Warranty seal on a mint A500: To break or not to break?

[StevenJGore]

I've just been lucky and won a pristine condition A500 for next to nothing on eBay, with no yellowing or signs of aging whatsoever. It was a local seller who wouldn't post it, collection only. His loss is my gain! Oh, and I found a memory expansion behind the trapdoor cover too, which wasn't mentioned in the item description!

The case is a bit grubby, but nothing a delicate clean can't remove. Between the keys and between the grilles is a bit dusty but, again, nothing that can't be cleaned from the outside.

But there is bound to be nearly 20 years of human skin cells, hairs, and fingernails built up inside the case, all over the motherboard and components. Both warranty seals are currently intact.

I'm torn as to whether I should break the seals because if I do, I can give the inside a good clean and restore it to somewhere close to to its factory glory, but I feel that I would also be partially destroying a piece of mint condition Commodore history. I don't know how rare such a good condition A500 is, and if breaking the seals would also lose some of its value (not that I'm going to sell it anytime soon).

What would you do? Am I just making a fuss over nothing?

Steve.

[TheCorfiot]

Steve,

Go on break em,, I don't think it detracts from value but in any case she's got to have a good good clean inside..

TC

[pubzombie]

do it. or fear ever plugging her in

[Pyromania]

Commodore can still fix it for you if you don't break the seal.

[pubzombie]

Originally Posted by Pyromania

Commodore can still fix it for you if you don't break the seal.

really ? so if he plugs it in and it dies they will still fix it? wow. i thought warranties ran out?

[prowler]

Don't worry about Amiga warranty seals, Steve.

I bought a brand new Amiga 1200 Magic Pack from Eyetech. When I opened up the pack, the Amiga's warranty seals (covering the case screw heads) had all been broken. They don't mean a thing.

prowler

[StevenJGore]

Well obviously I'm not worried about getting it fixed if the warranty seals are broken!

My reason for asking was about preserving a mint A500 in its original condition, and about whether it would lose value from a collectors point of view.

I think I'll crack her open tomorrow and give her a good clean!

Steve.

[prowler]

Originally Posted by StevenJGore

Well obviously I'm not worried about getting it fixed if the warranty seals are broken!

My reason for asking was about preserving a mint A500 in its original condition, and about whether it would lose value from a collectors point of view.

I think I'll crack her open tomorrow and give her a good clean!

Steve.

Good decision, mate!

[Pyromania]

@pubzombie

No one told you about Commodore's 1 million year Amiga warranty?

[DH]

Just break the damn things. Slice them with a scalpel as neatly as you can if you want.

It's almost definitely going to need new caps, so if you want it running, without it burning out the mobo or other components, you're going to have to open up the poor miiggy.

btw. Don't try switching it on, you may end up with a miggy that will cost more to fix than it does now.

[pubzombie]

Originally Posted by Pyromania

@pubzombie

No one told you about Commodore's 1 million year Amiga warranty?

LOL if only. my dish washer died three weeks after the warranty expired, my laptop a month and my xbox 2days!!!!!!!!
i have managed to open my 1200 without breaking the seal using a scalpel

[AmigaFriend]

Originally Posted by StevenJGore

I think I'll crack her open tomorrow and give her a good clean!

Steve.

Photos please!

[StevenJGore]

Right...

I cracked her open this morning. It didn't seem too bad inside, just a few clumps of dust here and there. But I took the motherboard out into the back garden and blasted it with an air duster (my missus would have killed me if I'd done it indoors) and bits flew everywhere. The metal shielding looks like it got some kind of black plague. It's not rust, just a kind of black tarnishing. I've washed the two halves of the case and cleaned the keyboard and I'm almost ready to put her back together. I'll post a piccy in the morning of her restored glory!

It's almost definitely going to need new caps, so if you want it running, without it burning out the mobo or other components

They look brand-new, or is it not possible to tell by looking? (I think perhaps I'm getting mixed up with leaking batteries) Also, do you mean just the two very large light blue capacitors and perhaps the slightly smaller one, or every single capacitor on the board? My soldering skills would just about stretch to the two large ones, the others look too fiddly.

Incidentally, the date of manufacture on the motherboard sticker is 5/89. Is the 5 the week number or the month? If it's the week number then it's a bit of a coincidence that I should break her seals almost exactly 20 years later!

Steve.

[twizzle]

theres no need to break the seal, just carefully peal it off
then you can stick it back afterwards

[prowler]

Originally Posted by StevenJGore

They look brand-new, or is it not possible to tell by looking? (I think perhaps I'm getting mixed up with leaking batteries) Also, do you mean just the two very large light blue capacitors and perhaps the slightly smaller one, or every single capacitor on the board? My soldering skills would just about stretch to the two large ones, the others look too fiddly.

Steve.

Hi Steve,

The obvious sign of leaking capacitors (the electrolytic, i.e. polarized, ones) is a jelly-like or salty deposit on the motherboard around the faulty ones. The electrolytic capactors are usually cylindrical-shaped and mounted vertically on the board with both wires protruding from underneath the component. Sometimes they are mounted horizontally on the board with a wire protruding from each end. These components are usually marked for polarity with a groove pressed into the body at the positive end.

They are usually sleeved in a black or blue sheath and have clear markings of capacitance value, rated voltage and polarity on them in white or black characters, respectively.

Less obvious tell-tale signs of impending leakage are tiny mounds formed in the ends where the material is weaker indicating an increased pressure inside the component. Unfortunately, for the vertically-mounted capacitors, this will always be the underneath (hidden) surface. For this reason, the best advice will always be to replace the old capacitors with new components, just in case.

prowler

[Paul_s]

Breaking Amiga warranty seals is an international criminal offence. I'm afraid you'll have to kill yourself - most people who do such a thing are decapitated with the Amiga metal shielding! For what its worth I still have 3 500's without seals broken

[TheCorfiot]

Originally Posted by Paul_s

Breaking Amiga warranty seals is an international criminal offence. I'm afraid you'll have to kill yourself - most people who do such a thing are decapitated with the Amiga metal shielding! For what its worth I still have 3 500's without seals broken

And Miraculously they Still refuse to start working

TC