The Amiga 4000 is one model I figured I would never own. I have an Amiga 3000 and a 1200 already - so I just couldn't justify the price the Amiga 4000 usually goes for. That all changed a couple of weeks ago when I happened upon this buy-it-now offer on eBay that must have just posted:
Needless to say I clicked "Buy It Now" (!!!!!!).
I still didn't quite trust that it would actually get shipped to me but sure enough it went out the next day and arrived only a few days later. Pretty decently packed too.
I made a quick inspection outside and inside just to make sure nothing was obviously amiss. I was really worried that it had been battery-bombed (still a decent deal if so - but would be disappointing).
It came with a Video Toaster 4000 installed. I removed that for the initial power on.
Really the state of the logic board is a second miracle (after even finding the deal in the first place). It had a very slight amount of battery related corrosion but no apparent capacitor leakage (confirmed later when I recapped it).
I snipped the battery, neutralized the corrosion and rinsed with isopropyl alcohol.
Other details
- Rev B motherboard
- Rev 3.1 A3640 processor card
- Socketed Super Buster rev 11
- Chinon FZ-357A (high density) floppy drive
- Fully complement of RAM (16MB fast, 2MB chip)
Time to power her on!
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Now there was lots to do - pull everything apart, order parts (capacitors for logic board, processor board and PSU, new rubber feet, new power supply fan, coin battery holder) and clean up the graffiti and sticker residue left on the case by the Design Engineering.
The processor card also hadn't suffered any capacitor leakage - despite the infamous backwards capacitors on this rev of A3640 boards.
Recap
Testing
Cosmetics
I started down the path of retrobrighting the front bezel - but the areas where the stickers were and the rest of it just wouldn't match. I had read about a really good paint for the plastics of the A600/1200/4000: Krylon Fusion 'Dover White' in satin sheen). I haven't tried it before but I have to say I am really impressed. The color is a perfect match - and of course it will never re-yellow. I followed the advice to apply several very light coats. It's a special paint for plastics and each coat is a bit translucent. I ended up applying three (light) coats. To my eye it doesn't read "painted". I didn't paint the floppy bezel or button as they cleaned up fine using H2O2.
All back together
Thank you for letting me share my find with you!