Falcon integrated RAM board currently not on sale.

[exxos]

Atari_Falcon_RAM_board.jpg

I have temporarily taken these boards off sale because I have had a couple of reports of boards failing. At this point I'm assuming that power supplies which have not been serviced spiking the RAM causing the failure but at this time difficult to say. All the boards have of course been thoroughly tested in my own Falcon and I have not had any fail at all. Which again leads me to think this is a power supply problem. I have seen no end of original Falcon RAM boards fail over the years, so this problem is not just limited to my boards either.

So anyone who has not recapped their Falcon power supply really needs to do this otherwise you will start killing components. Generally it seems to be the Videl which fails mostly. But maybe the RAM actually fails first and then not long after the Videl dies. It is only a theory, but that is what I believe happens when the power supply is going bad based on my current evidence.

What I plan to do is, when I have time, put some transorbs on the boards to help protect them from spikes. Then they will be put back on sale again. Of course there could be other factors at play which I am unaware of. But overall the boards themselves are not failing, something is killing them which can only really be the power supply as far as I can see. It may be better for people with any sort of ram boards to fit a 5V transorb just as a matter of safety.

Overall as there seems to be other people producing these boards lately and a huge drop in sales on them, will probably just have to discontinue these boards totally, along with the simm adapter boards. Shame considering how long I have had them in production but sadly all things come to an end.

I would be interested in anyone who has had any sort of RAM board fail in their Falcon to speak up, and share experiences, and in particular if your power supply has been serviced or not.