Amiga 1200 service blog (accel stability)

[Steve]

Hi all,

Here is an Amiga 1200 that was sent to me for a re-cap due to instability issues when using the ACA1233n accelerator. In this blog we re-cap the motherboard, remove two ceramic capacitors on the rear and perform a general tidy up.

Photos before service:

motherboard_original_overview.jpg (582.51 KiB) Viewed 152 times

top_left_corner_overview.jpg (515.05 KiB) Viewed 152 times

middle_overview.jpg (473.63 KiB) Viewed 152 times

Capacitors on top of board replacement, many had leaked and emitted a very strong fishy smell:

top_left_caps_removed.jpg (523.98 KiB) Viewed 152 times

top_left_caps_new.jpg (478.71 KiB) Viewed 152 times

middle_caps_removed.jpg (479.13 KiB) Viewed 152 times

middle_caps_replaced.jpg (477.24 KiB) Viewed 152 times

back_caps_replaced.jpg (487.89 KiB) Viewed 152 times

Rear capacitors needed to be removed as per aca1233n wiki, link: http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/ACA1233n#poss ... ifications

rear_caps.jpg (530.7 KiB) Viewed 152 times

rear_caps_removed1.jpg (344.11 KiB) Viewed 112 times

Rust on case and shielding removed with sand paper, case cleaning in the sink:

shielding_rust1.jpg (202.96 KiB) Viewed 152 times

shielding_rust2.jpg (248.17 KiB) Viewed 152 times

base_case_rust.jpg (177.92 KiB) Viewed 152 times

rust_removed1.jpg (268.52 KiB) Viewed 152 times

rust_removed2.jpg (263.86 KiB) Viewed 152 times

sink_wash_case.jpg (348.51 KiB) Viewed 152 times

case_clean.jpg (275.04 KiB) Viewed 152 times

Put back together and finishing touches, HDD cable was very long so removed and replaced with new smaller cable, rear of cf adaptor covered with kapton tape and secured with velcro:

new_velcro_under.jpg (439.31 KiB) Viewed 152 times

new_velcro_top.jpg (420.11 KiB) Viewed 152 times

[Steve]

Keyboard cleaned and everything wrapped up:

vacuum_keyb.jpg (302.85 KiB) Viewed 151 times

finished.jpg (317.49 KiB) Viewed 151 times

fininished_wrapped.jpg (410.49 KiB) Viewed 151 times

Customer will hopefully leave a review. Just wanted to illustrate the extra care I take when doing a basic re-cap service for customers

[Maximilian]

Hello Steve,

Thanks for sharing

Did you replace the two capacitors near the audio jacks?
And did you remove the keyboard connector to do so?

Thanks!

[Steve]

Yes they were replaced too, I didn't need to remove the keyboard connector as I have a very fine soldering tip which fits between ok. Got to be very careful with a1200 mobos as the pads are very delicate.

[Pjeff18]

Great write up Steve!

For those reading this blog I can’t wait to receive my A1200 back. When I do I will write a mini review here but in the meantime I must say that Steve is highly competent and something that sets him apart from other gurus is his superb communication. Every step of the way he kept me informed, from the moment the Amiga arrived to the final cleaning process. I will now get it collected and get back to hopefully playing my classics .

Review to follow