Rumor has it that Bob Lafleur may have mentioned these words:
How many of you remember the problem of chips coming
unseated in older
computers (like the PET) and having to push all the chips down as the
equipment ages?
Yes, a friend of mine likes to remind me that the standard repair tactic
for the Atari ST line was pick up the machine about 6 inches from the
counter & drop it...
I've now got this problem with my Kurzweil
MIDIBOARD (a 6502-based MIDI
keyboard controller). A few months ago I had to open it and reseat all the
chips. Now I have to do it again.
Does anyone know any tricks to keep this problem from occuring? I fear I'm
going to have to do this a lot now, especially with the vibrations of
playing the keys.
Solder??? ;-)
Seriously, 1 thing you can do that may improve (but not totally fix) the
problem *fairly easily*, is remove the chip[s] from their socket, noting
their orientation, and gently clean the legs of the chips with a white
eraser, then replace. That might extend the amount of time between chip
resocketting...
The only way I know to totally fix the problem without soldering the chips
directly to the board, is to remove the chips, desolder the cheap
single/dual wipe sockets, and install the more expensive ( & reliable)
machine-turned pin sockets, then reinstall the chips. That should eliminate
the problem entirely, or maybe a reseat every coupla decades...
HTH,
Roger "Merch" Merchberger
--
Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- sysadmin, Iceberg Computers
zmerch(a)30below.com
What do you do when Life gives you lemons,
and you don't *like* lemonade?????????????