On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 01:31:58 +0100, mistermaniac
wrote:


Jim Yanik Wrote:
"b" wrote in
oups.com:


Fred McKenzie wrote:
In article , mistermaniac
wrote:

An friend just contacted me about his old (But RETRO!!) Commodore
64which emitted a lot of smoke when he turned it on. I got a picture
ofthe mainboard, which in my opinon not much good, looks like
moisture,but i am not sure. Who can give an correct answer?

MisterManiac-

Back when they were new, the power module had the reputation that the
regulator transistors were held against their heat sink by the epoxy
potting. After some use, they separated from the heat sink, causing
either a failure or a thermal shut-down.

I never had that problem, perhaps because mine was a newer unit.
However some people became quite good at rebuilding the power
modules.

I find that a surprise, as I once tried to open up a commodore power
supply .It was all one big brick of molten epoxy which was to all
intents and purposes inpenetrable, at least not without destroying
the
innards (which i eventually did after hurling it at a wall in
frustration ;-)
-b.



"MOLTEN epoxy"??

Seems that would be fairly easy to penetrate.
The molten epoxy would be running out of the vents,too.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net


What do ya know, the commodore has strangely enough, decided to work
again, without any problem so far.

Obviously then, it didn't emit smoke at all....

I was going to say that the fuse looks pretty healthy to me. While not
always the case, smoke emission may result in a blown fuse in the
power supply area.