These kinds of step-by-step repair videos are some of my absolute favorites. And really, the "amateur" approach is exactly how I go about it things as well, so I enjoy on all counts! Still really want to find one of these someday, but the prices and often broken nature of them has so far scared me off.
Several years ago, I saw an unbelievable offer for an 128 on ebay: A *mint condition* C128, Commodore monitor, printer, and a disk drive all in their original packaging -- all sold for something like a final price of $125. The computer belonged to a church where it had hardly seen any use.
Great video. I have just about every Commodore machine in my collection EXCEPT for the SX-64 and the PET. Also, I agree about Ghosts and Goblins. The game is too hard and so it is not fun. I wish I had the original source code, I would go in and change it up so that it would be about 50% easier, then it would be fun.
Bah, just go in and edit the code with a assembler-monitor like the Action Replay cartridge, or The Final Cartridge, give yourself a ton of extra lives and go on playing. Action Replay mk VI got automatic unlimited-lives-hacks that work 99% of the times. (sometimes games makers were a bit clever)
Back when the SX first came out, my local computer store had a demo version of the SX-64. It had a problem where it wouldn't accept any input. So I talked them into selling it to me for half price (I *think* they were asking $600). I figured if nothing else I could send it in under warranty. Got it home, tried getting an RS-232 ribbon cable to work in place of the keyboard cable... no luck. I opened up the keyboard... pushed the pins to the keyboard plug back into their sockets... hooked it up, plugged in the cable... and it worked fine. 5 minutes worth of work and I got a new SX-64 still under warranty for like $300.
Most electronics problems are either connection problems or something burned out. The worst ones are intermittent ones where it does not always have the problem. One thing about connectors sometimes adding a little piece of plastic the connection problem can be solved by preventing the pins from sliding back.
I graduated from a California high school in 1985, and my parents got me one of those SX-64s. I don't know what they paid for it, but I guarantee it wasn't $1,000. I loved it. I had started with the VIC-20 and the family TV, with no data set, so I had to retype the games from magazines every time. Soon, I got a tape player and then moved to the 64 with a floppy disk (I was walking in tall cotton). Then, for graduation, I received the SX-64, which I used for a couple of years before moving to the Amiga 500. But, like I said, I loved it. Being portable was so cool; I took it all over California, and even to Oklahoma to see my grandparent. The old 1541 floppies were notorious for not liking to be moved, but the drive on the SX-64 was solid, as was the case. I saw one that had been flung off a desk when someone kicked the cord, and it was still on and running. I can't remember what happened to it; I think I gave it to a friend when I got the Amiga. Even today, its styling holds up. It is a wonderful-looking computer, so much better than the Kay-pro or some of the other "portables" of that time. I would love to have one just to set on a shelf for nostalgia, I could put it next to my Amiga 2500 (that's setting in a closet right now)
If you want to improve your soldering quality and make desoldering easier as well, buy some "soldering flux". The best I have found for professional repair is actually manufactured in the UK, it's called "Future HF Rework Jelly" by Warton Metals Limited. It comes in a neat syringe. You can buy the smaller one for your needs. Always put it on before you touch stuff with the iron, it keeps oxide from the solder and helps it flow nicely, also helps keep your soldering iron tip more shiny. Another upgrade would be to get a soldering iron cleaning wire that looks like copper shavings in form of a kitchen scrubber packed in a metal tray. Trust me. Doing this will bring back the joy to the soldering for you. There won't be any black burned up gunk around anymore, and the solder will flow nicely forming shiny joints.
Late to the party but just wanted to say, even though I've worked in the electronics industry and soldered my fair share of PCBs, there's nothing wrong with your technique and your videos are inspiring. Most moaners wouldn't have the guts to attempt what you cheerfully try (and succeed at). I saw this when it originally came out but it's so good I just rewatched it for the pleasure of seeing you achieve something many 'experts' might balk at even attempting.
Very nicely done. I wonder if SX prices have risen since this video as people have a stab at fixing their machines or buy partially broken ones. I know I feel inspired to have a stab at a few repairs myself.
Sadly ALL prices on vintage consoles is soaring thru the roof also due to fanboys making a vintage console the "must have" and driving prices up. Commodore has always been a better bargain than an Atari 800 or Apple IIe or the often hated Coleco Adam. But get them soon, they will go up as well. Especially boxed games and decent machines.
I owned an SX64 for years, and did all my writing on it. A few years ago, I pulled it out of storage, found it still worked, and sold it with a huge stack of software for well more than I paid for it.
As a kid who owned a C-64 and 1541 by virtue of 2 years hard lawn mowing, babysitting and bottle collecting, the one thing I wanted more then my C64 was a SX-64 that I could haul around with me, plunk onto a library desk and amaze the shit out of every other little nerd around. ;-) So even today all these years later I am jealous as all hell of you. Congrats on scoring TWO of these babies, and double congrats on fixing them both up to be perfectly operating machines as well. Now all you need is an old 300 baud modem and you can connect that old Flintstone-car to the Information Superhighway! :-)
Don't bash yourself! Double sided PCB's with plated-through holes are tough to desolder from without special equipment, like a desoldering gun. You did just fine, make sure to clean up the residue with some alcohol and you'll be all set :) Little tip for you - try to snip the leads closer to the chip, that way it'll be easier to grab the remaining piece with tweezers and wiggle it out.
I'd swop steps 2 and 3 with each other - it's far easier to suck the hole clean once the legs are out. Then you can put the board in a vice vertical, apply the soldering iron to one side and the sucker to the other side to get every hole clear in one go.
definitely agree also - I've wrecked through-plated boards before. Switched to an electric desoldering pump and the next through-plated job was successful. Double sided boards aren't fun.
yes, desoldering plated-through boards can be messy and difficult like this. I have had some success with blowing the solder out with compressed air, in a situation where I wanted to save the IC. leaves a big mess but cleans up nicely because the solder doesn't really stick to anything
No need to make a drama out of it. The steps are:- 1 - get a pair of nippers with very tiny jaws 2 - crop the leads off right next to the IC body 3 - hook the soldering iron under the angled part of each leg and whip it out of the board 4 - put the board in a vice facing vertical 5 - use the solder sucker on one side of each hole and the soldering iron on the other side of that hole 6 - when the solder melts activate the sucker to clean out the hole perfectly This method works 100% of the time perfectly. How do I know? 30 years in the industry.
Same can be done in step 3 using a pair of cutters or needle nosed pliers pulling on the lead while heating it form the other side. Fresh solder may have to be added to add flux and help soften older solder. Again, over 40 years doing this sort of thing. Started with 19 inch rack mini-computers.
There's something satisfying about watching the process of someone taking something broken and then slowly fixing it bit by bit until it is back to its original working state.
I bought my SX-64 new in high school and still have it. I’ve replaced the SID chip but was searching for fixes to the screen and keyboard problems. Thank you for posting this video! Top work!
Maybe. If you use something that's mostly alcohol (95% isopropyl is really best here, but in a pinch a strong alcoholic beverage (like 151 proof rum) should also work. I'd avoid low-proof items or anything that has a color to it. Water and impurities aren't a good thing to add to your electronics.
I had a go at hacking my old Kindle WiFi. It uses some stupidly over-complex SoC though, and my health was even worse then. I'm looking at getting something a bit easier to hack; a PinePhone or something.
Desoldering a DIP with such a solder sucker is a nightmare indeed. You need solder wick / braid whatever that is actually called, or a desoldering gun AND some practice with those :P. If you'd clean away the flux with some IPA that wouldn't look so bad at all though.
It's not a nightmare but it's a pain in the ass, now, desoldering a DIP in a double sided PCB with a solder sucker *IS* a nightmare. Solder wick will not help you at all if there's solder on both sides of the board lol.
+MaximRecoil It's also expensive. $535 for a soldering station is just a little out of reach for an average consumer, and don't try to tell me it isn't.
