A500+ Battery advice

[keitha1200]

Hi

Picked up an Amiga 500+ which hasn't been used in years (there was no power supply).

I haven't tried to power the 500+ up yet, the first thing I done was opened-up the computer. The battery was leaking (just a very little), I then cleaned the whole battery area, My question is:

Should I replace the battery before powering up the 500+?

or

Will it be ok to test the 500+ first?

after i cleaned it:

Advice welcome

[brett71]

Speaking as someone with little to no electronics expertise, the battery looks fine, but that second-from-the-top component that's out of place directly below the "Audio Filter" screenprinting in your third picture would seem to be a bigger issue.

[roy bates]

try to remove the battery and use lemon juice(yes you read that right)to remove the battery damage(thats the green stuff eating the board and components.then clean the board with isopropyl alcohol or even screen wash(the type you dilute to use in a car).

[keitha1200]

I did notice that! hmmm the original seal seem to be intact (until I opened), interesting tho

I used hand-wash gel stuff, with a cotten bud. [edit] isopropyl alcohol

I do appreciate all advice tho. Would be brilliant to get a 500+ running

PS I've just notice (via my picture's) there's slight damage to a couple of tracks.

[amigakit.com]

Hello. I would recommend replacing it with one of the coin cell battery kits:

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...oducts_id=1093

[roy bates]

Originally Posted by keitha1200

I did notice that! hmmm the original seal seem to be intact (until I opened), interesting tho

I used hand-wash gel stuff, with a cotten bud. [edit] isopropyl alcohol

I do appreciate all advice tho. Would be brilliant to get a 500+ running

PS I've just notice (via my picture's) there's slight damage to a couple of tracks.

use lemon juice to neutralise the damage then do what you just mentioned after.you will still have to remove the battery it will just keep leaking.

and as amigakit has mentioned replace it with that or similar battery.

@amigakit

is that coin cell a rechargable unit?dont you sell the barrel 3.6 volt type anymore?

[amigakit.com]

We sell the rechargeable Nimh barrel battery also. The coin cell battery has a circuit to prevent charging.

NIMH Barrel Battery:

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...roducts_id=293

[roy bates]

Originally Posted by amigakit.com

We sell the rechargeable Nimh barrel battery also. The coin cell battery has a circuit to prevent charging.

NIMH Barrel Battery:

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...roducts_id=293

cheers,that should have him sorted

either one will work .

[keitha1200]

Thanks for all the top advice guys

I did as mentioned above (lemon juice/alcohol) cleaned the motherboard up, and it's looking lovely now

I do have another question

When I insert a floppy disk, I get three to four clicks before the machine boots from floppy!! I've tried different disks, and it's always the same. It loads the disks no problem but it's weird, as my 500 and 1200 also load on the first click.

(standard roms and no expansions)

Any thoughts?

[roy bates]

ive never heard of this to be honest,maybe theres something wrong with the drive.(dust build up)

have you cleaned the drive at all?

[keitha1200]

Yeah I gave the drive a good clean with cotten buds. The thing is: the drive loads the software ok, it just doesn't boot from the disk 'right away' like other machines! def 'weird'.

[roy bates]

it does sound weird,i dont remember it doing this when i had a 500 years ago.

but then again if it works.........

[keitha1200]

My 500 boots the same as my 1200 (on the first click), maybe the 500+ floppy's mechanical bits are worn (or something), I'm just wondering if the problem is related to the motherboard.

[roy bates]

try turning on the machine without a disk in the drive and see if it clicks 3 or 4 times before you see the insert disk screen.

[keitha1200]

I haven't tried switching the machine on with a disk in the drive yet

(After I cleaned it) I switched it on, to see if it worked ok, then got the boot screen and clicking. I then tried inserting different disks (3 or 4 clicks) then disk loads.

I don't 'really' wanting to mess about with it, until I've sorted out the battery, just wondering if someone knew what the problem was, if there is one! as it still works and loads software.

[roy bates]

you can use the machine without the battery,assuming its clean and the batterys not there.

[rampartsagain]

your board is great compared to what i bought i am now repairing with uv curable paint stil i painted all and don´t know the final result ,yours are as good as new ,bad thing is that aren´t avalable brown amiga motherboard uv paint ,had to put the repaired part in green

[keitha1200]

Yeah my old 500+ was knacked with a battery leak! i didn't know about the batteries in 500+ until a couple of months age (hadn't been near any of my Amigas for over ten years). When I got this one! I stripped it clean before putting any power near it Think I got lucky.

Does anyone have any further thoughts on the floppy disk read delay?

I've tried a different floppy drive and it's the same results! of course might be my spare drive but that seems unlikely.

[keitha1200]

I wondering! is there any point in replacing the old battery with a new one?

Having a real time clock in a machine without a HD, seems a bit pointless!

Any thoughts? can I get away without using a new battery?

[roy bates]

you dont need the battery mate,its only for keeping the time.

thats why i said go ahead and use it when youve removed it earlier.

[rampartsagain]

about the floppy could be a bad capacitor on the floppy ic control circuitry with bad charge of capacitor i think it could do delay time on the system

[orange]

Originally Posted by keitha1200

I wondering! is there any point in replacing the old battery with a new one?

Having a real time clock in a machine without a HD, seems a bit pointless!

Any thoughts? can I get away without using a new battery?

probably, if you're gonna use it only for games. but one day you might wanna add hdd. I'd repair it.

[keitha1200]

Thanks Roy

Originally Posted by rampartsagain

about the floppy could be a bad capacitor on the floppy ic control circuitry with bad charge of capacitor i think it could do delay time on the system

Where would this be on a 500+ motherboard? and how could I check?

Thanks

[roy bates]

check the capcitors are not leaking around the cia's.

check them in general anyway,look for spillage around the capicitors and also look for dull solder joints etc for tell tail signs.theres no way to test them in circuit.

[keitha1200]

Everything seems ok, but I'll have a better look later

[keitha1200]

Where should I look? so far I can't see any problems.







opinions/thoughts?

[keitha1200]

I was pretty happy that I got myself a 500+ without a knacked motherboard, but the floppy delay issue is worrying. Normally I wouldn't bother as it isn't a big problem, but I also realise that: I can leave it

Sorry this might sound silly but could someone give my advice about what needs changed and where I can get the replacements from??

[rampartsagain]

i think you should try the capacitors related to the floppy circuitry follow schematics and the resistors specially the bridged one those kind of 10 in one resistors

[keitha1200]

If I knew that! I wouldn't be asking

[edit] I sound like an ass.

[kipper2k]

Remove the CIA chips (the 8520's) and swap them. make sure you put them back in, in the same direction and press them down evenly and firmly. See if that improves the floppy issues

[keitha1200]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

Remove the CIA chips (the 8520's) and swap them. make sure you put them back in, in the same direction and press them down evenly and firmly. See if that improves the floppy issues

Thank you sort of advice/opinion I was looking for

ps: I should add that: I'm not saying the advice given so far is wrong (as I don't know myself) it would be nice if people could give more details, rather than random thoughts, that could easily led to me 'buggering a good motherboard' because of bad advice

[keitha1200]

Just a wee update:

I got it sorted turned out to be a faulty floppy lead.

[TjLaZer]

Thats great news! Faulty floppy ribbon cable?

[keitha1200]

Originally Posted by TjLaZer

Thats great news! Faulty floppy ribbon cable?

I'm 99% sure it was that