Mega STE, explosive boot

[fenarinarsa]

I had a bad surprise when I booted up my Mega STE this evening...

IMG_0966_small.jpg (109.65 KiB) Viewed 645 times

I tried to remove and replace the SIMMs and it booted, but an hour later it started to crash again.

In addition a few weeks ago I plugged it on a broadcast-grade HD CRT monitor and noticed that the video signal was not stable - it was perfect on my other regular STE. It was kind of "weavy" horizontally.

My guess is I need at least to do a full PSU recap but my experience in soldering counts in only a few hours. Any suggestions? I'm not really sure I can do a correct job even if the guide looks to be really well done.

That and I hope it's not something worse.

Any advice is welcome

[Petari]

Recap of PSU is good thing, but it seems rather that you have some bad contacts. So, should do usual PLCC chip removing and cleaning contacts, checking connectors.

[rubber_jonnie]

If you can get some Isopropyl Alcohol wipes, or just the fluid, then that will help clean any contacts up, but a re-cap may be something you should consider anyway.

If it's taking an hour to crash, it may be heat related. Not sure what fans the MSTEs have, worth checking they're running ok if it has them.

[stephen_usher]

If it's taking an hour to crash, it may be heat related. Not sure what fans the MSTEs have, worth checking they're running ok if it has them.

Just like all but the very earliest TTs, they have just the PSU fan.

[fenarinarsa]

It's not heat-related, I just tried to power it on again after one full day of no use and it crashed on boot.

I will start by cleaning contacts as Petari said, actually someone else gave me the exact same advice today.

[Steve]

If it's taking an hour to crash, it may be heat related. Not sure what fans the MSTEs have, worth checking they're running ok if it has them.

Just like all but the very earliest TTs, they have just the PSU fan.

Actually I think the earliest TTs had two fans, the later models only had the PSU fan.

[stephen_usher]

Just like all but the very earliest TTs, they have just the PSU fan.

Actually I think the earliest TTs had two fans, the later models only had the PSU fan.

Indeed, that's what I said.

[Steve]

Haha I missed the `but`

[rubber_jonnie]

It's not heat-related, I just tried to power it on again after one full day of no use and it crashed on boot.

I will start by cleaning contacts as Petari said, actually someone else gave me the exact same advice today.

Yep, definitely not a heat problem then. Contacts is a good place to start, may be worth getting a magnifying glass out and having a close look at caps, just in case.

If cleaning the contacts, have you considered a SIMM swap to see if that makes a difference?