Great video. The SX-64 was an obscure beast even 25 years ago when the C=64 was still being sold and still had games published for it. Good to see you've kept two of them going to be enjoyed and cherished. They were a proper weird machine. One of Commodore's many machines where they just made a whole bunch of things just for the hell of it with scant regard for any budget or if it was actually going to sell. One of my personal faves was the Commodore 128, that cost as much as the Amiga to make when at the time they made the machine they should've been giving the big push for 16 bit computing and leaving 8 bit alone.
Small tip for desoldering - make sure the tip of your iron is tinned first! I spent weeks trying to desolder some caps off a board before, taking 2 hours just to get one pin out, decided to buy a new iron since mine must have been faulty and the guide that came with it said to tin it first, did that (which is harder than it sounds, you need to heat the iron just a little bit for the solder to melt and stick to the tip, too hot and it'll just fall right off) and then managed to desolder the other 6 caps in less than an hour, SO much easier! I'm not really sure if yours was tinned in the video or not, but still gonna put this out there in case someone else sees it.
Hi love your channel and have my own whereby I use CAD and make stuff. I'd be happy to design an authentic Commodore type plug housing in an L shape like the original one and 3D print this for you and post it to you if you ever do a revisited episode on this computer.
Desoldering tips: 1. Use flux. When you 'add solder' all you are really doing is adding flux to wet the joint again. But you are boiling it away at the same time. Get no-clean solder flux. 2. When de-soldering a chip with a lot of pins, cut a piece of solder braid the length of the pins, tack it to both end pins, add some flux to the braid and then gob it with solder. This spreads the heat of the iron and de-solders all pins at the same time. (Alternatively, you can get special spatula tips for your iron if it has enough wattage.) No. 2 is if you do not want to cut the pins or damage the removed chip. This is especially important with rare chips like those in the C64, certainly if you are not sure this is your problem. If you want to do a hack-job, you can just cut the pins and solder your new chip to the old pins. I've even seen crazy 'pro-jobs' where they leave the bad chip in place, cut the power and ground pins and move them away from the chip. Then they solder the new chip on top of the bad one and solder the separated power pins to the new chip. Don't be surprised to open up a SX-64 or C64 and find something like that even from the factory! Overall: What you don't want it to apply too much heat for too long. This is what will damage traces and pads or even separate the plated through holes in multilayer boards. The second problem is temperature sensitive chips or chips that have moisture in them from improper storage. Applying too much heat for too long damages the bonding in those chips and in the case of water-logged parts, the water inside can rapidly boil and even pop the cap off the chip! Solution: Use heatsink tools and kapton tape to focus the heat where you need it and draw it away from where you do not.
Thanks, as always for championing amateurs who are prepared to have a go. In a world where no one is prepared to fix anything, probably because they are warned about it being too dangerous etc., it is refreshing to see such a practical fellow having a go. Keep it up!
You missed the greatest computer from the 80's. Even though my dad passed away last year, i still thank him now and then for buying one for our family.
Good memories of those demo screens at 20:21 from the days of downloading games off BBS's. I remember when COMB Liquidators in the USA were selling the SX-64 in Compute and Ahoy magazine in the mid-late 80's. I always wanted one but even their discounted prices were too high for a poor college student then. Thanks for another great video and get well!
Honestly, you're way better in this format than anything I've seen on network TV in a long, long time. It's so nice for those of us who either can't afford or don't care for TV with this kind of content.
You achieved your aim, and made yet another excellent video. I am glad that you are not deterred by the naysayers and know-it-alls; I for one really enjoy your videos, and looking at the comments here it is clear that I am not alone. Thank you.
As somebody who used to repair the Commodore line of computers back in the nineties, I am impressed with what you have accomplished in bringing those two back to functionality. Thanks for posting the video and the links to repair parts.
I had an SX64 gifted to me 20 years ago, because it wasn't working, and because I lived on a 64. This video has given me a lot more incentive to get it fixed. Thanks.
I'd put your name down ASAP they are very thought after and not really sure how long he guy is going to continue with he project, although I'm high up on he list, I'm happy to offer my 1541 Ultimate II to you if you want when my II+ arrives, it pretty much does the same thing really. I won't be asking much for it tbh. Let me know and il send you an e-mail or whatever. It will definitely breathe new life into your 64's and alot more advanced than the current. SD solution (though you probably already know this). Great video BTW. (:
I know that people had issues in the past with the Ultimate II on some SX64 models, don´t know if this was fixed later with different firmware versions and maybe it is not an issue anymore with the new II+.
I'm so mad at myself - when I was in college, I found one of these at a local thrift store for about $50. I didn't buy it because $50 was like $49 more than I had. Now they're super expensive.
Love the look of this little classic computer, the 'steel' finish and blue trim still looks fantastic, kinda wanna see if I can imitate it in my own projects
I miss my Commodore SX-64. My brother and I saved a lot of money to finally purchase one. We typed in countless progress from the back of the Compute Gazette magazine. My mom, who now owns more computers than me, didn't see the need for all those computers back then!
Hey Techmoan, love your videos and keep up the good work. just a minor observation: there are a lot of people who don't have a clue about fixing electronics (including me) but don't realise that electronic components such as capacitors store electricity ( I do know that - now, after a near death experience with a capacitor). So warning them (us) about that is a good thing to do. Its essential not condescending. I'll stop being a jobsworth and hope you continue making these brilliant videos.
Hmm.. I could probably do those keyboard cables with ribbon cable and connectors, finished off with a 3d printed housing. I wonder if there would be a lot of people wanting to buy them.
I was also thinking that someone should easily be able to 3D print a housing for the cable, you could be on to a little earner along with being the saviour of SX64 owners. I could probably have a go myself but frankly I have too many ongoing projects already...
I absolutely love seeing you repair these old tech things with what seems to be simple mechanical solutions. It makes me believe that I can also fix these things when they go wonky.
Loved this vid! It's good to see others adventures in repairing old systems. If I can make a few suggestions.... Desoldering is a pain but with some (small) additions to the toolkit and of course, a bit practice, it goes much easier. If you haven't already, grab the following... Fibre glass pencil Liquid flux (marker pen style) Jelly flux (a small tub will last a few lifetimes :D ) Desoldering iron Desoldering braid I would say these are a must and can turn a headache of a job into a pleasure. :) The desoldering iron isn't really needed but if you aren't removing components often enough for it to feel like an easy job then it's a great thing to have in your kit. You no doubt noticed with then desoldering pump is released it causes a jolt and can be a pain to keep everything in place. A desoldering iron is the pump and iron in one. It still has that same spring jolt but with it just being the one device you can easily apply a touch of pressure on the component leg, holding the iron perpendicular to the pcb to get a clean extraction almost every time. If you get really into it, a vacuum pump desolder station is the way to go :p When putting a component in, clean the board and new chip with the isopropryl, then use the fibre glass pencil, that will take off that microscopic film that gathers on contacts over the years. Just a light brush with the pencil is enough. The pencil is great for prepping the legs of a chip too. Then use the liquid flux and draw a line over the contacts and brush the chip legs. The new solder will effortlessly jump onto the contacts and the legs, providing they are clean and have that thin layer of flux. Honestly, your repair of the RAM chip wasn't bad. You should see some of the repairs I've had in, where it looks like people tried to remove a chip with an arc welder lol. I've spent many afternoons relaying traces on boards after they've been melted off. A small cleanup is all that's needed on your board. That's where the jelly flux comes in handy. It's thicker, stays in place and takes longer to burn off than the liquid flux and what's in the solder. You'll find the solder will become dry, almost a grainy consistency and you'll start fighting with it. Place a small blob of jelly flux over the contacts, then retouch the contacts with your iron, the flux will allow the solder to stay in a liquid state while you are working on it. Running the iron tip from the base of the chip leg to the tip (inside the now liquified flux) will give you that perfect cone shape. If the solder becomes a ball on the contact, you have too much solder on there, take the braid, remove it and reapply new solder. Never let frustration get the better of you when something isn't playing ball. That leads to the dark side. :D Isopropryl is the nemesis of solder flux, cotton buds and some Iso will take the excess 'mess' off leaving you a nice shiny repair. :) The last thing I can think of is the iron itself. I now use a temperature controlled iron and hot air rework station but I always keep my normal irons on stand by. I've seen a lot of people using irons that are a bit too much for the job they are doing. For small jobs, like your RAM repair, I would use a 12w iron. The 12w to 15w range is more than enough for chips like this. The lower wattage give you more time to work too. It takes longer for the heat to transfer through the component/board. You would only run into issues when soldering to a ground or power plane. I would use a 25w to 30w for that (max of 50w for the bigger chunky stuff). So all in all, two irons. I only mention that because I had them in my kit when I was doing doing work like you are doing here and it made a huge difference having them. Headaches to pleasure. :) I hope some of that is useful. Thanks for the great vid and well done on getting those machines running! If you have any more adventures with old systems, make sure to post them! :)
These are some of my favorite videos. I wish I was nearly as good as you are at fixing things. You inspire me to mess around with something when it breaks rather than just buying a new one. It's horribly frustrating though because I scarcely have success. Especially on this scale. It's cathartic to live vicariously through videos like this though.
