The Sinclair QL Forum

Hello everyone

I am a Commodore nut but recently started collecting Sinclairs as I used to play on my cousins "back in the day" and an curious to the Spectrum experience I missed out on.

So far I have got a ZX81, 48K, 128 +2, 128 +3 FDD (Cant find any disk games...but that's another story) and my Spectrum pride and joy the Sinclair QL

I acquired this a few months ago from the UK while I was in New Zealand for 3 months, so only tonight I got round to setting it up.

I bought it as a "Brand New" Old Stock unit and judging by the condition it looks like it has never been used, the box is mint and the computer is in *perfect* condition, everything is in the box, tapes, feet, manual is like *new*, warranty card etc warrant seals intact, stickers underneath like new, not even a smudge on it.

BUT, there is always a BUT isn't there

1) The Picture on my TV is bleeding badly ! (even after fine tuning)
2) Stuck on a Press F1 Monitor / F2 TV Screen - google suggests this is a bad membrane ?

I am reluctant to open such a pristine machine so before I take the screwdriver to it is there anything else I can press or do to bypass this screen ???

Thanks in advance and sorry for such a long winded post, its a HELP and an Introduction I guess

Gary

PS I hope it's not as bad as one of my FAVORITE retro shows Micromen protrays ....I am a bit worried about the bit where (AFAIR) Clive announced "we Will launch in 3 months" !!!

BAD Update, after running 20 min blue vertical lines appeared on the screen, and these are now PERMANENT even after a power cycle

Here are some pics, sorry some are a bit blurred

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/5intn36j3q6hj/QL

Hi Gary,

Welcome to the forums. I am a long time trader, and supply (amongst other things) plenty of spares including keyboard membranes for the QL and other retro computers through my own sellmyretro.com website.

The QL box and QL are in very good condition visually, as you say, although not quite unused condition (as the manual pages would have been shrink wrapped for the user to insert in the manual), and those microdrive stickers are (I think) the ones which were issued with the Spectrum microdrives but that is the only obvious sign of the box having been opened. In fact you seem to have to have avoided the bits of polystyrene melted onto the cables which plagues old QLs stored in their box!

Yes, if you cannot get past the F1/F2 screen, in 99% of cases, the keyboard membrane needs replacing. In some rarer cases it can be a damaged connector, or failure of one of the pull up resistors used to get the signal from the membrane.

What a shame that the QL itself has failed so quickly with thin blue lines (very weird as the F1/F2 screen still appears). There are better people on here to advise on diagnosing the issue, but I would first of all check if it still appears after the QL has been allowed to cool overnight?

It could be several things - including a faulty RAM chip somewhere. The blurry screen suggests that you may need to renew the MC1377P video processor chip, but it could be a fault on the board or the TV modulator itself. There seems to be no simple solution to tihs problem - it varies between QLs

I would be inclined to try first of all carefully removing all of the socketed chips from their sockets and pushing them back in (as the QL is notorious for the pins becoming dirty with time).

If that does not help, then you may need to replace the MC1377P, ZX8301, ZX8302 and 8049 to track the problem - or possibly borrow a Minerva chip which has a better memory test than the one built into the QL to identify if any of the RAM chips are problematic.

Wow!

This is a MINT QL as Italian One that I've bought 2 years ago ^_^

I hope that you can solve the problem very soon, instead If you can't and you want to sell it please advice me ^_^

I'm searching for a MINT QL (UK VERSION) that I miss for too many years.

Best regards.

I am most definitely not an electronics guru, I merely dabble. Bear this in mind when reading what follows.

Old kit that has not been used for years, as this mint QL appears, may end up with a lot of dead electrolytic capacitors. These probably need replacing. However, do the simple stuff first. Pull the chips and reinsert them. You might want to check the pins for tarnish while you have them out. I've heard that stabbing them through aluminium foil a few times can help clean the pins, but I've never done it (or had to) myself.

I think the filed cps might have a swelling on the top, rather than being pefectly flat. Maybe! Modern caps do have a weaker "X" on the top to allow for a burst rather than an explosion! Or so I'm told anyway.

