Atari 400 repair part 1

Atari 400 Teardown and repair video including a DIY replacement PSU

[gamedoutgamer]

The speaker is not glued in by Atari. It's supposed to rest into the bottom half of the case but since you did not disassemble it correctly that's why disassembly was awkward. Gluing it in was the wrong thing to do. It won't sound right being against the keyboard. Now it likely won't align with the hole in the bottom of the case.

Remove the 4 case screws, then turn it right side up, then open the cart door (you missed this part) then pull the top of the case off as you guide the cart door through the hole of the case top. Be careful with the ribbon keyboard connector as it is very fragile as you remove the top of the case. There are two small plastic hole insert pins that hold the keyboard to the case top below the space bar. It's not glued either! Separate them one at a time by prying them vertically from the case top, then the keyboard will easily come off. There is no glue from Atari in a 400. The keyboard ribbon cable is quite difficult to reconnect if you unplug it.

I'm surprised you didn't break a cart door hinge when pulling the case top off the RF shield. Count yourself lucky as it is easy to do. That the screw was loose aided the cart door separation (pure luck). You likely permanently scuffed the top corners of the case having it upside down on the hard table.

It's very sad to see this nice condition 400 handled so poorly here. Atari used thin plastic for the case shell and they are prone to crack and shatter seeing as they are old and brittle now. The 400's and 800's are not easy to work on and it's easy to make mistakes. My advice is to take it much more slowly and think it through before acting.

I know there's a part 2 to this video so I'll watch that next but am already afraid to.

edit: 31:39 OH MY GOD you should NOT be working on these machines this is so cringe! You must fully disassemble the computer and put the cart door in BEFORE you screw the hinge bracket into place.
35:45 because you didn't have the cart door on this happens. You know nothing about this machine you should not be working on it.

[jimbox]

I picked one of these up and it had a black screen. Took it apart and removed the cpu chips and put them back in. I also checked the ram chips. They all felt slightly loose. AFter doing this the thing works great! I was worried because it had some rusted screws on the inside. I feared it had water damage but all the boards themselves looked fairly clean.

[dopeman]

This is sad...bro...come on...really??