Great video. I had one of these a long time ago. One slightly less amateurish thing to do would be to solder a socket in for the RAM chip. That way there's no chance of overheating it when putting in the new one, and should you need to replace it ever again, no unsoldering to do. I'm also a fan of desoldering wicks not so much the solder-suckers.
Just re-watching some of your back catalog and I came across this jewel. You have done some very fine Sir. My compliments. I miss all of my old computers. Thanks again.
Pro tip. Clip the old chip legs flush to the chip body, not flush to the pcb, then tin the leg, and heat from the back while pulling the chip leg from the chip side of the board with tweezers. Once the leg is removed, use the solder sucker to remove any remaining solder,and solder wick to clean up. Work quickly, don't use too much heat or you will destroy the tracks. Then clean the board with isopropanol. Next.... fit a socket, then put the 2114 in the socket. Finally. Clean the board with isopropanon again. With practice you wont be able to tell that any work has been done.
OHHH MI GUD you didn't wear an antistatic strap, you probably blew up both the computers in a fiery explosive explosion! Anyway, nice job and good informative video. Even pros have a hard time desoldering things manually... hence some genius invented desoldering stations For anyone else who might care, Flux-Off (or any generic brand) will remove the brown junk left behind after these jobs Edit: As for the addendum to the description, I think some of us post advice forgetting that you have over 300,000 others here who probably also have shared it. You're not bad at it though, seeing as it worked
I've been willing to get one of those for some time now, but never had the courage... until now. You inspired me. I've enjoyed every minute of your video. Great job. Thanks.
I was a Sinclair user in the beginning like you, however I started with a ZX81, then a Spectrum +, then an Atari St, and finally a Commodore Amiga. Then I bought a Super Nintendo, then a Nintendo 64. Loved every computer I had. 👍🏻
Great Video,I cant get on with those De-solder pumps i use De-Soldering Braid you might want to try that ;) Don't think there is a right or a wrong way its just whatever method works for you ;)
Hey, thanks to you i am bidding on a SX64 on ebay right now. It works, but has a non-resposnive keyboard. It comes with TWO cables, it's a NTSC Unit of course. What courses of action would you take for repairing the keyboard, assuming i get it, right now i am the highest bidder. If i win it, i'll send you the spare cable free of charge from the USA.
There are quite a few guides to repairing the conductive matrix on the keyboard...it seems to be a point of failure....basically you very carefully take it apart and clean a few contacts...however if this one is totally unresponsive (not just a few dodgy keys) it could well be the PLA issue I had. There are a few useful links in the video description text box...the zimmers text document is easy to ignore because they are no pretty pictures, but if you take the time to read it, it has the best information.
I'll order the PLA and Heat Sinks for mine when i win it, cannot hurt to have them on hand to fix it up. Thank you for the advice and the links. Keep up the good work.
Ok, but remember that you'll need the right PLA, there are a couple of revisions, so perhaps best to get the machine first, open it up and note the text info on the chip.
I never was all that interested in old computers. They're honestly just before my time - I grew up on a P4-based Celeron which ran on a heatsink mounted to a highway tunnel extraction fan. But watching you repair this stuff makes me feel like this could be a nice little side hustle. I've got everything I need to repair just about anything, although the only thing I'm missing is the skills.
had a lot of fun with the 64. i liked that i could go to the corner store pick up magazine with programs i could manually type and code my own programs
I find desoldering easiest with some desoldering braid, always works better than a pump for me. For the keyboard cable, sounds like an ideal job for someone with a 3d printer to do the strangely shaped plugs, which a standard parallel port could fit into. Perhaps if you can publish the dimensions of the plugs someone would be able to put together a file and load it to Thingiverse or something. Nice review of these old machines, they remind me of the Compaq luggable PC I used to carry around for work sometime ago.
Excellent video. I'm amazed how easy they are to fix. It was great to see two working side by side. I didn't know the caps lock was non-latching, with a light. I really want one. Keyboard cable: Trim end, and change other connector gender - Sorted
My dad used to have one of these. Commodore made some weird stuff! Nice work with the repairs. 18:05 - It's actually super-easy to make ribbon cables like that, might be worth trying that next time you need one of these cables. Basically you buy some ribbon cable, and you buy the two end-connectors you want, and you just squeeze down the connectors on top of the ribbon to make the connections. You could just about do it without tools, the only thing you have to be careful of is to make sure that pin 1 of the ribbon connects to pin 1 of each connector, so your connections don't wind up backwards. But it's a very easy way to build your own cable with whatever connectors you need.
Great job, I loved the RAM chip removal, I used to hate doing them my self on the C64s, what I found that made it a little easier is cut the pins off, like you did, but do it flush with the Chip not the board, then you can use a small pair of pliers and heat each pin and pull it out of the board. loved your work.
I will not give any soldering tips, but the one thing for me (a long time ago) that was really significant in improving the soldering experience was to get a decent soldering iron. As a teen I had many different really cheap ones, some were directly connected to the mains (like the one you have here, though that looks way better than the crap that I had), some were 12 volt that I used with my dad's simple 12 V car battery charger. And I just remember that soldering was usually just dreadful. I think it was mostly that the cheap irons were underpowered and perhaps just had awful tips. BUT when I finally got the money and decided to buy a (to me, then) quite expensive Weller WTCP-S 50 W soldering iron (separate power unit, silicon cable, temperature stabilized, proper stand), it all changed. Soldering was fun since then.
I'm by no means a watch collector, but I am a major vintage HP fan - mostly their computers and calculator-computers though The Pulsar looks nice, but if I had a choice between that and the HP-01 I'd choose the latter...but clearly I'm biased given my previous statement :)
Not bad! I'll have to see if I can remember where my two SX-64's are and see if they still work!. A few other hints you can do: 1. Many socketed chips get loose in the socket or the connections a little corroded. The easiest fox is to take the board out, put it on something flat that will support it, and just press down firmly (firmly, not HARD) on each end of each chip. You will probably hear a ticking sound as you do this and the chips reseat. That fixes LOTS of problems. I would have tried that before replacing the SID chip, it might not have been bad, just a bad connection. 2. When you desolder a chip and clean out the holes, just get some IPA on a Q-Tip and clean up around it. That will get all that old burned rosin off the board. Do both sides, of course. If you have a rosin mess after soldering in the new chip, do it again and clean that rosin off. If a Q-Tip doesn't work, get an "acid brush" (a little stiff tin-handled brush) and use the IPA with that. 3. ALWAYS pop out the floppy before powering off or on! Sometimes the drive will go into write mode (yes, even if the disk is write protected) and trash your floppy for you. 4. Also, NEVER move the machine with the floppy in it. A little vibration can make the head slam against the floppy and possibly break the head. That is never good. At least pop the drive open even if you leave the floppy in the drive. Hope some of that is useful.
