When aging electronics fail
Posted: October 10th, 2018, 9:09 am
Having a streak of issues on older electronics, and I'm wondering if I am hitting age related failures - the right hand side of the 'bathtub' curve of failure rates.
I acquired several handheld computerized games, about as old as an Atari 2600 would be (1977-1980 time frame). They would power on, but not operate correctly. My guess is that the capacitors have gone. Common estimates are that most capacitors have a 15-25 year lifespan, while these are 40 year old devices (but there are only about 3 capacitors in the entire device)
There are modern reproductions of some of these games, but like many attempts to emulate video game consoles, they have been fair from perfect. Some have not even been close, like reproductions of Mattel Football where you can move forwards and back (in classic Football, there is only a single button, and you only move toward the end zone). The defenders also can move backwards now. The game is different on a basic level. Other attempts mess up timing or other issues.
For video games, the community was large enough and loud enough to keep pushing for better emulation.
I've also encountered failures in older computers, but those are relatively complex circuit boards compared to the Atari 2600. Anyone experienced any failures with ROM cartridge video game consoles? I wonder if many of them might begin to break down in the next decade. Its not catastrophic as a capacitor kit is only about $10, but you still have to put in the labor/pay for labor of fixing it.
I acquired several handheld computerized games, about as old as an Atari 2600 would be (1977-1980 time frame). They would power on, but not operate correctly. My guess is that the capacitors have gone. Common estimates are that most capacitors have a 15-25 year lifespan, while these are 40 year old devices (but there are only about 3 capacitors in the entire device)
There are modern reproductions of some of these games, but like many attempts to emulate video game consoles, they have been fair from perfect. Some have not even been close, like reproductions of Mattel Football where you can move forwards and back (in classic Football, there is only a single button, and you only move toward the end zone). The defenders also can move backwards now. The game is different on a basic level. Other attempts mess up timing or other issues.
For video games, the community was large enough and loud enough to keep pushing for better emulation.
I've also encountered failures in older computers, but those are relatively complex circuit boards compared to the Atari 2600. Anyone experienced any failures with ROM cartridge video game consoles? I wonder if many of them might begin to break down in the next decade. Its not catastrophic as a capacitor kit is only about $10, but you still have to put in the labor/pay for labor of fixing it.