Need Help!- BP EZ Trak DX

[rlmomc]

Last year you were a huge help. Now I need you all again.
I have a EZ Trak DX with a 486 SX processor.

I had the machine shut down for 3 months. (No work)
It was working fine.
I went to turn it on the other day and I got a "No Signal"
on my monitor.

I can't tell if the hard drive is spinning.
The lights on the boards all come on.

Power to the spindle is fine.

I don't know where to start.

Any Ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Rich

[machintek]

Turn the machine On and watch the floppy drive. It should turn on for a few seconds and shut off during boot up.
If it does, the mother board may be working correctly.
Next, I would pull out the video board and clean the edge connector with a soft eraser. Put it back in and try it.
Get a old color monitor SVGA from a thrift store or borrow one. Plug it into the video board and see if that helps.

George

[rlmomc]

George,
Thank you.
I'll try that. I did pull it and forgot all about cleaning the contacts.

A little more FYI:
In the last year I replaced the old CRT with an LCD monitor which was
working fine (and beautifully I might add).

I hope the simple solution will be it.

Rich

[rlmomc]

Well I took a trip to the shop.
Switched it on and looked for a light on the floppy.
No light.
I checked for power on both the Hard Drive and Floppy drive
and there was power at the connector.

I took out all 3 boards and cleaned the contacts.
The long board (furthest left) lights up with 2 red led's.

I didn't have a chance to hook up the LCD monitor directly. Try that Monday.

Suggestions? Opinions?

Just odd how it was fine 3 months ago and I flip it on and "no signal"
Would a no power condition for 3 months affect anything?

Thanks in advance

[machintek]

How old is your logic power supply? See if the fan is turning on it. Check power in and the fuse that protects it.
I will guess ther are no lights on the logic boards. The lights you saw were on the drives.

George

[rlmomc]

Logic Power Supply is original to the machine.

I did notice the Power Supply fan was not running very well. I thought maybe it was time to replace it. When I checked Sunday is was not running at all.
However I did check the leads to the Hard drive and Floppy and they do have power. (also a third power supply under also had power to it)

As far as I remember there are 3 sets of lights. 1 each for each drive card.

Then another for a card connected to the mother board.
(as you probably know there are 3 cards connected to the MB.
I know the far right is the video card, the middle leads to an RS-232 connector
on the side of the machine, and the 3rd, the longest of the 3 has 2 led lights.
Those are the ones that light up.

I know that the top of the Power supply is has a plug where it gets power from the transformer. If I disconnect this plug the lights go out on that long board.

Hope I gave you enough info.
Oh I have checked all the fuses that are visible.
total of 11 I believe, including for the machine itself.
3 lower right, and 3 upper left of the cabinet. 1 one each drive card.

Are there others?

Thanks so much

Rich

[machintek]

It still sounds like the mother board is not running. The red to black on the plug is the 5 VDC. It has to be 5 VDC with a digital meter. If it is not, the mother board will not think correctly.
I used to carry a small PC speaker that I could plug into a J connector on the mother board. The beeps indicated some faults with the mother board. A lack of beeps confirmed a dead mother board.
You could try a power supply (I recommend a new one anyway). But if you need a mother board, it is a trip to a thrift store or dumpster diving (or EMI for about $700.00).

George

[rlmomc]

I will also take a speaker with me. (I'll borrow it off an old computer I have)
this will tell me if it's the MB as you said and should tell me if that's the problem or not. If beeps indicate problems, and no beeps indicate a dead MB,what would indicate a good motherboard?

I will check the leads for 5v today.
I assume if I get the correct voltage then the Power supply is ok?

I found the schematic to it and will make sure I checked every fuse as well.

As for dumpster diving and thrift stores....recommend any good dumpsters &
thrift stores?

Thank again
Rich