2600 JR replacement switches
Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2018 11:25 am
While resurrecting my 2600 console from 30 years ago, I noticed it is in dire need of some maintenance and repairs.
First of all, the power supply switch was very intermittent and needed replacing. Unfortunately Atari, yet again, seems to have used some custom switch which is impossible to find due to the offset pinout.
I have seen a few websites dotted around where people have been physically dismantling the switch cleaning it up and reassembling it. I did consider this originally, but the original switches seem very loosely put together I did not want to risk breaking the switch or not been any better after it was cleaned up. So I spent a lot of time looking for a new switch solution which will hopefully be a lot more reliable.
The only possible chance of a switch fitting is to use a dual pole switch which is the only switch I can think of which will have offset pins.
So simply cutting off the bottom row of three pins as illustrated above, the switch will physically fit the motherboard.
It took some time to find a compatible switch and these will be available in my store. Unfortunately these switches are rather expensive. While investigating options it is madness that you can pay easily £5-£12+ for just a single switch. I think this is just madness and I don't know how they can justify such a high amount the basic switch.
Cheaper switches can be found all over the Internet for anyone who wants to search the switches themselves , but they generally seem to be open frame types which I am not generally happy with as it is to prone to dust and dirt getting on the contacts. So I went for a quality fully enclosed switch which I hope will last a long time. Not only that , the physical dimensions of the switch such as the height switch, and the actual switch lever itself must all fit also.
Changing the switch is very simple, just remove the old one, but the three pins on the new switch, and solder it in.
Voilà, new switch in place..
I thought which could possibly be done would be to drill three holes on the motherboard (I have not checked that there is no tracks on both sides) and solder the switch straight into the motherboard. Then the left and right contacts could be soldered together. Then basically instead of one switch being used, both sides of the switch will be used, and this could increase the long-term reliability of the switch...
The switches are used can be found in my store.
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/#0125
I also am working on a solution to replace the dreadful push switches on the JR console also. Updates with this will come over the next few weeks..