Help Required with an A3000

[Overmann]

Wow, that fireCracker is a really interesting card. I've never heard of it but it looks super cool! Congrats on that weird bit of hardware

Also, congrats on getting a nice clean picture! You're going to get that machine back in perfect working order in no time!
And thank you to intric8 for the Slack-invite. I'm on there now

[obitus1990]

If you want your expansion cards, and your A3000, to last a little longer, don't lay the bare boards out on your carpet or on another piece of fabric on top of the carpet like that. Especially during this time of year when the heat is on and static electricity is at its peak. ESD will kill chips, no lie. Put things up on a table at least, with a wooden surface or an ESD safe mat. Make a habit of first touching the PSU or some other grounded part of the case before touching anything on the PCB to discharge yourself.

[RogerWilco486]

OP, where in the North East are you? I'm about 40 minutes north of the old West Chester, PA Commodore facility, an A3000 fanatic, and a proficient electronics tech.

It's quite possible the Agnus, Amber, Paula, or Denise sockets are a bit corroded and could use replacement. I'd also swap the NiCad charge current resistor with a schottky diode, a new quartz trimmer, and install a low-profile 2032 coin-cell socket so you've got a proper working RTC. And since I'm a bit OCD, I use a GPS-disciplined oven controlled oscillator as a lab reference to calibrate the RTC.

Here's an example of a 3000 repair of mine, this was an eBay "for parts" motherboard I acquired this past fall. Cleaned, damaged solder mask patched up, new Agnus socket, CR2032 mod, and a new RTC trimmer...

Regards!

[Kamekone]

OP, where in the North East are you? I'm about 40 minutes north of the old West Chester, PA Commodore facility, an A3000 fanatic, and a proficient electronics tech.

I'm about 2 hours from there, close to the border between Frederick, VA and Frederick, MD (Harpers Ferry), I've already contacted a lovely chap over in CA who offered to send anti-static bags and everything, gave me a good quote too. But certainly I'd like to remain in contact with you, as having someone close by would be immensely helpful as well.

Also fantastic project.

[Christian]

I think one of the diodes or a resistor needs to be removed so that the A3000 doesn't charge the Lithium cell when turned on. I forgot which one. This is not necessary with the battery adapter boards which have an inline diode or when using an ultracapacitor (as I do) in place of the battery.

[RogerWilco486]

I think one of the diodes or a resistor needs to be removed so that the A3000 doesn't charge the Lithium cell when turned on. I forgot which one. This is not necessary with the battery adapter boards which have an inline diode or when using an ultracapacitor (as I do) in place of the battery.

Who, me? A very good point, but did you see where I say "swap the NiCad charge current resistor with a schottky diode, a new quartz trimmer, and install a low-profile 2032 coin-cell socket so you've got a proper working RTC. And since I'm a bit OCD, I use a GPS-disciplined oven controlled oscillator as a lab reference to calibrate the RTC."

[Overmann]

How has the progress been on this?
I'm putting my A3000 back on the desk today, got me thinking about this machine.