Love these detailed repairs. I think these are your best kinds of videos. For desoldering, you're going to want a gun. They're a little expensive at about 100 dollars, but a decent gun will make desoldering a breeze. Check out Voultar's modshop on youtube to see how he does it, generally you rest the gun on the solder point for a few seconds, 5-8 seconds, wiggle it around to make sure its liquid, and pull the trigger - solder is gone! no fuss, just a bit of a buzzing noise from the gun's vacuum.
Jon Scot Weren't BBC micros the really posh expensive computers that had a million different inputs and outputs and so only the well off would really bother? Hence why Acorn made a cheaper version of it, to compete with all the higher selling computers like the speccy. Talking about at the time, of course. Years and years after the BBC came out then yeah you could probably pick one up cheap. That's not what he was talking about though
if you live in the Southern US, those damned things invade your electronics. it doens't matter how clean your house is. They're in there, waiting to short out your stuff. You cannot have anything with food in it taht doesn't also have an airtight seal. I hate them, I hate them so so much.
The last time I did desoldering was to add additional RAM chips to a piece of audio equipment. I pressed a bent out paper clip onto the solder-filled pad, which pushed through the other side with all the solder stuck onto it, I could then use a piece of cloth to wipe off the still-warm solder and pull the paper clip back through. If you're inexperienced like me and don't have the tools for the job this is a way you can get it done.
I was born in 1973 in Belgium, and followed the same path ; my father bought me a Spectrum 48K in 1984 (I had the time of my early geek life with it), then an Atari 1040 ST in 1987, then a DOS PC in 1993. And recently (2010ish) I did the same as you : as I could now afford them, I bought all the computers I hadn’t had the chance to own back in the days : a C64, a Sinclair QL (I really wanted one of these during my early teens), and an Amiga 1200.
I have to laugh at your disclaimer. It just funny how the pros or engineers just can’t not comment when you fix things. I like you am an idiot, have zero training on computers, electronics in anyway. Yet I have managed to build all my pc’s since my first pc XT I put together to the present day. It pains them to see idiot do things all be it wrong and end up with a winning results. I guess they just feel un loved and un needed. So they have to send a message tell us how bad we are, we did it wrong and it should not work but you got lucky and got yours working.
People should not be looking down on your for having a go at fixing things, I do it all the time and love it. However you should be mocked for the path you took through the 8bit-16bit era. Speccy --> ST ---> PC? Pah. You missed out on the C64 and Amiga, you poor fool :)
I had C64 and C128 but I couldn't swing Amiga or Atari ST. My buddies all had Amigas and I had been looking seriously at the ST, but eventually I just forgot about em.
Love it! Thanks SO much for this excellent video! We have two SX-64s in storage and don't even know if they're working or not, but now I know we can get them running if they have any problems.
Great video. As a part-time amateur I fixed a few SX-64's myself and a whole slew of regular C64's. I found that the best way to desolder these is Edit: Apparently one is not to dish out solder tips. There is always something to moan about, isn't there? Fine, I'll keep my little nuggets of sheer wisdom to myself. Or start my own little solder club, so there!
These kinds of step-by-step repair videos are some of my absolute favorites. And really, the "amateur" approach is exactly how I go about it things as well, so I enjoy on all counts!
Still really want to find one of these someday, but the prices and often broken nature of them has so far scared me off.
I knew I'd see you here Clint ;)
The broken nature makes them even more fun!
....if you're insane like me >_>
Hi Clint. I'm surprised you don't already have one of these.
Several years ago, I saw an unbelievable offer for an 128 on ebay: A *mint condition* C128, Commodore monitor, printer, and a disk drive all in their original packaging -- all sold for something like a final price of $125. The computer belonged to a church where it had hardly seen any use.
LGR!!!! Hope you review one of these, and maybe it's games in a separate set of video's! You & Techmoan Rock!
Great video. I have just about every Commodore machine in my collection EXCEPT for the SX-64 and the PET. Also, I agree about Ghosts and Goblins. The game is too hard and so it is not fun. I wish I had the original source code, I would go in and change it up so that it would be about 50% easier, then it would be fun.
just as long as you don't make the game like most games today where they hold your hand all the way through to the end ;)
The 8-Bit Guy hi you are my favourite youtuber
Bah, just go in and edit the code with a assembler-monitor like the Action Replay cartridge, or The Final Cartridge, give yourself a ton of extra lives and go on playing. Action Replay mk VI got automatic unlimited-lives-hacks that work 99% of the times. (sometimes games makers were a bit clever)
I knew i‘d find you here
The 8-Bit Guy - Just pause the game and type "LIST" in order to see the source code.
Back when the SX first came out, my local computer store had a demo version of the SX-64. It had a problem where it wouldn't accept any input. So I talked them into selling it to me for half price (I *think* they were asking $600). I figured if nothing else I could send it in under warranty.
Got it home, tried getting an RS-232 ribbon cable to work in place of the keyboard cable... no luck.
I opened up the keyboard... pushed the pins to the keyboard plug back into their sockets... hooked it up, plugged in the cable... and it worked fine. 5 minutes worth of work and I got a new SX-64 still under warranty for like $300.
Most electronics problems are either connection problems or something burned out. The worst ones are intermittent ones where it does not always have the problem. One thing about connectors sometimes adding a little piece of plastic the connection problem can be solved by preventing the pins from sliding back.
Using your brain instead of your pocketbook 👍
"Some things are too important to be left to professionals."
Words to live by
I graduated from a California high school in 1985, and my parents got me one of those SX-64s. I don't know what they paid for it, but I guarantee it wasn't $1,000. I loved it. I had started with the VIC-20 and the family TV, with no data set, so I had to retype the games from magazines every time. Soon, I got a tape player and then moved to the 64 with a floppy disk (I was walking in tall cotton). Then, for graduation, I received the SX-64, which I used for a couple of years before moving to the Amiga 500. But, like I said, I loved it. Being portable was so cool; I took it all over California, and even to Oklahoma to see my grandparent. The old 1541 floppies were notorious for not liking to be moved, but the drive on the SX-64 was solid, as was the case. I saw one that had been flung off a desk when someone kicked the cord, and it was still on and running. I can't remember what happened to it; I think I gave it to a friend when I got the Amiga. Even today, its styling holds up. It is a wonderful-looking computer, so much better than the Kay-pro or some of the other "portables" of that time. I would love to have one just to set on a shelf for nostalgia, I could put it next to my Amiga 2500 (that's setting in a closet right now)
If you want to improve your soldering quality and make desoldering easier as well, buy some "soldering flux". The best I have found for professional repair is actually manufactured in the UK, it's called "Future HF Rework Jelly" by Warton Metals Limited. It comes in a neat syringe. You can buy the smaller one for your needs. Always put it on before you touch stuff with the iron, it keeps oxide from the solder and helps it flow nicely, also helps keep your soldering iron tip more shiny. Another upgrade would be to get a soldering iron cleaning wire that looks like copper shavings in form of a kitchen scrubber packed in a metal tray.
Trust me. Doing this will bring back the joy to the soldering for you. There won't be any black burned up gunk around anymore, and the solder will flow nicely forming shiny joints.
Yep! That and some Flux-Off to clean up afterwards
Yeah I use that type too, just use the name Flux-Off as a general term, kind of like Brits use Hoover :)
Late to the party but just wanted to say, even though I've worked in the electronics industry and soldered my fair share of PCBs, there's nothing wrong with your technique and your videos are inspiring. Most moaners wouldn't have the guts to attempt what you cheerfully try (and succeed at). I saw this when it originally came out but it's so good I just rewatched it for the pleasure of seeing you achieve something many 'experts' might balk at even attempting.
Very nicely done. I wonder if SX prices have risen since this video as people have a stab at fixing their machines or buy partially broken ones. I know I feel inspired to have a stab at a few repairs myself.
