exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

Posted: **31 Jan 2025 10:32**

I took my Falcon 030 out of storage after 10 years and I tried booting it. So I connected my monitor.

falcon_030_monitor_a.jpg

It starts up, programs seem to work (haven't saved anything tho), but I get this overload of green.

falcon_030_monitor_b.jpg

I just did a quick visual inspection of the motherboard starting at the monitor out and the first thing in the path which looks 'not good' is C87.

falcon_030_monitor_c.jpg

So, storage hasn't been kind to the Falcon. There are mouse droppings inside, I see all kinds of crap and there is some rust on some places.

So I downloaded the Falonc030_Service_Guide and took a quick glance at the schematics and on page 144 (sheet 4 of 14) I can see that C87 is 15uf and is responsible for 'green'.

Okay, so eh, that is somewhat to convenient/easy. Especially for somebody like me, because I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. I do have some other tools which I used over 15 years ago, like a scope and an iron with adjustable heat which I used to do some recaps of old audio gear using very detailed manuals, so I"m not a complete novice but I'm just as green as this Falcon screen when it comes to fault finding and fixing an Atari.

My questions are:
- Could I be right and it is 'just' C87?
- If so, where can I find some more info on this part? (yeah, I've googled but I can't find anything solid to be honest)
- if so, would it be smart to replace al 3 of them (R, G and B)?
- What can I do more to rule out other issues (or confirm that this is THE issue)?
- If I have to scope anything, what am I looking for? Is there a speed lecture on scope reading somewhere?
- If I'm going to break out the soldering iron, what other parts/caps should I replace while I'm at it?

Looking forward to some insight, guidance and hopefully a proper working Falcon!

Posted: **31 Jan 2025 11:24**

Before you do anything else use contact cleaner on the video port. What you're seeing there is a lack of red and blue signal, probably from dirty contacts.

Posted: **31 Jan 2025 15:14**

C87 is a tantalum capacitor, 15uF, 25V, +/-20%
Leg spacing you could probably check yourself. Probably 2,54mm/0,1 inches.

Posted: **02 Feb 2025 01:49**

toverbal wrote: 31 Jan 2025 10:32 I took my Falcon 030 out of storage after 10 years and I tried booting it. So I connected my monitor.

falcon_030_monitor_a.jpg

It starts up, programs seem to work (haven't saved anything tho), but I get this overload of green.

falcon_030_monitor_b.jpg

I just did a quick visual inspection of the motherboard starting at the monitor out and the first thing in the path which looks 'not good' is C87.

falcon_030_monitor_c.jpg

So, storage hasn't been kind to the Falcon. There are mouse droppings inside, I see all kinds of crap and there is some rust on some places.

So I downloaded the Falonc030_Service_Guide and took a quick glance at the schematics and on page 144 (sheet 4 of 14) I can see that C87 is 15uf and is responsible for 'green'.

Okay, so eh, that is somewhat to convenient/easy. Especially for somebody like me, because I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. I do have some other tools which I used over 15 years ago, like a scope and an iron with adjustable heat which I used to do some recaps of old audio gear using very detailed manuals, so I"m not a complete novice but I'm just as green as this Falcon screen when it comes to fault finding and fixing an Atari.

My questions are:
- Could I be right and it is 'just' C87?
- If so, where can I find some more info on this part? (yeah, I've googled but I can't find anything solid to be honest)
- if so, would it be smart to replace al 3 of them (R, G and B)?
- What can I do more to rule out other issues (or confirm that this is THE issue)?
- If I have to scope anything, what am I looking for? Is there a speed lecture on scope reading somewhere?
- If I'm going to break out the soldering iron, what other parts/caps should I replace while I'm at it?

Looking forward to some insight, guidance and hopefully a proper working Falcon!

Hi,

The first thing to do, is to perform a full clean up of the motherboard, remove all the shits here and there, and then try to fix the green color problem.

Next considering the falcon sat in storage, capacitors are dead..... You would be inspired to replace them (PSU + MOBO).

C87 has a burn mark on its top btw.... You should also check that the little red/pink pieces scattered around are not from R108.....

I'm well placed to talk about this, i got my Falcon 030 in 2020 for 220 euros. It was covered of plaster and crap'n'shits(tm). I had to full dismount it, fully clean it (it was stored for at least 3 years in a Grange, in "french pyrenées". Don't be stingy on the clean up, the maintenance, etc....

Good luck and keep us tuned with your progress ;)

Posted: **03 Feb 2025 15:03**

@ stephen_usher

I used some cleaner, but that doesn't make any difference at current. And yeah, you are absolutely right. I'm seeing green because the red and blue aren't coming through. I'll start looking if can see anything in that direction as well.

@ DoG

Thanks! I'll replace them all, just for the fun of it!

@ Dlfrsilver

Yeah, after my post I got busy cleaning. At current it looks somewhat better after a bit of 96% alcohol and a bunch of q-tips, but I'm not sure if I can get it back to new.

I'm going for a full recap, but at current I want to know if there is other stuff I need to address, so I can do it all at once.

The red stuff is from a little PCB which is 'floating' around on top of the video output. This PCB is for a mod to give the falcon 6 RCA outputs. I need to address that as well. I'm not sure if I want to keep it.

falcon_030_mod.jpg

Posted: **03 Feb 2025 15:36**

Oh my gosh that board needs a serious cleaning. I suggest soaking the entire board in hot water and scrub it. I mean seriously work up a lather and scrub deeply with an anti static brush (then rinse with distilled water) I can also see that your video DAC (the little ST QFP near the Videl) all it's pins seem to be covered in a brown gunk. You'll wanna get all this cleaned thoroughly before you begin any diagnostics.

Also note, your audio DAC is completely relocated to that riser PCB. So if you don't want to keep it you'll have to reinstall a socket on the motherboard and relocate the DAC.

Posted: **03 Feb 2025 15:43**

I'd certainly agree with the others, clean first and ask questions later.

The mainboard is very dirty and mouse 'output' can be quite corrosive so you really need to deal with that ASAP.

exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

Too much green on my screen, Falcon 030

Too much green on my screen, Falcon 030

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