Amiga 500 Smoke!

Lorfarius · 03 November 2017, 23:16

Have a standard A500 with a Gotek and ACA 500 Plus which I just started using today. Has been running without issue but earlier a thin trail of smoke came out of the left hand side with a strong electrical smell. I quickly unplugged everything, including the expansion card/memory and turned it over.

Does this mean that it's dead? I've only had it a couple of weeks

Predseda · 03 November 2017, 23:37

It does not mean it is dead. Just open it and see what is burnt.

TjLaZer · 03 November 2017, 23:38

Came from the ACA? I would sniff the board to see if you can find the burnt areas on both the ACA and 500. Then if 500 looks ok try the 500 by itself to see if it works

Daedalus · 03 November 2017, 23:42

I haven't seen it myself, but I've read a couple of reports from people where the capacitors at the back near the video output fail and cause the video hybrid to burn out. If that's the case, you won't have working video but the rest of the machine will be unharmed.

I would make sure your power supply is ok though, because pretty much any electronic part, new or old, will let out the magic smoke if it's fed too high a voltage.

Lorfarius · 03 November 2017, 23:48

Plugged A500 in on its own without Gotek and it displayed the insert disk icon. Was making a low hiss like cackle through the TV.

Plugged the ACA in and it displays an EO in green with a red light showing on the left of its board, can't see any burn marks on it. Also this comes up on screen when I boot it:

Lorfarius · 04 November 2017, 00:08

Have just opened up the Amiga and had a really good look inside but there's no sign of anything being burnt and there's no smell either. However the ACA 500 + card does have a light electrical smell around the black square chip with a warranty sticker on top.

system11 · 04 November 2017, 00:13

Check the underside of any PCBs too, smoke always leaves a mark somewhere.

Lorfarius · 04 November 2017, 01:19

Have searched the Amiga but no find of any smoke smell or burn marks. I've just sat the ACA500+ plus card away from the Amiga and the smell from it is quite strong. Pretty sure its that.

system11 · 04 November 2017, 01:53

I'm really curious now, got a high res photo? I spend much of my time repairing old arcade circuit boards and physically manifested faults are always interesting.

TjLaZer · 30 November 2017, 18:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daedalus

I haven't seen it myself, but I've read a couple of reports from people where the capacitors at the back near the video output fail and cause the video hybrid to burn out. If that's the case, you won't have working video but the rest of the machine will be unharmed.

I would make sure your power supply is ok though, because pretty much any electronic part, new or old, will let out the magic smoke if it's fed too high a voltage.

I have a 500 with this issue! Top left cap gets really hot. No RGB video but composite works. Does anything else need to be replaced other than the large caps?

Daedalus · 30 November 2017, 22:09

Hmmm, if those caps have failed (and it sounds like at least one has), then there's a possibility that the Video Hybrid has also failed. That's the long, tall, skinny part running from one cap to the other. That also provides the composite output though, so it would be strange for it to have failed... Maybe it's a partial failure, or maybe there are other issues like lack of sync signals (which come from Agnus). But first order of the day is to definitely change at least those two capacitors, then see what else needs to be done.

TjLaZer · 01 December 2017, 23:31

The composite out was good then it started to get dim, so I think that hot cap is the problem. Will replace the cap first and see if that fixes the issue! Ordering a new hybrid chip just in case, hopefully from Kipper2k!

Codetsu · 02 December 2017, 18:17

sound like smoke come out some Cap inside A500
when trace burn you will see it and some damage happens

when cap goes it take hiss sound whit a smoke

03 November 2017, 23:16	#1
Lorfarius Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Glossop/UK Posts: 532	Amiga 500 Smoke! Have a standard A500 with a Gotek and ACA 500 Plus which I just started using today. Has been running without issue but earlier a thin trail of smoke came out of the left hand side with a strong electrical smell. I quickly unplugged everything, including the expansion card/memory and turned it over. Does this mean that it's dead? I've only had it a couple of weeks

03 November 2017, 23:48	#5
Lorfarius Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Glossop/UK Posts: 532	Plugged A500 in on its own without Gotek and it displayed the insert disk icon. Was making a low hiss like cackle through the TV. Plugged the ACA in and it displays an EO in green with a red light showing on the left of its board, can't see any burn marks on it. Also this comes up on screen when I boot it: Last edited by Lorfarius; 04 November 2017 at 00:00.

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03 November 2017, 23:37	#2
Predseda Puttymoon inhabitant Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Tromaville Age: 46 Posts: 7,535	It does not mean it is dead. Just open it and see what is burnt.

03 November 2017, 23:38	#3
TjLaZer Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Tacoma, WA USA Age: 52 Posts: 1,915	Came from the ACA? I would sniff the board to see if you can find the burnt areas on both the ACA and 500. Then if 500 looks ok try the 500 by itself to see if it works

03 November 2017, 23:42	#4
Daedalus Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Dublin, then Glasgow Posts: 6,334	I haven't seen it myself, but I've read a couple of reports from people where the capacitors at the back near the video output fail and cause the video hybrid to burn out. If that's the case, you won't have working video but the rest of the machine will be unharmed. I would make sure your power supply is ok though, because pretty much any electronic part, new or old, will let out the magic smoke if it's fed too high a voltage.

04 November 2017, 00:08	#6
Lorfarius Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Glossop/UK Posts: 532	Have just opened up the Amiga and had a really good look inside but there's no sign of anything being burnt and there's no smell either. However the ACA 500 + card does have a light electrical smell around the black square chip with a warranty sticker on top.

04 November 2017, 00:13	#7
system11 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: UK Posts: 82	Check the underside of any PCBs too, smoke always leaves a mark somewhere.

04 November 2017, 01:19	#8
Lorfarius Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Glossop/UK Posts: 532	Have searched the Amiga but no find of any smoke smell or burn marks. I've just sat the ACA500+ plus card away from the Amiga and the smell from it is quite strong. Pretty sure its that.

04 November 2017, 01:53	#9
system11 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: UK Posts: 82	I'm really curious now, got a high res photo? I spend much of my time repairing old arcade circuit boards and physically manifested faults are always interesting.

30 November 2017, 22:09	#11
Daedalus Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Dublin, then Glasgow Posts: 6,334	Hmmm, if those caps have failed (and it sounds like at least one has), then there's a possibility that the Video Hybrid has also failed. That's the long, tall, skinny part running from one cap to the other. That also provides the composite output though, so it would be strange for it to have failed... Maybe it's a partial failure, or maybe there are other issues like lack of sync signals (which come from Agnus). But first order of the day is to definitely change at least those two capacitors, then see what else needs to be done.

01 December 2017, 23:31	#12
TjLaZer Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Tacoma, WA USA Age: 52 Posts: 1,915	The composite out was good then it started to get dim, so I think that hot cap is the problem. Will replace the cap first and see if that fixes the issue! Ordering a new hybrid chip just in case, hopefully from Kipper2k!

02 December 2017, 18:17	#13
Codetsu Registered User Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: next to Mordor Posts: 147	sound like smoke come out some Cap inside A500 when trace burn you will see it and some damage happens when cap goes it take hiss sound whit a smoke

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