I think I have my work cut out for me.... Atari 800 arrives crushed.

[Beeblebrox]

24 minutes ago, scm2000 said:

As I took it apart, I found that any pressure at all would snap pieces off the case. So it's not surprising that it did

not survive shipping.   The plastic was extremely brittle. 

 

Well the good thing out of this is the electronics seem fine, and there only needs to be some work on the tab key.

For designing a new case for it, I see one problem... It's not designed to have the electronics sit in the bottom case, from the

photos in @Beeblebrox's guide it looks like the electronics was only attached to the top case and hung from it.  The bottom just being a cover.

That would be hard to pull off in a 3d printed case, especially a multipart case.  So somehow I'll have to come up with a way to make a bottom cover that  has strategically placed posts that hold the electronics up above the bottom (for ventilation and I have noted, the bottom of the power board does get hot).   I'll print it in ABS to make it easy to weld

the pieces together, plus it will itself not be as brittle as a PLA plastic case.

 

 

Yeah, an already brittle 40year old 800 plastic casing is more compromised if already cracked.

 

So, yes you are correct, all of the internals are held in place in the upper casing. The lower casing is a cover but also helps old the 4 x joystick ports in place, (even though they are directly attached to the main pcb motherboard).

 

It's a realy tricky casing to replicate for the reasons you stated, way more so than any other A8 casing.

 

I think your idea to create support from the bottom is probably a good idea. Will watch your progress with this one with interest. Good luck.

[scm2000]

1 hour ago, Beeblebrox said:

Yeah, an already brittle 40year old 800 plastic casing is more compromised if already cracked.

 

So, yes you are correct, all of the internals are held in place in the upper casing. The lower casing is a cover but also helps old the 4 x joystick ports in place, (even though they are directly attached to the main pcb motherboard).

 

It's a realy tricky casing to replicate for the reasons you stated, way more so than any other A8 casing.

 

I think your idea to create support from the bottom is probably a good idea. Will watch your progress with this one with interest. Good luck.

Well, I already started with the bottom case, it will fit in 4 pieces in my printer.   The progress will be slow though because my process will be to print a piece, check the fit, and then make adjustments in the model.   Each bottom quadrant will take 8.5 hours to print! 

I ordered beige ABS filament for the final prints -- at least it will kinda look like an Atari 800

 

I'm thinking of removing the RF cable, (I don't use RF), or at least re-routing and  relocating the choke.   In the original case there was a lot of empty space for the choke to fit, in my case, it will be in the way of the side of the case.   I'm making the case a minimum size to enclose the electronics, with plenty of vents for heat dissipation. 

[Beeblebrox]

1 hour ago, scm2000 said:

Well, I already started with the bottom case, it will fit in 4 pieces in my printer.   The progress will be slow though because my process will be to print a piece, check the fit, and then make adjustments in the model.   Each bottom quadrant will take 8.5 hours to print! 

I ordered beige ABS filament for the final prints -- at least it will kinda look like an Atari 800

 

I'm thinking of removing the RF cable, (I don't use RF), or at least re-routing and  relocating the choke.   In the original case there was a lot of empty space for the choke to fit, in my case, it will be in the way of the side of the case.   I'm making the case a minimum size to enclose the electronics, with plenty of vents for heat dissipation. 

Sounds like a plan. Yes, been there before when designing and printing. Have loads of failed attempt prints lying about from various Atari related projects myself. 

 

I'd get rid of the rf. The av comp and svideo you get out of the din5 is amazing. 

 

 

[scm2000]

As an update...   I recently bought a non-working Atari 800, cleaned it up and found that it has no video, isolated it to just the cpu card...    So I put together the original 800 with the case from the newer one, also it's speaker -which was in good shape, and now I'm in business with a working atari 800.

 

As far as continuing on making an alternate case, I will pick that  up again once i either fix the cpu card or get a replacement.

[mimo]

11 hours ago, scm2000 said:

As far as continuing on making an alternate case, I will pick that  up again once i either fix the cpu card or get a replacement.

I said the same when my 800 arrived smashed.

10 years later ...............

[+Larry]

23 hours ago, scm2000 said:

As an update...   I recently bought a non-working Atari 800, cleaned it up and found that it has no video, isolated it to just the cpu card...    So I put together the original 800 with the case from the newer one, also it's speaker -which was in good shape, and now I'm in business with a working atari 800.

 

As far as continuing on making an alternate case, I will pick that  up again once i either fix the cpu card or get a replacement.

That would be my solution, too.  You've got some real enthusiasm and drive if you complete a new case for an 800!  OTOH, I still have a grandfather clock kit that I bought nearly 50 years ago.  Looking like it's not going to get finished...