Introduction to 7800 Maintenance

Welcome to the Institute for Advanced Atari Gaming Studies' Atari 7800 ProSystem Long Term Care Program. This page and information has been designed to work as a "do-it-yourself program" for properly maintaining your 7800 series system over a lifetime of enjoyment. This program was developed to assist laymen and Atari aficionados who lack skill in working with electronics (soldering, etc) in tending to their 7800 series system to keep it functional and enjoyable for years to come. There is nothing listed in this maintenance program that is very technical or will require anything more serious than a screwdriver and a paper towel, so if soldering and eproms and pcb's aren't your forte, you should still do well with the maintenance program. This page and program is still being added to, so check back in the future for added basic maintenance procedures.

"These machines were not designed or engineered to be in operation 20 years later." These were the words spoken to me by the Institute's Gene Landrum, Ph.D. during a recent conversation with regards to Atari. Dr. Landrum was in charge of launching the Home Consumer Division of Atari in 1976 and oversaw the development and commercial release of the Atari 2600 among other things. According to Dr. Landrum, the predicted life expectancy they were looking at for the 2600 series systems was seven to ten years. The first run of the 2600's are nearing thirty years old and many are still in use today. This fact alone blew Dr. Landrum's mind. And when I started to think about it, it blew my mind as well. To think... one day my precious 7800 that I have had since childhood will be thirty years old. Or fifty years old. And so-on. I want my children and my children's children to one day enjoy the same game programs that I grew up with. Games like Pole Position II, Asteroids, Food Fight and Joust mean a lot to me, both sentimentally and for the mere play value alone. I look at my 7800 and I see more than just an old heap of archaic electronics. I see more than just a collector's item. I see memories. I see myself waking up on Christmas morning and enjoying all my new games from Atari for hours on end. I see the time I played Galaga for 36 hours straight when I was in High School. I see a golden era of video games which has long since passed. Call me obsessed, but these are things that I really want to pass on to my children, and these are things I would like to see others pass on to the generations to come. This is precisely why I have taken the time to create this maintenance program.

One thing most gamers don't think about is precisely what Dr. Landrum said. These machines were never designed to be played twenty or thirty years later, but somehow, when well taken care of, they still manage to pull the job off. But eventually the microchips are going to go bad. One day the plastic will end up reverting to its original petroleum state. These units are going to disintegrate. The only thing we can do is buy ourselves some time. The best way you can buy yourself and your beloved 7800 some time is by properly maintaining your Atari 7800 series system. Be smart about how you treat your hardware and these things can last forever.

One other important piece of 7800 philosophy for you to chew on before we begin; The Institute's primary focus is advancing the 7800 and Atari retrogaming in every way possible. One major way I like to promote this wonderful system is by keeping it presentable for friends and family who may be over, who have not seen a 7800 in years, or may have never seen an Atari system at all. The major misconceptions I get from the general public regard how dirty and old the Atari systems are. Even the ones who grasp the concept of enjoying a classic video game sometimes make statements to me along the lines of "Yeah I remember Atari. I'd love to have an Atari again but I can't find a nice one. The only ones I see are dirty old piles of junk at garage sales." These people need to witness what a clean and fully functional Atari can be like. Keeping your Atari in working order is very important. Keeping it looking new is almost as important. Both of these issues are covered in this program.

With all this being said, I hope that you find this maintenance program helpful and easy to understand. I am trying to keep this a simple, cut-and-dry instruction manual as how to prolong the life of your machine. Best wishes to all!

- Justin

Powering Up and Scrubbing Down a Dirty 7800

Unless you are just coming home with a dirty 7800 system, skip on down to the Long Term Maintenance segment of the program. This segment addresses how to scrub down a filthy 7800 machine which may have spent years in a basement, closet, or garage, a common problem facing 7800 newbies.

