Trinity Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 (edited) This is my first atari, the one I've owned since 1982. I thought it was dead, but I had to try again. And I got it to work!!! But here's the deal, The only way to get it to start is you to have the power on. And then push the power plug in.. once or twice. Once it works it works. You can wiggle this on this or that,,, ok... But turn it off,, it will not restart without turning off and unpluging and pushing the power plug in and out a few times. (with the power on). Once it is working it runs perfect, except the voltage regulator starts getting real warm, Not burning hot... but real warm. Then 5 minutes the system just seems to power off... nothing at all. I can get it to work again,,, But only by leaving the power switch on and unpluging and re pluging the power cord into the jack. Once it powers up,, I can wiggle the power cord jack and the power switch no failure. The power wall wart is trusted and good. And the mobo looks good all around no cold solder joints. What could the problem be? Edited June 13, 2009 by Trinity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Sounds like the 7805 is about to die. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted June 13, 2009 Author Share Posted June 13, 2009 Sounds like the 7805 is about to die. You think??? That's gonna make me need all my skills to replace. :/ Anyway to test before I try? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Sounds like the 7805 is about to die. You think??? That's gonna make me need all my skills to replace. :/ Anyway to test before I try? If you have a multimeter, you can see if the voltage on the output side of the 7805 is fluctuating or dropping out temporarily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzman66 Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 I second the 7805 idea. Always has fixed most issues for me! Only other thing is maybe resoldering the power jack. You would be surprised what a small solder crack can do when power goes thru for awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigO Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Sounds like the 7805 is about to die. I'm not familiar with the 7805 to a huge level of detail. Do you think it would it exhibit this behavior because the caps that are first in line from the power jack (before the power switch) are allowing the 7805 to "soft start" so to speak? They would already be fully charged if the adapter was plugged in before throwing the switch, but would take some (microseconds?) to charge when the adapter is plugged in. Just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted June 14, 2009 Author Share Posted June 14, 2009 Thanks for the advice guys. Well radio shack has the 7805 for $1.59. My line of thinking is that that big capacitor is going bad (starting to short), and that why the regulator is getting so warm. Though I'm not sure how warm they get under normal operating conditions. But this one starts out cold, then warms up to 'real' warm and the in about 5 minutes the system goes dead. You know, I think I noticed the colors start to change to off normal color just before it crashes too. I will get to radio shack and get the capacitor and the regulator, And let you all know how it go's. Now my problem is my soldering gun... It is broken,,, And a need a soldering gun to fix it... (head wall) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted June 14, 2009 Author Share Posted June 14, 2009 Well I just checked the 7805 with my meter. It has 12 volts going in. And only 1 volt going out. And today it will only start for about 1-2 seconds. To short of a time to test it under load. :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted June 14, 2009 Author Share Posted June 14, 2009 Ok, You guys were right! I just replaced the 7805 voltage regulator... My first atari runs again!!! A little sloppy on the soldering but I got it in! But I burnt my finger on the solder pencil. (oh it hurts)... Just as much as it feels good to have my first 2600 run again after all these years! Thanks a lot guys!!! Atari Age ROCKS!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzman66 Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Make sure you are running a 9V-500mA adapter on that Atari. If you are pushing a 12V thru, that is a good idea as to why your voltage regulator went bad in the first place. You can run 12V for awhile, because the regulator brings it down, but burns it out quicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 I have always used the original atari power supply. I used to play alot of supercharger games on it, and now that I think about it (it has been years and years) that was when I first started haveing trouble with the unit. I'm not saying the supercharger caused it to fail, but the extra current draw would not have helped a faulty 7805. BTW, On the back of the package the 7805 came it is says maximum input voltage is 35 volts. With an operating temperature of 0C to 150C. And an output current of up to 1 amp. It still stays real warm to the touch, I guess this is normal. I had it running all day yesterday, And it is on as I type now. Running rock solid. The only other problem I had with the unit was that I had to adjust the color a little bit. And that was easy. In the picture, my orginal Atari on top had it since 1981. Then bottom left, my sunnyvale four switcher and then another four switcher I picked up on ebay a few weeks ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Congratulations! It's always nice getting an old 2600 up and running again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 Congratulations! It's always nice getting an old 2600 up and running again. Thanks man! And I really like your comics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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