repairing Firepower: which connectors to replace?

mc300baud

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i have a Firepower project that i rescued out of a storage unit a little while back. i secured a tested working boardset (well, MPU, driver and PS) and got it mostly working. voltages seem within limits and it will usually work for a bit (minus the speech but that's the least of my worries,) but it will eventually reset or just lock up with garbage or nothing on the displays.

i'm going to replace some of the connectors but heck, there are a ton of those. which ones are the most important for solving lockup and reset issues? just the ones from/to the PS board, or at there others that will typically give these problems? or should i try to get replacements for every interboard connector and do it all in one shot?
 
Do yourself a favor and replace all of them now, while you already have access to everything and the tools and parts pulled out to work on it.

If you don't then you're going to have a problem somewhere down the road due to the remaining old connectors and you'll have to open it up and pull everything out again to replace another connector.

- JM
 
I would start with the power connectors and the 40 pin connector between the CPU and Driver board. I usually just replace the pins and keep the old housing unless the housing is burnt. Also, on my Gorgar I had lock up issues caused from bad solder joints on the bridges. My pin for the 12v was flakey which caused the game to not boot sometimes. I believe there is only one pin for the 12v so it's important that the pin is good.
 
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fortunately the 40 pin connector has been replaced recently and every header pin has been touched up. now it's just the wiring that needs attention.

it's also blowing the solenoid fuse (well, the Bob Roberts fuse-saver circuit breaker) even after replacing the bridge rectifier so i'll have to track down which is bad once i can get it running consistently.
 
yeah, the boards got a thorough going-through by the person i got them from. any header the he didn't reflow the solder on i did after testing the boards in my machine. no burned or tarnished pins and all of the pins and connectors on the 40-pin were replaced. worked just fine in his machine and the +5 is stable on mine so i'm fairly certain it's an issue with my existing wiring and connectors (which all look original and several obviously got hot at one point or another.)
 
well, when i get a chance in the next couple of days i'll put together a list of what connectors i need and put in an order, likely with Mouser (though maybe Bob depending on price.)

i'll make sure to report back when i've got it done. there'll probably be more issues that'll i'll need assistance with then anyway.
 
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