Okay... so you finally have your hands on an Atari 7800 ProSystem. Problem is, its been facing years of neglect, sitting around collecting dust. Does it even work? What are it's flukes? Does the pause button stick when you press it? Is a tooth broken off of the cartridge bay? Are there dust bunnies floating around inside of the machine? If you have a 7800 system like this, and you want to take care of it over a long period of time, you are going to have to pull this sucker apart and bring it back up to speed. Don't worry, it's not as hard as it sounds.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• Phillips Head Screw Driver - medium size
• Set of Pliers
• Goo Gone or other Citrus-Based solvent
• Air Canister - available at any office supply store for cleaning keyboards
• Bucket of hot, soapy water
• Old Toothbrush
• Rag
• Pen
• Roll of Paper Towels

The first step in bringing your 7800 back to respectable condition is to thoroughly test and clean this machine. Break out your 7800 system and all the hardware you have laying along with it. You will want to also bring a cartridge or two with you to test the system with. Most of you are not as fortunate as I am to be able to have access to the 7800 Diagnostic Cartridge. If you are one of those few, you will want to use this cartridge when testing your 7800. In most cases, the original pack-in game Pole Position II will work just fine for testing.

Temporarily connect your 7800 system to your television set. If you are doing this for the first time, you may want to take caution. Examine the power cord to assure that it is not frayed. If it shows signs of extreme wear, you will want to address this problem first. Purchasing a new A/C adapter from a reputable Atari dealer is the best option. You may want to try Video 61 Atari Sales & Service for this item. If not, you will want to make sure to repair this fray with electrical tape.

NOTE: If you need assistance in hooking your 7800 series system up to your television set, please be sure to read the instruction manual first. There are vintage electrical components that you need to hook up to your television, and if you do not have these you will be totally lost. If you do not have the original owner's manual, we have an on-line version available for you here.

At this point, you should have your 7800 series system properly connected to your television. Plug in a cartridge and one controller into the left controller port. Play the game for a few minutes and note any strange occurrences. Look for sticky buttons and bad picture. You will want to make sure you test to check the following functions:

• Power on the system. Red light should come on, picture should show up on television.
• Test select button. Select your game level options with this button.
• Test pause button. Pause your game during play.
• Test reset button. Reset your game during play.
• Test left & right fire buttons. Use these buttons during play.
• Test your joystick shaft. Move the joystick left, right, up and down.

If everything works well, then you are set to go. If you encounter problems, you will have to address them individually. If you hare problems moving around on the screen, then the problem most likely lies with getting the controller to respond to your movements. This could simply be because you may not be used to using this style of joystick. Video game controllers have evolved quite a bit since they heyday of the Pro-Line Joystick. But the Pro-Line Joystick can be problematic at times. If you encounter problems with it, give it a good workout and see if it won't respond after half an hour of game play. If you still encounter problems, you may want to contact a reputable Atari dealer for assistance. Rebuilding the Pro-Line controller is not a job for amateurs. Those of you with a bit more skill will be able to open the joystick up and perform refurbishments if called for. This is another process which can be discussed at another time.

If you notice any sticking with the Power, Pause, Select, or Reset buttons, you will want to make a note of this so you can address this problem when you take the 7800 apart, you can clean or repair the sticky button.

Okay, so now that you know what your 7800 series system is capable of, it is time to move on with cleaning the machine. Our goal here is not to make this unit sparkling clean. That issue will be addressed further down the line. Our goal right now is just to bring the unit up to par. A system in this condition will need to be disassembled to be cleaned properly. True, you could wipe off the top and bottom and be done with it, but that would not be doing the job properly. It's better to just bite the bullet right from the get-go and bring your machine back to life, and enjoy it later. Believe me, you will thank yourself for doing this later. Okay. Let's get to work.

DISASSEMBLY
Start to disassemble the 7800 by laying your 7800 on an open, well-lit work space. This could be a desk or on the floor if you wish. Make sure you have some way of keeping track of loose screws, etc. Put the 7800 face down. Carefully unscrew the five screws from the bottom of the 7800. Be careful not to be rough with the screws or use a power screwdriver to accomplish this task. Many 7800 series systems were molded in cheap plastic that has become very brittle over the years. You could easily brake the plastic here if you are not careful.

Set the screws aside. Lift up on the bottom half of the 7800. Set the bottom shell aside. Pull out the motherboard and set that aside as well. You will be left with the top shell of the 7800 laying down flat on your work space. You are almost done disassembling the 7800!

