Recapping an Atari 800 8-bit Computer from 1979
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- Опубликовано: 5 фев 2025
- I picked up this Atari 800 computer in early 2018. When I tried to power it on, nothing happened! So I decided to take it apart and recap the power supply and the logic board. Can we repair it and get this Atari to live again?
View my Atari 800 Recapping Guide:
mac84.net/web/...
New to soldering? Check out Bruce's video about soldering electronics: • Beginner's Guide to So...
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The RAM and OS cards aren't always in plastic cases, on later 800s Atari removed the cases from these cards to prevent possible overheating. My 800 is just like this (it's a unit from early 1983) and has a spacer above the bare cards to hold them in place. The top cover also tends to be closed up with screws as opposed to brown plastic locks.
Overheating due to the plastic cases (especially the DRAM) was indeed a known issue. The cases were present just to make things look and feel neater and more "plug & play" for the non-power-user, and possibly to protect the chips from static electricity when being handled, but later on all 800s came with 48K standard, so the cases weren't needed anymore. Getting rid of them also solved an overheating issue that I recall hearing about back in the day. This isn't too surprising because just looking at them, those plastic cases did a pretty good job of trapping heat.
Still want one of these bad boys! Great video!
look at all the resistors on that motherboard! man! 40 year old tech is so cool!
This is awesome! Sorry I missed the premiere. Excellent as always.
Congratulations on your 800 pickup!! 9:58 Not recommended to use modern cool running voltage regulators type TSR 1-2450 since they cause a very poor video output. 17:23 the RAM shell casings caused the RAM to get hot and shortened life span of the cards. Atari stopped including the casings later on. Best to operate the machine without the casings. 18:07 looks like you are missing two screws holding the keyboard to the case top. There are four screws securing the keyboard in total. 19:21 looks like your OS card has Star Raiders flashed onto it and who knows what else. The eeprom looks uncovered and eeproms need reflashing after several years so that is a concern. Looks like it's an Omnimon mod. I'm not familiar with Omnimon but someone on the AtariAge forums will help you. Great job on the recapping! I have a recent tutorial in my channel for these machines if you are interested.
Which kind of voltage regulators should you use to replace the old ones then?
True on the plastic cases. The only reason they were used to begin with was to make things look neater and more modular and less intimidating for casual users (like cartridges), which was deemed an issue since the 800 was originally released with much less RAM (8K on one RAM cartridge if I remember correctly) and the user was expected to be able to increase the amount of RAM by themselves by adding RAM cartridges or replacing them with larger ones (up to 48K total on three 16K cartridges). In addition to the overheating issue, when the 800 started to be shipped with a maxed-out 48K from the factory, standard, there was no longer a reason for the user to mess around in that area, so out went the plastic cases and being able to open that compartment at all (without a screwdriver).
@@WinrichNaujoks Maybe try the same kind the 800 originally came with? The 7805 and 7812 are still available.
Great editing and narration. Enjoyed the video. Thank you
YOU make this all look easy, man
found your video! LOVED IT! glad you got it working! I didn't know about the strange clips! for everybody else reset the ram and rom boards "if the power light comes on" and nothing else happens!
I've done this with success before.
I had to change a few diodes also.
Can't believe you paid only ten dollars for it!
Great video 👌
New subscriber here, I came from Action Retro RUclips channel. Looking forward to watching your videos.
Awesome, thanks for subscribing, I hope you enjoy the videos! Check out the "Main Videos" playlist which contains some of my favorites. :-)
@@Mac84 looking at all these old Macs brings back school memories.
nice video! sorry I missed the premiere
Binding the pins of the capacitors when you solder them makes it harder for desoldering later. IMHO it's not good advice. You could use clips, tape, holding it with your hand, pushing it against the table, etc.
Hi Steve, great video - and a great piece of hardware - It is a bit harder to find axial capacitors these days, you got them from the internet or locally? Thanks.
Thanks to this video, we now know what the back of a hand looks like when soldering stuff.
Hi Thanks for the great video! Where did you get the capacitor kit? Also the link to recapping guide doesnt seem to work any more
It's nice that these good old computers are easy to work on, with discreet electronics you can individually test and replace.
Not like the massive integration they use these days where the whole computer runs on just a few massive ICs.
Why replace the capacitors? Do solid-state electronics go bad?!
Maybe I should try this on my old Yamaha synthesizer that won't power on even with a new replacement Yamaha power adapter.
In this case the capacitors were over 40 years old and were visibly leaking (at least for some of them). Capacitors smooth and regulate power, so it wouldn’t hurt to look inside.
www.youtube.com/@Mac84Sadly it looks like the site hosting your Atari 800 capping guide is not longer available - is it hosted online anywhere else?
Thank you so much for such an informative video, it's really re sparked my interest in some of the retro kit I have knocking around.
Oops! Sorry about that, my web host changed ages ago. Here is the current link: mac84.net/web/atari-800-power-supply-and-main-board-recapping-guide/
Thanks for the kind words and good luck with your retro tinkering!