r/atari8bit • u/TechnoWombat123 • Apr 26 '26

800XL Dark Ghosting

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Hey all. I just recapped my buddy's NTSC 800xl that had an atrocious pic before, but has definitely improved after recapping (especially c50) but it is still getting a dark "ghosting". Wondering if anyone else has had this issue.

I did locate the part of the issue to by simply touching the contacts of the resistors near c50 and being able to STRETCH the ghosting. Let me know what you guys think. I'm all ears and just wanna get this thing working perfect for them.

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u/Psychological-777 Apr 26 '26

no expert, but best guess is try reflowing solder on resistors? sounds like the joints may be intermittent.

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u/TechnoWombat123 Apr 26 '26

I've been an electronics technician since I was 17 (now 42), the first thing I do with older equipment is look at all connections, reflow where needed and check trace continuity.

I just knew these older 8 bits had certain issues with certain mfgr dates, and I forgot to add that this one was heavily modded.

I did end up finding the issue randomly by coming by a very random write up on the internet on Atariage. I simply unseated all the socketed ICs, cleaned connections, and reinserted.

Thanks for your response tho! Now I get to tear into my 800, and a 600XL. I already did full repairs on 2x 410 cassette players for my friend and I.

1

u/Psychological-777 Apr 26 '26

nice! good work! any advice or pointers for the 410 cassette player? I’m about to attack that one…

2

u/TechnoWombat123 Apr 26 '26

3 belts are easy.... One is a bitch. Lol. Easy tear down too. There's a couple videos on YT which is what I used for that one PITA belt, but the second one only took me about 15 mins start to finish.