Examine the inside of the buttons on the 7800. You will see that they are clipped in with two prongs on each side of the button, with a spring inset to give a reaction when the button is pressed. Pull out the pen, and carefully press in on the clips. Press down on one side so that the clip is pressed in slightly and stays pressed in. Press on the other tab. Both tabs are now pressed in. Push down on the button pin and slide the button out of the other end. Be ready to catch the spring as the button comes out. Repeat this function for the three remaining buttons.

GETTING OFF THE GUNK
Now that you have everything disassembled, it is time to begin cleaning the plastic shells. Examine the shells carefully, both externally and internally. What you need to look for first are any signs of stickiness or tacky glue that may be remaining from price tags, stickers, or tape. You will also want to look for tough grime that looks as if it may be a pain to get off. This is what we are going to target first. Put a small amount of Goo Gone or citrus solvent on the sticky area, or on any areas that are very built up with gunk. Let the Goo Gone sink in to the dirty area for about two minutes. Then add just a bit more of the Goo Gone to the area. Scrub this area in a circular motion with a paper towel that has been folded over thickly, or with an old rag. Make sure not to use anything hard to scrub the gunk off, especially if the gunk is on the metal name plate of the 7800. Let the Goo Gone do it's job. Once you have most of the gunk loosened up, use another dry paper towel to lift the gunk from the machine.

CLEANING THE PLASTIC
With all the stickiness gone from the 7800, it is time to finish giving your machine a good cleaning. Get a good sized bucket (like the kind you can get at Home Depot for a few dollars) and fill it about three quarters of the way to the top with hot, soapy water. The water should be very warm, but not so hot as to where it would bother you to be arm-deep in the water for a minute or two. You don't want to burn yourself, or warp the shells to your machine. Add a fair amount of liquid soap to the bucket. Any kind of degreasing dish soap will do the job. Liquid car wash soap also does a fine job. What you want to avoid are any detergents with bleach or abrasives. This will harm the plastic as well as the metal. Stir up the water until it is nice and sudsy.

At this point, you will want to carefully place everything into the bucket. Yes, everything. This means the top shell, bottom shell, the four face buttons, springs, and screws. The motherboard obviously doesn't get put in with everything else. Set the mother board aside for the moment. We will get to cleaning that shortly.

With everything in the bucket, let all the pieces sit in place for about seven minutes. This gives the hot water a little bit of time to sink in to loosen up a lot of the grime that has collected in the system over the years. After seven minutes, pull out the top shell of the 7800 and scrub it down. Use the toothbrush to clean along the ridges of the shell, located on the button strip near the front, the ventilation slots near the back, and the ridges around the circumference of the 7800, where the top and bottom shells connect. Give these areas a good once-over with the toothbrush, but don't get too detailed just yet. Once you have gone over these areas decently well, dip the rag in the water and clean the rest of the top shell in a circular motion while keeping the shell submerged in the soapy water. Repeat this same process with the bottom shell, and then submerge the shells back in the soapy water once again. This time you will need to let the components sit in the water for a good hour or so. This will give the water and soap a good opportunity to sink into all the crevices of the unit and loosen up any of the grime which you have not been able to lift off of the 7800 yet. This also gives you plenty of time to clean out the 7800's motherboard and prepare it to be placed back into the casing, once everything has been cleaned properly.

After this hour has passed, take out the components once piece at a time. Go over each piece carefully, detailing the component with the toothbrush, rag, and a dry paper towel as needed. Don't forget to go back over the nooks and crannies of the machine again too. This is where a lot of dirt likes to hide. It is even a good idea to wipe the screws carefully with a dry paper towel to get out any gunk that might have collected around the threading in the screws. Take on the mentality of "I'm going to clean this thing down to the very last screw" and you should do just fine. Once you have everything cleaned extensively to the point where you cannot find any more areas of grime or dust, set the components aside to dry. Make sure you do not lose any springs or screws when doing this. It will be very frustrating later on if you have a limp button because you rushed through this process.

