A3000 resurrected for short time, now expired. :(

r.cade · 20 January 2008, 21:09

Well, the A3000 I rescued from a thrift store only had one gasp of life left in it.
I got the OS installed and transferred a couple of WHDLOAD games over to test last night and it was working fine. So I left it up and running transferring more and went to a movie and went to bed.

This morning, it was off and won't turn back on. She is expired. The power supply fan comes on for a split second when you turn it on and then cuts off immediately. The power supply comes on OK when not plugged into the motherboard, but shuts off immediately when plugged into it- so the board may have developed a short somewhere.

I suspected the line drivers (1488/1489) since I left it using the null-modem serial, but I removed those and still no life. The battery corrosion doesn't look too bad, but something bad happened.

Unknown_K · 20 January 2008, 22:06

Take it apart and look for blown chips, shorts, overheating, etc. Smell anything bad? Check capacitors for leaks or bulges.

Check the power connector on the motherboard to see if any of the pins are shorted to ground. Remove any cards installed.

r.cade · 20 January 2008, 23:23

I did that when I removed the line drivers- the board looks clean and new, nothing burned. I need to take a closer look, though, because obviously it's something tripping the PSU.

DDNI · 20 January 2008, 23:26

longshot, but try a different wall socket. I lived in an old place once that only had 1 good wall socket!

r.cade · 21 January 2008, 02:25

No go- it looks perfect, but something is shorted. I removed all the socketed chips one at a time with no change. I went ahead and socketed the line drivers and installed new ones, but that wasn't the problem. I also clipped +5V from all the TTL's near the serial port with no change.

Oh well... easy come, easy go. $10 US was too little for this great PC.

Unknown_K · 21 January 2008, 03:09

Check the capacitors for a dead short. I hope you are not going to junk the system. Is the case in nice condition?

r.cade · 21 January 2008, 03:10

It's in nearly new condition, no scratches or anything. I'll check all the caps- they look new.

r.cade · 21 January 2008, 03:35

These can't really be tested in circuit, can they? About half are show short, but if +5 is shorted to GND somewhere else on the board, this would be the case.

I'll see about removing them one at a time to check...

Jope · 21 January 2008, 08:14

How about unplugging the PSU from the motherboard, take some old junker hard drive you won't miss losing and only plug that into the PSU. Then power up and see if the PSU stays running and what voltages it puts out..

r.cade · 22 January 2008, 02:27

I removed each cap one by one (that took quite a while, there's about 20-30) and checked for shorts. All were not shorted when out of the circuit.

I also hooked the power supply up to 4 SCSI drives and they all spin up fine. I also removed the battery and cleaned up that area and didn't find any shorts.

Checking from the circuit board connector, all +5V lines have continuity to all the GND pins. They don't have continuity to any of the +/-12V or +/-5V User lines, or to the video +5.

Probably bad TTL somewhere, but it will be some work to replace them all.

alexh · 22 January 2008, 10:23

AFAIK hard drives do not use the full voltage capability of the PSU. It might be worth checking for a fault inside the PSU, but take care.

Alternatively why not buy / make a cheap ATX to A3000 PSU adapter?

http://www.geocities.com/ovegun/Amig...owersuply.html

http://www.ianstedman.co.uk/Amiga/am...SU_to_an_A3000

20 January 2008, 21:09	#1
r.cade Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Augusta, Georgia, USA Posts: 550	A3000 resurrected for short time, now expired. :( Well, the A3000 I rescued from a thrift store only had one gasp of life left in it. I got the OS installed and transferred a couple of WHDLOAD games over to test last night and it was working fine. So I left it up and running transferring more and went to a movie and went to bed. This morning, it was off and won't turn back on. She is expired. The power supply fan comes on for a split second when you turn it on and then cuts off immediately. The power supply comes on OK when not plugged into the motherboard, but shuts off immediately when plugged into it- so the board may have developed a short somewhere. I suspected the line drivers (1488/1489) since I left it using the null-modem serial, but I removed those and still no life. The battery corrosion doesn't look too bad, but something bad happened.

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20 January 2008, 22:06	#2
Unknown_K Registered User Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio/USA Age: 55 Posts: 1,380	Take it apart and look for blown chips, shorts, overheating, etc. Smell anything bad? Check capacitors for leaks or bulges. Check the power connector on the motherboard to see if any of the pins are shorted to ground. Remove any cards installed.

20 January 2008, 23:23	#3
r.cade Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Augusta, Georgia, USA Posts: 550	I did that when I removed the line drivers- the board looks clean and new, nothing burned. I need to take a closer look, though, because obviously it's something tripping the PSU.

20 January 2008, 23:26	#4
DDNI Targ Explorer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 5,431	longshot, but try a different wall socket. I lived in an old place once that only had 1 good wall socket!

21 January 2008, 02:25	#5
r.cade Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Augusta, Georgia, USA Posts: 550	No go- it looks perfect, but something is shorted. I removed all the socketed chips one at a time with no change. I went ahead and socketed the line drivers and installed new ones, but that wasn't the problem. I also clipped +5V from all the TTL's near the serial port with no change. Oh well... easy come, easy go. $10 US was too little for this great PC.

21 January 2008, 03:09	#6
Unknown_K Registered User Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio/USA Age: 55 Posts: 1,380	Check the capacitors for a dead short. I hope you are not going to junk the system. Is the case in nice condition?

21 January 2008, 03:10	#7
r.cade Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Augusta, Georgia, USA Posts: 550	It's in nearly new condition, no scratches or anything. I'll check all the caps- they look new.

21 January 2008, 03:35	#8
r.cade Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Augusta, Georgia, USA Posts: 550	These can't really be tested in circuit, can they? About half are show short, but if +5 is shorted to GND somewhere else on the board, this would be the case. I'll see about removing them one at a time to check...

21 January 2008, 08:14	#9
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 43 Posts: 9,862	How about unplugging the PSU from the motherboard, take some old junker hard drive you won't miss losing and only plug that into the PSU. Then power up and see if the PSU stays running and what voltages it puts out..

22 January 2008, 02:27	#10
r.cade Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Augusta, Georgia, USA Posts: 550	I removed each cap one by one (that took quite a while, there's about 20-30) and checked for shorts. All were not shorted when out of the circuit. I also hooked the power supply up to 4 SCSI drives and they all spin up fine. I also removed the battery and cleaned up that area and didn't find any shorts. Checking from the circuit board connector, all +5V lines have continuity to all the GND pins. They don't have continuity to any of the +/-12V or +/-5V User lines, or to the video +5. Probably bad TTL somewhere, but it will be some work to replace them all.

22 January 2008, 10:23	#11
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,344	AFAIK hard drives do not use the full voltage capability of the PSU. It might be worth checking for a fault inside the PSU, but take care. Alternatively why not buy / make a cheap ATX to A3000 PSU adapter? http://www.geocities.com/ovegun/Amig...owersuply.html http://www.ianstedman.co.uk/Amiga/am...SU_to_an_A3000

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