After this video came out, Commodore SX keyboard cables suddenly became available everywhere.
@@Landrew0 Indeed
Sadly ALL prices on vintage consoles is soaring thru the roof also due to fanboys making a vintage console the "must have" and driving prices up. Commodore has always been a better bargain than an Atari 800 or Apple IIe or the often hated Coleco Adam. But get them soon, they will go up as well. Especially boxed games and decent machines.
I have 2 old c64's with all kinds of accessories. Thinking about smashing them just for fanboy nerdbro tears🤣
I owned an SX64 for years, and did all my writing on it. A few years ago, I pulled it out of storage, found it still worked, and sold it with a huge stack of software for well more than I paid for it.
As a kid who owned a C-64 and 1541 by virtue of 2 years hard lawn mowing, babysitting and bottle collecting, the one thing I wanted more then my C64 was a SX-64 that I could haul around with me, plunk onto a library desk and amaze the shit out of every other little nerd around. ;-) So even today all these years later I am jealous as all hell of you. Congrats on scoring TWO of these babies, and double congrats on fixing them both up to be perfectly operating machines as well. Now all you need is an old 300 baud modem and you can connect that old Flintstone-car to the Information Superhighway! :-)
This was fun to watch. You put a lot of effort to get these machines working, great job.
Yes, but only with a C64 port of Java. And 1FPY.
Don't bash yourself! Double sided PCB's with plated-through holes are tough to desolder from without special equipment, like a desoldering gun. You did just fine, make sure to clean up the residue with some alcohol and you'll be all set :)
Little tip for you - try to snip the leads closer to the chip, that way it'll be easier to grab the remaining piece with tweezers and wiggle it out.
I'd swop steps 2 and 3 with each other - it's far easier to suck the hole clean once the legs are out. Then you can put the board in a vice vertical, apply the soldering iron to one side and the sucker to the other side to get every hole clear in one go.
definitely agree also - I've wrecked through-plated boards before. Switched to an electric desoldering pump and the next through-plated job was successful. Double sided boards aren't fun.
yes, desoldering plated-through boards can be messy and difficult like this. I have had some success with blowing the solder out with compressed air, in a situation where I wanted to save the IC. leaves a big mess but cleans up nicely because the solder doesn't really stick to anything
No need to make a drama out of it. The steps are:-
1 - get a pair of nippers with very tiny jaws
2 - crop the leads off right next to the IC body
3 - hook the soldering iron under the angled part of each leg and whip it out of the board
4 - put the board in a vice facing vertical
5 - use the solder sucker on one side of each hole and the soldering iron on the other side of that hole
6 - when the solder melts activate the sucker to clean out the hole perfectly
This method works 100% of the time perfectly. How do I know? 30 years in the industry.
Same can be done in step 3 using a pair of cutters or needle nosed pliers pulling on the lead while heating it form the other side. Fresh solder may have to be added to add flux and help soften older solder. Again, over 40 years doing this sort of thing. Started with 19 inch rack mini-computers.
remember don't lick everything while stood in a puddle
So thats what im doing wrong. So hard to remember that. : /
Licking doorknobs is illegal on other planets
@@casey6556 Here too now
There's something satisfying about watching the process of someone taking something broken and then slowly fixing it bit by bit until it is back to its original working state.
I bought my SX-64 new in high school and still have it. I’ve replaced the SID chip but was searching for fixes to the screen and keyboard problems. Thank you for posting this video! Top work!
16:45 "So I cleaned up the existing grease with India pale ale."
The best cleaning solution no doubt
i thought that
Maybe. If you use something that's mostly alcohol (95% isopropyl is really best here, but in a pinch a strong alcoholic beverage (like 151 proof rum) should also work.
I'd avoid low-proof items or anything that has a color to it. Water and impurities aren't a good thing to add to your electronics.
Dec
So I cleaned up the existing grease with (the) International Phonetic Alphabet,.
How cool is it that we can take these old things apart and tinker with them! I wonder, will people be tinkering with old iPads 25 years from now?
Its part of our dna!
PSPs and DSs for sure will be
People already are, including myself
I had a go at hacking my old Kindle WiFi. It uses some stupidly over-complex SoC though, and my health was even worse then. I'm looking at getting something a bit easier to hack; a PinePhone or something.
Desoldering a DIP with such a solder sucker is a nightmare indeed. You need solder wick / braid whatever that is actually called, or a desoldering gun AND some practice with those :P. If you'd clean away the flux with some IPA that wouldn't look so bad at all though.
Liquid flux is also a life saver.
I agree with this. Wick is much easier.
It's not a nightmare but it's a pain in the ass, now, desoldering a DIP in a double sided PCB with a solder sucker *IS* a nightmare.
Solder wick will not help you at all if there's solder on both sides of the board lol.
If I were him, I would have soldered on a DIP socket after unsoldering the old DIP so if the VRAM goes bad again, it won't be such a nightmare.
+MaximRecoil It's also expensive. $535 for a soldering station is just a little out of reach for an average consumer, and don't try to tell me it isn't.
Great video. The SX-64 was an obscure beast even 25 years ago when the C=64 was still being sold and still had games published for it. Good to see you've kept two of them going to be enjoyed and cherished.
They were a proper weird machine. One of Commodore's many machines where they just made a whole bunch of things just for the hell of it with scant regard for any budget or if it was actually going to sell. One of my personal faves was the Commodore 128, that cost as much as the Amiga to make when at the time they made the machine they should've been giving the big push for 16 bit computing and leaving 8 bit alone.
The Plus 4, the Amiga 600, the CDTV ...
Small tip for desoldering - make sure the tip of your iron is tinned first! I spent weeks trying to desolder some caps off a board before, taking 2 hours just to get one pin out, decided to buy a new iron since mine must have been faulty and the guide that came with it said to tin it first, did that (which is harder than it sounds, you need to heat the iron just a little bit for the solder to melt and stick to the tip, too hot and it'll just fall right off) and then managed to desolder the other 6 caps in less than an hour, SO much easier! I'm not really sure if yours was tinned in the video or not, but still gonna put this out there in case someone else sees it.
Hi love your channel and have my own whereby I use CAD and make stuff. I'd be happy to design an authentic Commodore type plug housing in an L shape like the original one and 3D print this for you and post it to you if you ever do a revisited episode on this computer.
Like an adapter piece that allows to use a standard DB-25 cable?
this is a excellent idea,i am surprised no ones managed it yet!
5:50 "Spot the dead wasp"
Found It.
Can't miss it LOL.
Found it before it was mentioned. Its above the SX-64 lettering.
Here's the first computer bug ever found, September 9, 1947.
It was a moth.
www.computerhistory.org/tdih/september/9/
@@xbox360e9 I found it before he posted the video.
"Spot" is a stupid name for a wasp, dead or otherwise.
Desoldering tips:
1. Use flux. When you 'add solder' all you are really doing is adding flux to wet the joint again. But you are boiling it away at the same time. Get no-clean solder flux.
2. When de-soldering a chip with a lot of pins, cut a piece of solder braid the length of the pins, tack it to both end pins, add some flux to the braid and then gob it with solder. This spreads the heat of the iron and de-solders all pins at the same time. (Alternatively, you can get special spatula tips for your iron if it has enough wattage.)
No. 2 is if you do not want to cut the pins or damage the removed chip. This is especially important with rare chips like those in the C64, certainly if you are not sure this is your problem. If you want to do a hack-job, you can just cut the pins and solder your new chip to the old pins. I've even seen crazy 'pro-jobs' where they leave the bad chip in place, cut the power and ground pins and move them away from the chip. Then they solder the new chip on top of the bad one and solder the separated power pins to the new chip. Don't be surprised to open up a SX-64 or C64 and find something like that even from the factory!