Good luck.

Cheers,
Norm.

Hi Guys, thanks for the fast replies ! You sure know a lot about QL's Rich

I popped the cover (see new pics...My Sony Z3 Phone is better than my digital camera !!) Luckily the warranty stickers came off in one piece nice and easy

Better pics here https://www.mediafire.com/folder/rs453ra1t59k0/QL2

The blue lines were away today when I powered up so maybe heat related ?

I ordered a ZX8301 (reading these give a lot of trouble ?) and a RGB to SCART lead from your store Rich to see if that gives me a stable picture

If it does then I will get a new membrane from your site and then I can test the drives, BUT was reading on the internet about QL's leaving the factory with faulty microdrives :O

Are the microdrives as bad as some make out ?

thanks

Gary

NormanDunbar wrote:I am most definitely not an electronics guru, I merely dabble. Bear this in mind when reading what follows.

Old kit that has not been used for years, as this mint QL appears, may end up with a lot of dead electrolytic capacitors. These probably need replacing. However, do the simple stuff first. Pull the chips and reinsert them. You might want to check the pins for tarnish while you have them out. I've heard that stabbing them through aluminium foil a few times can help clean the pins, but I've never done it (or had to) myself.

I think the filed cps might have a swelling on the top, rather than being pefectly flat. Maybe! Modern caps do have a weaker "X" on the top to allow for a burst rather than an explosion! Or so I'm told anyway.

Good luck.

Cheers,
Norm.

Hi Norm thx for reply !

Yes owning loads of Amigas and Commodores notorious history of cap failures and even soldering on caps the wrong way round !!! I was thinking that myself

I know in the Amigas sometimes the caps can look perfect but still be dead (and leak over board causing damage)

I didn't want to think about caps lol as I am the worlds worst at soldering so don't even attempt it !

I know there are recap services for Amigas are there any UK based services for QL's ?

But yes you are right start with the easier stuff !

I think I paid a bit over the odds for this machine (£165 delivered) but I like my retro gear to be in pretty good condition if possible ! and I don't mind spending a bit on it to get it working

Thanks

Gary

A warm welcome to the forum, although I'm usually regarded as the worst solderer on here!

Ian Gledhill (Mutant Caterpillar games) does repairs and covers the QL so could recap the machine for you - although I have not actually come across a QL where this was needed!

As the blue lines seem to be heat related that might be 5V regulator is overheating and what you actually see is the QL locking up (just you don't realise this as the membrane isn't working to get past the F1/F2 screen).

It would be worth checking if (this happens again), any of the chips are particularly hot to the touch.

vanpeebles wrote:A warm welcome to the forum, although I'm usually regarded as the worst solderer on here!

Hi mate

hahahah wanna bet !!! my solder blobs always seemed to end up bigger then the component I was actually soldering and nearly *always* I ended up burning all the tracks off the board so had nothing left to solder to .....and I am actually being serious

the last job I attempted a few weeks ago was to simply solder a WIRE back on to a LED board of an Amiga 600.....simple you say, nice big blob to solder to ..oh yes ! what can possibly go wrong eh ?

Not only did I burn the board and tracks to bits I actually broke another wire off :O

http://www.mediafire.com/view/yp99rka41c0osbv/A600.JPG#

Thx for the welcome btw

Gary

By the way - no, the microdrives were never as bad as some people made out...

I had a very early QL a couple of years ago, and with a good clean and some good cartridges - the microdrives were the best I had seen!

The main issues with microdrive units are:
a) Rubber roller (pinch wheel) rising up the shaft - should be no more than 0.5mm gap at the bottom of the roller
b) Rubber roller wears away (the top half so you can turn them upside down if they look too worn)
c) Being too harsh when cleaning the tape heads and scratching the tape heads (oops!)
d) The felt pads on the microdrive cartridges splitting due to age, and part of the felt pad going into the cartridge (slowing or jamming it) or wiping itself all over the tape head....