December 2017
I often buy complete sets just to get one or two things to keep. Probably to only way nowadays to extend a collection. And all those sets which i need to sell pile up in my study…until enough is enough. Some of them i do open, check for earlier repairs, remove dust etc. And i always test them on my Commodore 1702 monitor,, run tests with a game cartridge and the dead test cartridge. I test the disk drives, and use a power save between the power supply and the actual commodore. If all ok, we’re good to go and will take some pictures and put the on Marktplaats.
So i had this one for sale. Not the nicest one, but it needed to go. It was quit busy on Martktplaats with a lot of C64’s offered. Set included a bit yellowed C64c, datasette, powercartridge and a lot of tapes. The C64 was boxed.
Sold it for 55 euro to Martin from Zuid-Holland. He came to collect the set two weeks ago and we had some nice conversations. Same evening i got an call that sound was not working…..and i was for sure that this one was tested…requested to disconnect the power supply immediately.
So….what to do. I do sell over 30 year old computers, but i was sure this one was working. Was it just bad luck? Decided to offer to come over, had some spare C64c boards and would just replace one. Sort of guaranty when i sell something (hopefully it doesn’t happen too often).
Anyway, Martin was in the following days nearby and offered to come by. Perfect. His 64C on the test cartridge and on the monitor…all tests successful. His setup was directly on the television, so we tested with the RF connector…and sound was failing. Ok. It seems there is an additional test i should do before i ship out an C64!. Replaced that board for a good one, tested again and perfectly working.
Further investigation of the board we noticed some soldering repairs on the RF unit. It seems that it was either removed for repairs or the RF unit was replaced by a “functional” one. The issue is within the RF unit, or is related to the soldering.
When i have the time i start with re-soldering the RF unit, maybe re-flowing the soldering it might be fixed. Otherwise i have to trace the audio signal. It goes through the RF unit to both the signal for TV and monitor, and since the audio is correctly working for the monitor. This one will take some time to repair i guess.
Martin bought some cable and a bit yellowed 1541-II drive as well for 20 euro’s.
Funny thing is. I was trying to get a nice C64C early version (breadbin board) from Marktplaats. I was the highest bidder and bidding was quiet for some days. I have one already, but yellowed and with a built in reset button, was looking to replace it for a better looking boxed one. I told him enthusiastically that i was trying to get that one…the next bidding started again, to my surprise it was Martin 🙂 He didn’t realized that it was the unit i was telling him about. Weird but of course a free market 😉 In the end bidding stopped, but it seemed that this one was already sold. Shame. Would be nice to have.
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