Overall: What you don't want it to apply too much heat for too long. This is what will damage traces and pads or even separate the plated through holes in multilayer boards. The second problem is temperature sensitive chips or chips that have moisture in them from improper storage. Applying too much heat for too long damages the bonding in those chips and in the case of water-logged parts, the water inside can rapidly boil and even pop the cap off the chip! Solution: Use heatsink tools and kapton tape to focus the heat where you need it and draw it away from where you do not.
Thanks, as always for championing amateurs who are prepared to have a go. In a world where no one is prepared to fix anything, probably because they are warned about it being too dangerous etc., it is refreshing to see such a practical fellow having a go. Keep it up!
You missed the greatest computer from the 80's. Even though my dad passed away last year, i still thank him now and then for buying one for our family.
Unplug the power✔
Some components can store electricity ✔✔
Do not lick everything whilst standing in a puddle ✖
WHAT HAVE I DONE!
Good memories of those demo screens at 20:21 from the days of downloading games off BBS's. I remember when COMB Liquidators in the USA were selling the SX-64 in Compute and Ahoy magazine in the mid-late 80's. I always wanted one but even their discounted prices were too high for a poor college student then. Thanks for another great video and get well!
Excellent video! You deserve a program on discovery channel, some kind of "wheeler dealers" but for this stuff
That was exactly the type of vibe I was trying to get across. A lot of people enjoy watching others fixing up things...I know I do.
Honestly, you're way better in this format than anything I've seen on
network TV in a long, long time. It's so nice for those of us who either
can't afford or don't care for TV with this kind of content.
You achieved your aim, and made yet another excellent video. I am glad that you are not deterred by the naysayers and know-it-alls; I for one really enjoy your videos, and looking at the comments here it is clear that I am not alone. Thank you.
TV is a dying format. The internet is the future of video distribution.
As somebody who used to repair the Commodore line of computers back in the nineties, I am impressed with what you have accomplished in bringing those two back to functionality.
Thanks for posting the video and the links to repair parts.
I had an SX64 gifted to me 20 years ago, because it wasn't working, and because I lived on a 64. This video has given me a lot more incentive to get it fixed. Thanks.
Lovely machines I must try and get one!
Forget the SD and the cart solutions you're thinking of. Get yourself a 1541 Ultimate II+. You will NEVER need another C64 peripheral ever again!
I'm aware of them - and they are in a preorder status.
I'd put your name down ASAP they are very thought after and not really sure how long he guy is going to continue with he project, although I'm high up on he list, I'm happy to offer my 1541 Ultimate II to you if you want when my II+ arrives, it pretty much does the same thing really. I won't be asking much for it tbh.
Let me know and il send you an e-mail or whatever. It will definitely breathe new life into your 64's and alot more advanced than the current. SD solution (though you probably already know this).
Great video BTW. (:
It's OK - I ordered the II+ myself and am looking forward to getting it to run some demos.
Great stuff, you won't regret it. I hope to get my white one soon, got one of them tiny SanDisk dongles for it waiting.
I know that people had issues in the past with the Ultimate II on some SX64 models, don´t know if this was fixed later with different firmware versions and maybe it is not an issue anymore with the new II+.
I'm so mad at myself - when I was in college, I found one of these at a local thrift store for about $50. I didn't buy it because $50 was like $49 more than I had. Now they're super expensive.
Love the look of this little classic computer, the 'steel' finish and blue trim still looks fantastic, kinda wanna see if I can imitate it in my own projects
I miss my Commodore SX-64. My brother and I saved a lot of money to finally purchase one. We typed in countless progress from the back of the Compute Gazette magazine. My mom, who now owns more computers than me, didn't see the need for all those computers back then!
Hey Techmoan, love your videos and keep up the good work. just a minor observation: there are a lot of people who don't have a clue about fixing electronics (including me) but don't realise that electronic components such as capacitors store electricity ( I do know that - now, after a near death experience with a capacitor). So warning them (us) about that is a good thing to do. Its essential not condescending. I'll stop being a jobsworth and hope you continue making these brilliant videos.
"The keyboard cable, the worlds rarest cable."
Nah, I think that award goes to the official Gamecube RGB cable.
This
no! the worlds rarest cable is the laser pc6 video cable (currently none are known to exist)
I have 2 of them
@@TheRainblossoms Can I have one?
@@TheRainblossoms I’ll pay you 30 bucks.
Hmm.. I could probably do those keyboard cables with ribbon cable and connectors, finished off with a 3d printed housing. I wonder if there would be a lot of people wanting to buy them.
Ask on a C64 forum - I'm sure you'd get some buyers (I'd have one).
Yeah, I just ran the calculations and it would be easily doable
Well make one up - and contact me via the contact page on Techmoan.com and we can sort something out.
I was also thinking that someone should easily be able to 3D print a housing for the cable, you could be on to a little earner along with being the saviour of SX64 owners. I could probably have a go myself but frankly I have too many ongoing projects already...
Any SX-64 owners! Please go answer my poll, trying to gauge interest! www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=62127
I absolutely love seeing you repair these old tech things with what seems to be simple mechanical solutions. It makes me believe that I can also fix these things when they go wonky.
Loved this vid! It's good to see others adventures in repairing old systems. If I can make a few suggestions....
Desoldering is a pain but with some (small) additions to the toolkit and of course, a bit practice, it goes much easier. If you haven't already, grab the following...
Fibre glass pencil
Liquid flux (marker pen style)
Jelly flux (a small tub will last a few lifetimes :D )
Desoldering iron
Desoldering braid
I would say these are a must and can turn a headache of a job into a pleasure. :) The desoldering iron isn't really needed but if you aren't removing components often enough for it to feel like an easy job then it's a great thing to have in your kit. You no doubt noticed with then desoldering pump is released it causes a jolt and can be a pain to keep everything in place. A desoldering iron is the pump and iron in one. It still has that same spring jolt but with it just being the one device you can easily apply a touch of pressure on the component leg, holding the iron perpendicular to the pcb to get a clean extraction almost every time. If you get really into it, a vacuum pump desolder station is the way to go :p
When putting a component in, clean the board and new chip with the isopropryl, then use the fibre glass pencil, that will take off that microscopic film that gathers on contacts over the years. Just a light brush with the pencil is enough. The pencil is great for prepping the legs of a chip too. Then use the liquid flux and draw a line over the contacts and brush the chip legs. The new solder will effortlessly jump onto the contacts and the legs, providing they are clean and have that thin layer of flux.
Honestly, your repair of the RAM chip wasn't bad. You should see some of the repairs I've had in, where it looks like people tried to remove a chip with an arc welder lol. I've spent many afternoons relaying traces on boards after they've been melted off. A small cleanup is all that's needed on your board. That's where the jelly flux comes in handy. It's thicker, stays in place and takes longer to burn off than the liquid flux and what's in the solder. You'll find the solder will become dry, almost a grainy consistency and you'll start fighting with it. Place a small blob of jelly flux over the contacts, then retouch the contacts with your iron, the flux will allow the solder to stay in a liquid state while you are working on it. Running the iron tip from the base of the chip leg to the tip (inside the now liquified flux) will give you that perfect cone shape. If the solder becomes a ball on the contact, you have too much solder on there, take the braid, remove it and reapply new solder. Never let frustration get the better of you when something isn't playing ball. That leads to the dark side. :D
Isopropryl is the nemesis of solder flux, cotton buds and some Iso will take the excess 'mess' off leaving you a nice shiny repair. :)
The last thing I can think of is the iron itself. I now use a temperature controlled iron and hot air rework station but I always keep my normal irons on stand by. I've seen a lot of people using irons that are a bit too much for the job they are doing. For small jobs, like your RAM repair, I would use a 12w iron. The 12w to 15w range is more than enough for chips like this. The lower wattage give you more time to work too. It takes longer for the heat to transfer through the component/board. You would only run into issues when soldering to a ground or power plane. I would use a 25w to 30w for that (max of 50w for the bigger chunky stuff). So all in all, two irons. I only mention that because I had them in my kit when I was doing doing work like you are doing here and it made a huge difference having them. Headaches to pleasure. :)
I hope some of that is useful. Thanks for the great vid and well done on getting those machines running! If you have any more adventures with old systems, make sure to post them! :)
6:34 Techmoan is the kind of guy who buys top dollar insulated electrician screwdrivers to use twice a year on his old computers😝
Wow great video! I love it when someone who is not an expert tries and succeeds to fix electronics! Awesome job!
