Re: Pac repair using a chip comparitor

I wasn't blaming the part for the fault of backwards insertion. My dismay
is that Clay's device is not repairable at all by anyone other than him.

What happens if Clay doesn't want to service the devices? This has already
happened in the case of the Multi Pacs.

Look at what great lengths people have gone to decrypt, dechipher & reverse
engineer arcade stuff now for the benefit of all. I can understand Clays
intention to protect his work but it negates my ability to repair it.

I've had another unit of Clays fail, a Sync Buss Controller that I know what
not plugged in backwards. The only thing I could find was a stuck data line
but I don't understand how this could blow out the chip and I know it wasn't
a short to higher voltage as I troubleshoot with +5 only until the board is
up & running then finish the audio section, then do AC.

$7.00 is a reasonable price for a repair but if I have an option for an
equal replacement part that I can repair versus a part that I must ship out
for repair, the choice is clear.

To a non-solderer the Clay part & repair service is probably a good deal but
your are dependant on a soul source provider/servicer.

I'm happy to have an option now with Mark producing TTL style replacements &
if I get strap down holes in the next revision I'll be estatic.

> I was guilty in my first month or so of servicing video games (back in the
> 70's) of plugging in a board while the power was on. This board had a
> 115VAC relay and, um, well..., it didn't survive the experience. This is
> back in the days when Pong was a big deal (B&W of course!) and the games
> sold for $4,000 (Yup, that's $4K Canadian, back then worth a bit MORE than
> the US$) so I had to spend a week replacing all the IC's (ALL!) to get it
> running again.
>
> Now, of course, I never plug a part in backwards. Really.
>
> "What Never?"
>
> "No Never!"
>
> "Well hardly ever..." (Gilbert & Sullivan)
>
> Clay is right, it is hard to blame the part for our screw-ups, BUT I
tried!
> (running for cover now ;-)...
>
> Happy Ho-Ho's!
>
>
> John :-#)#
>
> At 03:02 PM 12/12/00, Clay Cowgill wrote:
> >I do find this a little silly. EPROMs will die if you plug them in
> >backwards. PCB's will die if you reverse power and ground. This really
> >shouldn't be any big news to anyone on this list... ;-) I do have an
> >immediate solution that requires no modifications to the design though--
> >Don't do that!
> >
> >I've sold lots of those 284's and 285's since 1998 and have had *maybe* a
> >quarter of a percent of the total come back for repair (for *any*
reason),
> >so I'm really not inclined to modify my PCB design or hand-add a diode to
> >every one. It's the 90:10 rule (or in this case the 99.75:0.25 rule :-).
> >
> >Kev's not quite right on one point though either-- they can be fixed just
> >fine. I just have to do it... They're $7 each plus shipping if you
smoke
> >one.
> >
> >(I must confess that this really is perplexing to me. I mean, c'mon-- at
my
> >"real job" if my engineering technician complained that some part dies
when
> >plugged in backwards you can be pretty sure I'm not going to be blaming
the
> >part!)
> >
> >-Clay
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >Date: Monday, December 11, 2000 8:06 AM
> >Subject: Re: Pac repair using a chip comparitor
> >
> >
> > >Mark's devices will die also if plugged in backwards...takes about an
hour
> > >or more to replace the IC's, same as the original...perhaps we could
ask
> > >both Mark and Clay to put in a 1N4005 diode across the Vcc and Ground
so IT
> > >shorts out if installed backwards and not the board...sort of a Silicon
> > >Suicide device...
> > >
> > >John :-#)#
> > >
> > >At 11:16 PM 12/11/00, Kev wrote:
> > >>http://users.erols.com/mowerman/bugtrap.htm
> > >>
> > >>pic & small write up of the Bugtrap.
> > >>
> > >>Word about Clay's most excellent products (Vram address or Sync bus),
plug
> > >>them in backwards & they die. There is no fixing these. Mark Spaeth
> > >>produces a replica of the original boards with TTL components that are
> > >>repairable.
> > >>
> > >>Personally I'm not too impressed with the Fluke 90 thingy, but maybe I
> > >>haven't spent enough time with it yet.
>
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Received on Tue Dec 12 07:51:52 2000