CLEANING THE MOTHERBOARD
Cleaning the mother board is pretty easy, if you are only cleaning it on a novice level. Those of you who have a background in electronics may want to go through the motherboard one resistor at a time. You know what you are doing, so go for it. In the meantime, we are going to focus on getting all of the dust bunnies and particles out of the motherboard so as not to cause any long-term damage to the machine. First, examine the motherboard carefully. You will notice that it is plated with aluminum shields. Unless you want to be adventurous, leave these attached. If you know what you are doing, you can use Pliers to straighten the little aluminum tabs that hold the metal shell together, and pull these apart to access the motherboard its self. If you decide to do this, you will be able to access the board much more easily. If not, its not a big deal. Hold the board up to the light and peer inside the metal casing near the cartridge bay. Use your air canister with attached. straw to blow out as much dust and loose particles as you can. This may take a while to get out all of the dust without opening up the metal casing, but if you are a novice then this is the best way to go. Just make sure to take your time while performing this task. Getting out whatever dust and gunk may be floating around within the board is important for the survival of your system in the long run. You will also want to make sure to pay special attention to the switches and ports on the motherboard. Spray air into the switches, controller jacks, and if you have one, expansion bay. Gunk and dust like to cling to these areas and can build up after time. Do what you have to do to keep these areas clean, or you could end up getting particles inside the switches and controller plugs during gameplay.

REASSEMBLY
Now that everything is spic and span, it is time to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Make sure everything has dried completely. The best way to dry the components off is to quickly wipe them down with a dry paper towel, and then leave them out to air dry for about twenty minutes. You do not want to have any moisture existing inside of the system. First, you will want to start with repositioning the face buttons back into the top shell of the 7800. You accomplish this by first placing a spring around the shaft of the button, and insert the button back into its appropriate slot. The sequence of the buttons from left to right is Power, Pause, Select, Reset. Make sure not to switch these up when reassembling the system otherwise you will be very confused later on down the road. Next place the motherboard back into the bottom shell as if it were a pan. It will sit right down into the pan nice and snug. You should not have to wrestle with it what-so-ever. You may want to put a few pieces of packaging popcorn along the bottom as well. Just make sure you leave enough room for the motherboard to breathe. I find that this really firms up the feel of the 7800 machine and gives it a nice solid feel. You may disagree, and I'm sure a lot of people do. This is just my personal preference, so take that for what it is worth.

With the motherboard sitting firmly in the bottom shell, and the four buttons resituated back into the face of the top shell, carefully place the top shell over the bottom shell and secure it properly. Flip over the machine and screw in the five black screws that hold the machine together. TAKE CAUTION! Do NOT tighten these screws hard at all. Do not use any kind of power tool to tighten these screws. As I stated before, the 7800 was made of cheap plastic, and many of these machines are as brittle as sheets of ice today. I have seen many people snap off parts of plastic when trying to reassemble a 7800. Be gentle and use kid gloves when doing this.

COMPLETION
Now that you have your machine fully cleaned out and reassembled, you are ready to begin enjoying 7800 gaming excellence for what will hopeful be years and years to come. If you are satisfied with the condition of your 7800 at this time, then stop here for now. You will want to stop back next year to perform the long term maintenance for the 7800, or you may want to continue on at this point to learn how to give your 7800 a factory fresh shine. Good luck!

Long Term 7800 Maintenance

The steps you must take to ensure the long term viability of your 7800 series system are very simple and very short. Just use common sense. If you have a lot of skill with circuitry, you will of course know how to replace electronic components that may (and will) go bad over the years. Use your own judgment to decide what you must do. In the mean time, it is a good idea to take some time once a year to maintain your 7800 machine. Simply use an air Canister to blow out dust and particles from all of the areas where dust may clog up that may eventually be detrimental to the system in the future. There is no need to take your system apart to do this if you maintain it well. Make sure to remove the dust from inside the cartridge bay and along the joystick ports and switches. This may not seem like that big of a deal, but after dust builds up in these areas for some time, it will shorten the life of your 7800 series system.