All it needs is a willingness to accept that failure is a very real and likely outcome.
Hi dad, did you know this video was rubbish?
Dude, your channel over the past year has grown so much. I love how many videos you are putting out now and the high quality content. Big thumbs up!
Id prefer you didnt speak to my father in such a way.
I love the puppits, particularly when the dad comes in and he gets a round of applause!
I'm almost certain we were not watching the same video....No, I am completely certain.
Okay never mind, I hadn't watched the last part of the video after he signed off.
I admire your persistence when repairing these old units.
These are some of my favorite videos. I wish I was nearly as good as you are at fixing things. You inspire me to mess around with something when it breaks rather than just buying a new one. It's horribly frustrating though because I scarcely have success. Especially on this scale. It's cathartic to live vicariously through videos like this though.
3:10 "Or Storage." Hell yea, finally a PC with a space to store some candy!
do not lick everything whilst stood in a puddle Xd
but does can mean we can lick some things?
Adam Porter I love to lick the flyback transformer of my CRT.
I lick most everything whilst stood in a puddle - but that's just me I guess...
Don't eat that yellow snow.
as per computerphile, we should refer to 110v 60hz US power mains as "Freedom Voltage".
Great video. I had one of these a long time ago.
One slightly less amateurish thing to do would be to solder a socket in for the RAM chip. That way there's no chance of overheating it when putting in the new one, and should you need to replace it ever again, no unsoldering to do.
I'm also a fan of desoldering wicks not so much the solder-suckers.
Just re-watching some of your back catalog and I came across this jewel. You have done some very fine Sir. My compliments. I miss all of my old computers. Thanks again.
Pro tip. Clip the old chip legs flush to the chip body, not flush to the pcb, then tin the leg, and heat from the back while pulling the chip leg from the chip side of the board with tweezers.
Once the leg is removed, use the solder sucker to remove any remaining solder,and solder wick to clean up. Work quickly, don't use too much heat or you will destroy the tracks.
Then clean the board with isopropanol. Next.... fit a socket, then put the 2114 in the socket. Finally. Clean the board with isopropanon again.
With practice you wont be able to tell that any work has been done.
4:10 the world's rarest cable
Have you checked the prices on component cables for the GameCube?
OHHH MI GUD you didn't wear an antistatic strap, you probably blew up both the computers in a fiery explosive explosion!
Anyway, nice job and good informative video.
Even pros have a hard time desoldering things manually... hence some genius invented desoldering stations
For anyone else who might care, Flux-Off (or any generic brand) will remove the brown junk left behind after these jobs
Edit: As for the addendum to the description, I think some of us post advice
forgetting that you have over 300,000 others here who probably also have
shared it. You're not bad at it though, seeing as it worked
I've been willing to get one of those for some time now, but never had the courage... until now. You inspired me. I've enjoyed every minute of your video. Great job. Thanks.
I was a Sinclair user in the beginning like you, however I started with a ZX81, then a Spectrum +, then an Atari St, and finally a Commodore Amiga. Then I bought a Super Nintendo, then a Nintendo 64. Loved every computer I had. 👍🏻
Great Video,I cant get on with those De-solder pumps i use De-Soldering Braid you might want to try that ;)
Don't think there is a right or a wrong way its just whatever method works for you ;)
Funny that, I generally use a combination of both, but I don't really get on with the braid alone. Poor technique I expect.
Hey, thanks to you i am bidding on a SX64 on ebay right now. It works, but has a non-resposnive keyboard. It comes with TWO cables, it's a NTSC Unit of course. What courses of action would you take for repairing the keyboard, assuming i get it, right now i am the highest bidder. If i win it, i'll send you the spare cable free of charge from the USA.
There are quite a few guides to repairing the conductive matrix on the keyboard...it seems to be a point of failure....basically you very carefully take it apart and clean a few contacts...however if this one is totally unresponsive (not just a few dodgy keys) it could well be the PLA issue I had. There are a few useful links in the video description text box...the zimmers text document is easy to ignore because they are no pretty pictures, but if you take the time to read it, it has the best information.
Thank you for getting back to me, love your videos.
It was nice to read a comment that wasn't about desoldering.
I'll order the PLA and Heat Sinks for mine when i win it, cannot hurt to have them on hand to fix it up. Thank you for the advice and the links. Keep up the good work.
Ok, but remember that you'll need the right PLA, there are a couple of revisions, so perhaps best to get the machine first, open it up and note the text info on the chip.
Clint at LGR will be jealous. Hehe :)
I never was all that interested in old computers. They're honestly just before my time - I grew up on a P4-based Celeron which ran on a heatsink mounted to a highway tunnel extraction fan. But watching you repair this stuff makes me feel like this could be a nice little side hustle. I've got everything I need to repair just about anything, although the only thing I'm missing is the skills.
had a lot of fun with the 64. i liked that i could go to the corner store pick up magazine with programs i could manually type and code my own programs
Should've called this one "Commodore SX-64 Faults & Fixes Feat. Vintage Dead Wasp"
Eww a dead wasp!!!
I find desoldering easiest with some desoldering braid, always works better than a pump for me. For the keyboard cable, sounds like an ideal job for someone with a 3d printer to do the strangely shaped plugs, which a standard parallel port could fit into. Perhaps if you can publish the dimensions of the plugs someone would be able to put together a file and load it to Thingiverse or something. Nice review of these old machines, they remind me of the Compaq luggable PC I used to carry around for work sometime ago.
This. Desolder tape or braid works wonders. You could have had that chip off perfectly cleanly in just a minute or two.
The grandfather to the Amiga 500.
More like the older cousin...
Excellent video. I'm amazed how easy they are to fix. It was great to see two working side by side. I didn't know the caps lock was non-latching, with a light. I really want one.
Keyboard cable: Trim end, and change other connector gender - Sorted
My dad used to have one of these. Commodore made some weird stuff! Nice work with the repairs.
18:05 - It's actually super-easy to make ribbon cables like that, might be worth trying that next time you need one of these cables. Basically you buy some ribbon cable, and you buy the two end-connectors you want, and you just squeeze down the connectors on top of the ribbon to make the connections. You could just about do it without tools, the only thing you have to be careful of is to make sure that pin 1 of the ribbon connects to pin 1 of each connector, so your connections don't wind up backwards. But it's a very easy way to build your own cable with whatever connectors you need.
Almost orgasmic to hear 'sol'der' for solder instead of 'sodder'.
Desolder braid instead of sucker?
20:30 Same situation as now (May 2020), just with a different cause.
I was just about to say the same thing
My brother had one of these. It was STUNNINGLY ahead of its time.
Great job, I loved the RAM chip removal, I used to hate doing them my self on the C64s, what I found that made it a little easier is cut the pins off, like you did, but do it flush with the Chip not the board, then you can use a small pair of pliers and heat each pin and pull it out of the board. loved your work.
when a laptop was a big hunky chunky thing
Were you going to complete that sentence?
yeah I'm sorry stupid autocorrect on my tablet I'm not feeling well today
Oh haha sorry
yes technically you can't label this as a laptop but it was the laptop for its time
I believe these are classed as "lugables"
What about the wasp? Did you repair it as well?
it was removed during the debugging process.
My masters degree candidate girlfriend would lug one of these home from the lab back in the late '80's.
This is a gem of a channel. It always helps me relax during lunch or after a long day of work.
