anyone know how to fix the atari 2600 6 switcher?

[Nes Freak | 584]

i have an atari 2600 light 6 switcher model.  it never worked when i got it 15 years ago.  ive replaced  all the caps,  voltage regulator.  tried different ac adapters including new ac adapters.  re did all the solder joints on the switch (and also test it to make sure its working and replaced power jack.

 

i still cant get power.  does any one have a clue  what else could be wrong?

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,011]

I don't, however I sold a broken one to someone who had tried everything to fix it, even taking it to a professional electronics repair shop in the end and nothing worked. So it's not just you lol

[RH | 4,889]

Honestly, it's probably dead ICs, which is sad.  I guess it's possibly the RF output which I can't recall is a box inside or not, but if you replace all the simple components, it's like an IC.  If you can find NOS for those, you can replace them and some times even those old chips are still being manufactured, but then you'd have to test each one and then remove the bad ones.

Testing them never seems hard from the many videos I've watched on console/electronics repair but that involves more equipment than I have and I'd have to do a lot more studying up to fix it so, regardless, this is probably beyond both of our capabilities.

[Jeevan | 8,909]

@SNESNESCUBE64 might be able to give some advice maybe? @Nes Freak

[Nes Freak | 584]

hmm alright  well if its anything mayor then its not worth fixing imo  i was just hoping it was something simple  i didnt think to try checking the voltage regular to see if the system is getting power  cause if it is then its  problaby as you said a dead ic.

Edited April 12, 2022 by Nes Freak

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,055]

11 hours ago, Nes Freak said:

i have an atari 2600 light 6 switcher model.  it never worked when i got it 15 years ago.  ive replaced  all the caps,  voltage regulator.  tried different ac adapters including new ac adapters.  re did all the solder joints on the switch (and also test it to make sure its working and replaced power jack.

 

i still cant get power.  does any one have a clue  what else could be wrong?

 

9 hours ago, RH said:

Honestly, it's probably dead ICs, which is sad.  I guess it's possibly the RF output which I can't recall is a box inside or not, but if you replace all the simple components, it's like an IC.  If you can find NOS for those, you can replace them and some times even those old chips are still being manufactured, but then you'd have to test each one and then remove the bad ones.

Testing them never seems hard from the many videos I've watched on console/electronics repair but that involves more equipment than I have and I'd have to do a lot more studying up to fix it so, regardless, this is probably beyond both of our capabilities.

Last I checked the proprietary  IC’s can still be bought from Best Electronics. If yours are the socket type its easy to pop them out and pop new ones in

[SNESNESCUBE64 | 531]

Make sure you got 5V at the logic chips. If you don't, make sure power is getting in at all. That power plug is a failure point and can be prone to cold solder joints, make sure that it is solid and that the regulator is getting power. If it is and the regulator is functioning correctly, then start checking the ICs onboard. There are three of them, 6810 Bipolar RAM, the TIA chip, and the 6507 CPU. Last time I had a major chip failure, it was the TIA unfortunately, I verified by swapping with a known good atari. You can get the TIA from best electronics, but you are gonna pay a pretty penny. Unfortunately with 2600s, they aren't worth a whole lot so the really expensive ICs are kind of a turnoff.

[a3quit4s | 4,090]

If I was hell bent on fixing it I’d either go with multimeter and checking every single trace and voltage or get the thermal imaging add on attachment for my iPhone and see what chip was reading the hottest and replace it. The thermo trick I picked up from NorthridgeFix on YouTube. That dude can fix any PCB. 
 

@Nes Freak - the service manual may also help, I think there is diagnostic and tech tips in it. https://console5.com/techwiki/images/e/ec/2600_Field_Service_Manual.pdf

Edited April 12, 2022 by a3quit4s

[Nes Freak | 584]

fixed.    slightly damaged trance by power switch.  scratched it and added a bridge of solder.  i didn't even think to check the traces.  i checked the switch.   lol.  other than a slightly snowy image  it works  i will av mod it finish recapping it and sell it off.

 

thank you all!  this atari was given to me by a cousin in 2005  he had 4 atari but this one didnt work.  this one was found out in an abandoned old cabin  that was being used as storage   i thought i had thrown it away  but rediscovered it in the attic a few years.  i replaced the power cap and later the voltage regular  but no power.

 

i thought id take one more crack at it before i tossed it.  its in great shape so im glad i was able to fix it

[Nes Freak | 584]

11 hours ago, a3quit4s said:

If I was hell bent on fixing it I’d either go with multimeter and checking every single trace and voltage or get the thermal imaging add on attachment for my iPhone and see what chip was reading the hottest and replace it. The thermo trick I picked up from NorthridgeFix on YouTube. That dude can fix any PCB. 
 

@Nes Freak - the service manual may also help, I think there is diagnostic and tech tips in it. https://console5.com/techwiki/images/e/ec/2600_Field_Service_Manual.pdf

that did the trick lol.

[a3quit4s | 4,090]

@Nes Freak you got one of these on your bench?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V688CJP/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=borderlineocd-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07V688CJP&linkId=e23f8da449c8aa8bcbabf7891bd59be3
 

Borderline OCD on YouTube uses it and it seems pretty useful if your looking for bad caps

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

16 hours ago, a3quit4s said:

The thermo trick I picked up from NorthridgeFix on YouTube. That dude can fix any PCB.

Not even close.  I started watching a bunch of his videos a month or so ago, got into them, then started seeing him doing a lot of sketchy, bad habit stuff (skipping the correct, exact match replacement pads from pad replacement kits tends to hit me the worst, as when he does that then makes functional repairs that look like shit, he's a total hypocrite about bitching about seeing other repairs that look just like what he does).  I was a fan right up until I started watching him try to fix GPUs, where he basically doesn't try to understand what has actually happened so he can definitely repair the card, but just look for blown up stuff, then remove that and replace it with stuff from other blown up cards.

As much as I tend not to like the guy's rants, if you want to watch someone really do great quality work, I'd go to the repair videos Louis Rossman does instead.  Most of his stuff is Apple laptops, but he at least goes through the full explanation of what he's doing, how he's troubleshooting what the issue is, step by step, and if something actually can't be fixed (versus he just couldn't figure it out/gave up, which I noticed more and more with NorthRidgeFix), he'll explain specifically why and show what to test in order to reach the same conclusion and be certain he's reached the right conclusion.

NorthRdigeFix might be as good as he frequently says he is (and pats himself on the back for believing he is), but he doesn't show nearly enough step by step details in his videos for me to have that level of confidence in him, especially after seeing him complain loudly about other folks' sloppy repairs but then showing himself on video doing the same sort of thing or worse.

[Tulpa | 3,488]

Hey, I know where NorthridgeFix's shop is, it's like a few blocks from a couple places I frequent. If you want him to receive a kick in the nuts, I can probably make that happen.