited March 24, 2017 by TangentAudio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Does your chelco bottom not mate with the other brand top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TangentAudio Posted March 24, 2017 Author Share Posted March 24, 2017 I haven't tried that yet to be honest. I figured I'd see if anyone had a Chelco case lying around gathering dust first, to see if I can get my old XL back as close as possible to what it was. It's a silly, small detail but if I can do it inexpensively, it will feel more authentic to me. Of course, nobody will know or care but me... I did read a note in one of the old Atari service manuals for the 800XL about not mixing up case plastic halves because of the different manufacturers... So I figure if Atari saw fit to tell their service techs about it, there's probably something to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Yeah I know the 1050 plastics are very different between the two made, but didn't realize the 800XLs were that different plastic wise. I only have one 800XL CHELCO and just recently obtained it basically mint in box, the only other ones I've see have been 600XLs.. in fact I didn't even know that there were 800XL CHELCOs until recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roydea6 Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 I haven't tried that yet to be honest. I figured I'd see if anyone had a Chelco case lying around gathering dust first, to see if I can get my old XL back as close as possible to what it was. It's a silly, small detail but if I can do it inexpensively, it will feel more authentic to me. Of course, nobody will know or care but me... I did read a note in one of the old Atari service manuals for the 800XL about not mixing up case plastic halves because of the different manufacturers... So I figure if Atari saw fit to tell their service techs about it, there's probably something to it. Have you tried to do the Retro Bright treatment to your existing plastic yet. My Retro Bright treatment salvaged several of my 800xl case plastics.. Look at the thread pinned at top of forums for info and method of treating... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TangentAudio Posted March 24, 2017 Author Share Posted March 24, 2017 I had no idea about the differences (or apparent rarity) until recently when I started to look into it. I haven't done an extensive study, but just at a glance there were some pretty significant differences to how the black/brown overlay plastic was held onto the white part. My Chelco used melted plastic tabs to hold it in place, while the other one used several screws. Also, while the Chelco motherboard fits into the other case, it looks like there may be some slight differences with how the corners of the PCB were meant to be held by the two halves of the plastic case. The motherboards are of different revisions and RF shield styles as well, so that also makes a difference with how they fit. The two sets of plastic definitely came out of different molds. There are a ton of visible machine tool marks on the inside of the non-Chelco. Either they didn't do much finish work on the mold, or perhaps it's an early test run that they deemed good enough to slide for production before the finalized their mold. The Chelco looks considerably cleaner in that regard, plus it also has their name as part of the mold. I'll try to get some macro pictures... It's not the most exciting piece of Atari investigative work but I still find it interesting that they were using different contract manufacturers simultaneously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TangentAudio Posted March 24, 2017 Author Share Posted March 24, 2017 Have you tried to do the Retro Bright treatment to your existing plastic yet. My Retro Bright treatment salvaged several of my 800xl case plastics.. Look at the thread pinned at top of forums for info and method of treating... My original plastic upper is destroyed, unfortunately. When I was a teenager, I hacked huge parts of it up and drilled holes in it. See my thread over here for more details... The non-Chelco donor I bought on eBay is yellowed, and if I end up having to use that, it will need a retr0bright treatment. Long term results seem mixed at best with that treatment, unfortunately. Behold, the follies of youth... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 I somehow felt disturbed by the sight of that poor poor 800XL case... I half expected to see news crews role up and start talking about how he was a quiet neighbor who kept to himself..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TangentAudio Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 The sound of the Dremel tool cutting plastic probably ruined any chances of being considered the quiet neighbor. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TangentAudio Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 And by the way - good news on this front. I found a near-mint 800XL that I believe is a Chelco. See my other thread about the restoration of this XL: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/263472-mini-saga-restoring-my-childhood-800xl/?p=3734295 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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