Polishing Off Your 7800 to a Showroom Shine

Keeping your 7800 working is one thing. Keeping it looking like it just came out of the box is another. If you want to go that extra step to really give your 7800 that showroom shine, you can do the following.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• Roll of Paper Towels
• Windex or Glass Plus
• Choice of Maguire's, Mothers Back to Black, or Armor All

First you will want to wipe the 7800 down quickly. Spray a small amount of glass cleaner on a folded up paper towel and wipe the system clean of any dust, etc. Next, apply the Armor All to the top of the machine as shown in the diagram below. You do not want to apply very much of this liquid to the machine at all. All of these liquids are a little bit greasy and if you put on too much, it will make your 7800 look slimy. Our goal is just to polish it up a little bit. Apply a small amount of Armor All to the system in three places. First, make a long thin trail on the top of the 7800 in the area between the buttons and the metal name plate. Again, all you need is a nice thin line. Then apply a line in the same proportions on each side of the cartridge bay.

Next, fold over a paper towel so that it has some thickness. Spread out the Armor All evenly across the top of the 7800, avoiding any areas where crevices could catch the liquid, such as along the buttons or vents towards the back of the unit. Rub the Armor All into the system in a circular motion, evenly coating the entire top of the unit, except for the metal name plate. Once this has been evenly coated, you can pay some more attention to the difficult areas such as around the buttons, vents, and joystick ports. Finally, without applying any additional liquid to the machine, flip the 7800 over and use what is left of the Armor All on your paper towel to coat the back with the liquid, again rubbing the compound into the plastic in a circular motion. Do this for a little while. You may want to put on a good movie when doing this. Something like Reservoir Dogs. Polish your 7800 off like Mr. Pink would polish off his 45. After all, he was a professional.

After about ten minutes of rubbing down the system, get a clean piece of paper towel. Wipe down the system as if you were trying to dry it. By this time, all the Armor All that you could rub into the plastic has been absorbed, and the rest is just excess slime that will attract even more dust. You want to get rid of this excess Armor All so it does not look as greasy. Wipe the system down for another three minutes or so.

Finally, apply a bit of glass cleaner to yet another new paper towel. Wipe down the metal name plate on the face of the 7800 in a horizontal motion going with the grain of the aluminum. Make sure you get off all of the Armor All that may have accumulated during the polishing. When you are done, place the 7800 in a nice dust free area where it can resituate.

Now, you should have a 7800 machine that looks as if it just came right off the line at Atari! Do what you can to keep the system away from dust, and the unit should stay clean and shiny for at least a year.

Keeping Your 7800 Nice for Years to Come

The Atari 7800 ProSystem was not built to last for years, let alone decades. If you want to maintain the units functionality, you will want to take special precautions with your system. Here are a few quick tips in keeping your 7800 working for years to come.

• Set up your system on a sturdy, level surface away from dust, grease, extreme temperatures, direct sunlight, and high humidity.
  
• Avoid smoking near your system.
  
• Keep liquids away from the components.
  
• When you switch off the system, wait at least several seconds before you switch it on again.
  
• Always switch off the system before inserting or removing a cartridge.
  
• Switch off your system before cleaning it.
  
• To ship or store your system, repack it in the original factory packing materials.
  
• Keep the 7800 off of the carpet. It will heat up and suck in dust much easier this way.
  
• Do not leave your 7800 powered on when unattended.
  
• Do not try to attempt cheap hack-jobs to your 7800 unless you know exactly what you are doing. Hacks are not for novice game players.
  
• Do not allow any crazy friends play your 7800 unattended.
  
• Do not allow anyone with a short temper to play your 7800. A lot of Atari games are addictive and unbeatable as they do not have an ending. This will only frustrate people like this, and will result in them throwing the joystick at the 7800 system, cracking the components.
  
• Don't spend all your time bickering with other Atari enthusiasts on line. These games were built to be played and to be enjoyable. Never forget that.
  
• Just use common sense. These machines are old. Treat them like you would a classic car. In otherwords, don't be an idiot.

Important Disclaimer

All of the above information is provided to you by the Institute for Advanced Atari Gaming Studies. This information is merely my suggestions based upon my opinions as how to take care of your 7800 system. Nothing said here has been suggested by Atari, nor is it meant to insinuate that it has been. There is no implied warranty on these instructions. If you hurt yourself or your 7800, it is you who is responsible for this. These machines are old, temperamental, and are plugged into electrical sockets. Anything you do with these systems you do at your own risk. The performance of the above tasks, either complete or incomplete, implies that you fully understand the risks involved in said procedures and accept the responsibility for your actions.