I will not give any soldering tips, but the one thing for me (a long time ago) that was really significant in improving the soldering experience was to get a decent soldering iron. As a teen I had many different really cheap ones, some were directly connected to the mains (like the one you have here, though that looks way better than the crap that I had), some were 12 volt that I used with my dad's simple 12 V car battery charger. And I just remember that soldering was usually just dreadful. I think it was mostly that the cheap irons were underpowered and perhaps just had awful tips. BUT when I finally got the money and decided to buy a (to me, then) quite expensive Weller WTCP-S 50 W soldering iron (separate power unit, silicon cable, temperature stabilized, proper stand), it all changed. Soldering was fun since then.
5:48 I think that machine still has a few bugs :P
OK, I'll bite: what watch is that?
An HP-01. There's one on ebay right now for $1200 if you want one :)
LeiserGeist what does it do to warrant a £1200 mark? Or is it just a collectible?
Thanks guys - I hope Mat does a video on it soon!
He has deliberately displayed watches in vids before now to tease us.
I'm by no means a watch collector, but I am a major vintage HP fan - mostly their computers and calculator-computers though
The Pulsar looks nice, but if I had a choice between that and the HP-01 I'd choose the latter...but clearly I'm biased given my previous statement :)
Enjoyed this one but its all obsolete ... great video though... :) but too much effort.
It's not obsolete if you use it.
Techmoan thats right sir !! but i mean.. ok, please do one thing, connect it to a monitor, we wana see how it looks like on it? please
Just search for Top C64 games on youtube - they're are hundreds of videos showing the games.
Techmoan great old times :) seriously !!
I love seeing things get fixed up and not tossed in the garbage because "Too much effort" Glad to see two Commodore Machines live on :)
Not bad! I'll have to see if I can remember where my two SX-64's are and see if they still work!.
A few other hints you can do:
1. Many socketed chips get loose in the socket or the connections a little corroded. The easiest fox is to take the board out, put it on something flat that will support it, and just press down firmly (firmly, not HARD) on each end of each chip. You will probably hear a ticking sound as you do this and the chips reseat. That fixes LOTS of problems. I would have tried that before replacing the SID chip, it might not have been bad, just a bad connection.
2. When you desolder a chip and clean out the holes, just get some IPA on a Q-Tip and clean up around it. That will get all that old burned rosin off the board. Do both sides, of course. If you have a rosin mess after soldering in the new chip, do it again and clean that rosin off. If a Q-Tip doesn't work, get an "acid brush" (a little stiff tin-handled brush) and use the IPA with that.
3. ALWAYS pop out the floppy before powering off or on! Sometimes the drive will go into write mode (yes, even if the disk is write protected) and trash your floppy for you.
4. Also, NEVER move the machine with the floppy in it. A little vibration can make the head slam against the floppy and possibly break the head. That is never good. At least pop the drive open even if you leave the floppy in the drive.
Hope some of that is useful.
Love these detailed repairs. I think these are your best kinds of videos. For desoldering, you're going to want a gun. They're a little expensive at about 100 dollars, but a decent gun will make desoldering a breeze. Check out Voultar's modshop on youtube to see how he does it, generally you rest the gun on the solder point for a few seconds, 5-8 seconds, wiggle it around to make sure its liquid, and pull the trigger - solder is gone! no fuss, just a bit of a buzzing noise from the gun's vacuum.
Oi, less of the "if your parents were a bit well off", I bought my own BBC B, great little PC I learned to program in basic on it.
Jon Scot yea well that would obviously depend on your age when it came out! If you where 10 you couldn't buy your own could you??
Jon Scot Weren't BBC micros the really posh expensive computers that had a million different inputs and outputs and so only the well off would really bother? Hence why Acorn made a cheaper version of it, to compete with all the higher selling computers like the speccy. Talking about at the time, of course. Years and years after the BBC came out then yeah you could probably pick one up cheap. That's not what he was talking about though
The BBC B micro cost £399 in 1982.
Glad it wasn't a full wasp infestation.
oh the horrors
seriously, i want to sleep tonight
I once fixed a wii that was full of roaches. Granted, they were dead, but that was a fun day at work.
if you live in the Southern US, those damned things invade your electronics. it doens't matter how clean your house is. They're in there, waiting to short out your stuff. You cannot have anything with food in it taht doesn't also have an airtight seal. I hate them, I hate them so so much.
Wasps? Where?
That cracked me up. My inner question was, why on earth would there be a dead wasp to begin with? :P
did anyone here had Amstad CPC6128?
The last time I did desoldering was to add additional RAM chips to a piece of audio equipment. I pressed a bent out paper clip onto the solder-filled pad, which pushed through the other side with all the solder stuck onto it, I could then use a piece of cloth to wipe off the still-warm solder and pull the paper clip back through. If you're inexperienced like me and don't have the tools for the job this is a way you can get it done.
I'm amazed at the condition of that Commodore. It looks fantastic for being thirty years old!
dead wasp... definently been sitting on someones shaby attic for a few years
Computer caught a buzz....
Solder wick is better for desoldering
Nonsense, at least not for things like ICs.
Have you tried solder wick? It's magical. I've lost my desoldering pump since I bought a big roll of good solder wick.
It's not better when the board has "plated thru holes" (PTH)
I have also had good success with solder wick, even with these types of connectors, the pump just never seems to do it for me
7:19 Aww...I wanted to wear my Wellingtons whilst I licked everything and standing in a puddle, after having had a shower...
Quite fascinating to see these older systems in detail as well as some basic repairs.
I was born in 1973 in Belgium, and followed the same path ; my father bought me a Spectrum 48K in 1984 (I had the time of my early geek life with it), then an Atari 1040 ST in 1987, then a DOS PC in 1993. And recently (2010ish) I did the same as you : as I could now afford them, I bought all the computers I hadn’t had the chance to own back in the days : a C64, a Sinclair QL (I really wanted one of these during my early teens), and an Amiga 1200.
hey clint could you do a console review of the colecovision?
I have to laugh at your disclaimer. It just funny how the pros or engineers just can’t not comment when you fix things. I like you am an idiot, have zero training on computers, electronics in anyway. Yet I have managed to build all my pc’s since my first pc XT I put together to the present day. It pains them to see idiot do things all be it wrong and end up with a winning results. I guess they just feel un loved and un needed. So they have to send a message tell us how bad we are, we did it wrong and it should not work but you got lucky and got yours working.
People should not be looking down on your for having a go at fixing things, I do it all the time and love it. However you should be mocked for the path you took through the 8bit-16bit era. Speccy --> ST ---> PC? Pah. You missed out on the C64 and Amiga, you poor fool :)
Spectrum was cheaper by far and the Atari st wasn't bad. I doubt he or his parents could afford both.
I had C64 and C128 but I couldn't swing Amiga or Atari ST. My buddies all had Amigas and I had been looking seriously at the ST, but eventually I just forgot about em.
@@Grunchy005 I had (wait for it) Texas TI99/4a, Sinclair ZX80, Memotech 512, Aquarius and Oric.
LOVED my SX-64! Had a buddy solder a modem inside the case, connected to the cart port.
Love it! Thanks SO much for this excellent video! We have two SX-64s
in storage and don't even know if they're working or not, but now I know we can get them running if they have any problems.
XD Of course you had fix the U.S. one by "banging it"!
Skavossis 'MURICA!
Percussive Maintenance
Nah it was part of a deal with musicians, see the 64 was ment for drummers, they have to hit it to keep the rest of the pc in tempo
Good job Fonzy
Haha, the darn thing doesn't want to work at all. Once you fix one thing another thing breaks!!
This video was rubbish.
Jokes, it was awesome :D
Great video. As a part-time amateur I fixed a few SX-64's myself and a whole slew of regular C64's. I found that the best way to desolder these is
Edit: Apparently one is not to dish out solder tips. There is always something to moan about, isn't there? Fine, I'll keep my little nuggets of sheer wisdom to myself. Or start my own little solder club, so there!
This was a very satisfying video. I'm repairing a vintage CB radio at the moment and having the same "fun" with soldering.