Spicy O’ Clock Project issues

[SadMac]

I’ve started my Spicy O’ Clock project today and after following tutorials and properly wiring my spicy, the Color Classic will not chime or produce video. I am scared my Color Classic is dead now, can I receive some guidance on what I’m doing wrong? I would love to use Spicy O’ Clock but, I feel like the only way to get my machine working again is to desolder it. Okay

 

[Kay K.M.Mods]

I’ve started my Spicy O’ Clock project today and after following tutorials and properly wiring my spicy, the Color Classic will not chime or produce video. I am scared my Color Classic is dead now, can I receive some guidance on what I’m doing wrong? I would love to use Spicy O’ Clock but, I feel like the only way to get my machine working again is to desolder it. Okay

Hi @SadMac ,

If I had to give a little advice, first, there are a lot of exposed parts at the ends of the lines, so make them a little shorter. And a lot of solder. I can't see the wiring of the XC88916 very well, but please confirm that the 8 pin is definitely floating from the footprint and not touching. Check with a multimeter to make sure the wires are making good contact.
Spicy is adjusted to about 20.5Mhz before shipment, and it is shipped after checking the operation. It's a very strong chip, so it's hard to imagine it breaking if you don't accidentally turn it on.

If it still won't start, please restore it to its original state. If it works then you have a broken wire somewhere. Buying a cheap frequency counter is the best way to easily test SpicyO'Clock!.

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Good Luck

 

[retr01]

@SadMac, I noticed the solder joints you connected to the wires are too much. I agree with @Kay K.M.Mods to make sure the wires are not exposed, so try to make the ends shorter.

And, @SadMac, watch @JDW making the tinkering spicy in his Color Classic Mac YouTube videos.

 

[SadMac]

Hi @SadMac ,

If I had to give a little advice, first, there are a lot of exposed parts at the ends of the lines, so make them a little shorter. And a lot of solder. I can't see the wiring of the XC88916 very well, but please confirm that the 8 pin is definitely floating from the footprint and not touching. Check with a multimeter to make sure the wires are making good contact.
Spicy is adjusted to about 20.5Mhz before shipment, and it is shipped after checking the operation. It's a very strong chip, so it's hard to imagine it breaking if you don't accidentally turn it on.

If it still won't start, please restore it to its original state. If it works then you have a broken wire somewhere. Buying a cheap frequency counter is the best way to easily test SpicyO'Clock!.

1Hz-50MHz Digital LED Crystal Oscillator Tester Frequency Counter Meter Board | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1Hz-50MHz Digital LED Crystal Oscillator Tester Frequency Counter Meter Board at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Good Luck

You truly are a life saver. Thank you for your constructive criticism. I went over my solder work and it’s working now!!! Thank you so much for all your wonderful creations!

 

[JDW]

It seems the motherboard was recapped with AVX Solid Tantalum capacitors, which have much larger ESR than Panasonic OS-CON, so am interested in hearing how high it can be overclocked.

 

[SadMac]

It seems the motherboard was recapped with AVX Solid Tantalum capacitors, which have much larger ESR than Panasonic OS-CON, so am interested in hearing how high it can be overclocked.

Right now I just have it at 40Mhz until I get the VRAM I need to test that fully. (It’s steady at that speed with stock VRAM). I have OS-CON readily available but I need a better soldering iron to apply them, preferably the one from your video. Your videos have helped me a lot in creating the Color Classic of my dreams.

 

[JDW]

Right now I just have it at 40Mhz until I get the VRAM I need to test that fully. (It’s steady at that speed with stock VRAM). I have OS-CON readily available but I need a better soldering iron to apply them, preferably the one from your video. Your videos have helped me a lot in creating the Color Classic of my dreams.

Once you reach the clock speed of your dreams, I suspect you'll be changing your avatar to Happy Mac!

Kay Koba told me his overclock was limited until he swapped out his tantalums for OS-CON, so I assume it will be the same for you even with fast 60ns VRAM. But the overlock depends also on the CPU used. A lot of experimentation is involved, so as you tweak and overclock, I'd love to hear your numbers. That information will also be useful for others who decide to talk in your footsteps.

I'm really quite surprised there aren't more people accelerating their 040 Macs with Spicy O'Clock. It's a pretty amazing little device. Kay really is awesome for having brought that goodness to us! And my hats off to those who have put out fast VRAM too. Without that, the overclocks are quite limited.

 

[SadMac]

Once you reach the clock speed of your dreams, I suspect you'll be changing your avatar to Happy Mac!

Kay Koba told me his overclock was limited until he swapped out his tantalums for OS-CON, so I assume it will be the same for you even with fast 60ns VRAM. But the overlock depends also on the CPU used. A lot of experimentation is involved, so as you tweak and overclock, I'd love to hear your numbers. That information will also be useful for others who decide to talk in your footsteps.

I'm really quite surprised there aren't more people accelerating their 040 Macs with Spicy O'Clock. It's a pretty amazing little device. Kay really is awesome for having brought that goodness to us! And my hats off to those who have put out fast VRAM too. Without that, the overclocks are quite limited.

I plan on replacing the tantalum ones with my OS-CON I have on hand when I receive my new VRAM. Once I do that I will definitely be documenting how high I can go with stable reads. I plan on making a proper post once I have every I need to benchmark. But here is how it looks so far!

 

[Kay K.M.Mods]

Right now I just have it at 40Mhz until I get the VRAM I need to test that fully. (It’s steady at that speed with stock VRAM). I have OS-CON readily available but I need a better soldering iron to apply them, preferably the one from your video. Your videos have helped me a lot in creating the Color Classic of my dreams.

if it works fine... You should remove the tube and keep the 5v line and clock line from sticking together. It is preferable that the GND line is in between them. I think you can overclock up to 42MHz even with tantalum capacitors.