Hello Amigos

Hi everyone,

I found this forum when I got round to getting the Amiga 500+ out the attic.

Imagine my joy that the power light came on, the drive light came on as did the caps lock light.....then my disappointment when all I get is a black screen

The battery has leaked over the board....I have no computer knowledge, does anyone know of anywhere I can take the beast to be repaired?

Thank you in advance

Alan

[Allen1]

Hi Alan,

until you find someone who may have a look at the damage from the battery leakage, it would be wise to remove the battery and put the board minus the metal shield into a plastic bowl and then treat the affected areas with some lemon juice to stop the damage from the battery continuing to eat away at the board and parts.

I use vitafit lemon juice from Lidls, its cheap and does a good job (its a bit like jif and is made from lemon concentrate). Just soak the areas that are bad, leave for a while then use an old tooth brush to remove more stubborn bits and rinse with water, this may take a few goes to get it clean then find somewhere warm to let it dry after getting rid of most of the water etc.

Realistically you may have to remove some of the socketed dips as the legs often get contaminated too (that battery stuff gets everywhere), the dips can also be cleaned using the same method as for the motherboard.

It is important to do the above in an area that is easily cleaned and to wash your hands properly after doing the work and also wear some old clothes. With a bit of luck the damage will be fixable so after its cleaned you could maybe upload some pictures of the board and maybe someone will help you out.

You need more than one message to do a few things on here like sending a Private Message (PM) and I think that goes for pictures too but I'm not certain as its been a while since I uploaded anything, so just reply to this and up your post counts etc OK.

All the best,
Allen

Hi, thank you for getting back to me, I feel bad joining and instantly asking for help.
I have used contact cleaner and a toothbrush, I'll try the lemon juice idea, would white vinegar work?
I have no experience of soldering, I don't own a soldering iron. I'm not use to delicate work �� I fear I'd do more damage than good but I'll certainly clean it up to prevent further damage.

[Allen1]

Hi, I used to use vinegar before I tried lemon juice, all the normal vinegar seemed to work but not as effective as the lemon juice in my opinion. I believe that white spirit vinegar is supposed to be OK, I did try it but can't recall how good it was, on the plus side I generally used what was nice on chips but never tried the non brewed kind of vinegar

Don't feel bad about asking for help, it is what this forum tries to do and there are a lot of people who have become proficient and better solderers by doing their own repairs due to costs. The battery can be cut from the motherboard instead of de-soldering it, the main thing is to get it off as soon as possible and clean up what you can before tracks get destroyed and the likes.

In some cases like yours, it may be more practical to sell the non working 500+ as spares or repair and buy a 500 or an already repaired 500+. If you go down that route then keep your mouse and power supply as they will also work with a 500, 600 or a 1200.

Keep an eye on Ebay and Amibay for a replacement if you do go that way but do not spend silly money on a basic model OK

P.S. a 500 motherboard also fits your case, it may be cheaper to buy a working board, they do pop up now and then.

[LuMan]

Hi Alan. Welcome to the forum. I hope you get it sorted. I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron, and also live in Nottingham, so, if you get really stuck, drop me a line as I may be able to lend a hand.

Always nice to see folk from my neck of the woods popping up.