Bruised and Broken: eBay Amiga 1000 First Look and Restoration

This shipping-damaged Commodore Amiga deserves better. Let’s try and save it!
Part 2 - • Alive and Kick[start]i...
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00:00 Introduction and History
01:49 eBay Amiga 1000
02:43 First Look
08:04 Disassembly
11:02 Initial Testing
18:15 Case Repair and Cleaning
23:12 Conclusion
*Retro Bits earns money from Amazon and eBay Partner Links

[@ferrievanschaik8379]

I've had good results with standard PVC glue to get these kind of plastics together again. It also melts it together, but also glues for better positioning and curing. In some cases where there were small gaps, I added some filing-dust to the glue to color it a bit.

[@samshort365]

Great job and video. I have two A500s in my garage that I have been meaning to "restore" for a while. Other than these I have never owned an Amiga. I did keep an emulated A4000 years ago on a dedicated PC with an alternative GUI (Magic UI). The Amiga was way ahead of its time.

[@Pest789]

Acetone is the bee's knees for ABS. You can even make filler putty to bridge gaps and fill holes by dissolving donor material in it.

[@BillAnt]

I still have my A1000 in the basement sleeping for over 30 years now. heh It was trickled out with a memory expansion and kick start rom and a switch on the back. Last time I used it in 1990 it was still in perfectly working order. Well, one day when I retire, it will be time to bring it back to life. :) Oh and also have 2 Amiga 500's 1 used, 1 brand new never opened in the box, and an A2000 with turbo board. I was quite the collector back then. lol

[@ChrisThomas-lt8jd]

You might want to get these out, pop the cases open, and make sure no batteries or capacitors have started leaking. If they have, replace them, test working, and then put back in storage. Battery and Capacitor leaking is THE killer for these machines. I have an Amiga 4000 that is still borked as it has zero fast ram. Its battery leaked and melted its ram multi-plexing chip. So chip RAM yes, fast RAM no. Once I have practiced removing such chips, Ill replace it.

[@BillAnt]

@@ChrisThomas-lt8jd - Yes of course, will go through all the main boards before powering them on. ;)

[@RetroJack]

Every time I see one of these shipping, I thank [choose your deity] that my Vectrex made it from France to New Zealand on one piece!

[@superconductives88]

Wow it's like you worked a miracle on that plastic!! Would not have expected that with what you started with. Kudos 👏 and keep up the great content!

[@retrobitstv]

It certainly came out better than I expected! It'll never be perfect, but at least it'll have character :)

[@bradnelson3595]

Nice, thorough job so far.

[@jk180]

I always forget about acetone. Great tip.

[@meneerjansen00]

Always relaxing and fun to watch a video of yours. I'm getting more and more jealous with every video of the wonderful vintage equipment you've gotten repaired over the years, ha ha. Keep up the good work and your positivity which I enjoy.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Great episode. Can't wait for the next one, and ordering some acetone.

[@drkamilz]

Make this Amiga great again.

[@inwedavid6919]

A really amazing computer, it was mine for years. So complicated to operate and upgrade compared to the 500 or 2000 series....

[@MechaFenris]

I wanted one SO much. I did get an A500, eventually... :P

[@NumosG]

Lovely work on the machine, I would not have expected this level of repair after seing the initial damage. Stoked for part two :)

[@Breakfast_of_Champions]

Nice 80s music in the cleaning montage. I'm carefully optimistic for this one😋

[@manueljesus3147]

I dodged a couple of bullets. Both my A1ks are in good shape.

[@jdryyz]

Ohhh the anticipation. Can we have Part II now? Alright, I will try to be patient. Great job with with wet sanding!

[@retrobitstv]

Haha, I'll try and post Part 2 this weekend :) Thanks and enjoy!

[@thetworoos]

Great video! Your use of acetone made me think, you may want to check out "plastic weld," which is a type of glue that basically melts and rebonds plastic. It doesn't work on all plastics but when it works it's fantastic. Looking forward to part 2!

[@retrobitstv]

Thanks for the tip!

[@georg6876]

Good Job with the acetone. It's a trick more people should be aware of. Another viable method for the crack at the front you clamped down could have been to clamp it, then weld the two halves on the interior with a decent temperature-controlled sodlering iron set to 280c

[@retrobitstv]

Thanks for the tip!

[@RetroKrazy]

Always shied away from acetone near visible surfaces as it's so thin it can seep through cracks onto the visible face. Well done though!

[@retrobitstv]

Thanks! That's exactly what happened here too. Fortunately, the original plastic was untextured so I was able to sand it smooth again.

[@CobraTheSpacePirate]

Always, always wanted one. Have never had the opportunity to get one...

[@retrobitstv]

I never had an Amiga during their heyday so I'm playing catch-up now!

[@aaronsnowden6311]

Loved the video. I remember wanting these type of computers when I was a kid, and my parents said NO. And told me they were to expensive.

[@retrobitstv]

Thanks! Haha yea, they were expensive alright; I was still using a C64/C128 for 5 or 6 years after the Amiga came out!

[@fffUUUUUU]

Very satisfying video. Thank you!

[@retrobitstv]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Charleshawn66]

Great video! GREAT job on the fixing of the case!!! In your end upcoming snippet it looks like you my have found an OG keyboard and did find an OG mouse! I'm looking forward to part 2!

[@stevebor1]

Really enjoying how your videos are coming along and progressing. Using acetone was a great tip as I've messed up many repairs using super glue...

[@ChrisThomas-lt8jd]

Thanks for going on a limb with the Acetone experiment. Have to say, if it had gone wrong... But what a triumph! It looks like an amazing fix! Based on your outcome, I'd now do things in this order. 1. Clean, 2. Retrobrite, 3.Acetone weld, 4. Superglue + Bicarbonate weld inside along structural cracks. Personally, I think superglue sucks, it NEVER works on anything for me. But I understand mixing it with bicarb makes a really strong cement. So worth doing that inside the case, where structure is more important than aesthetics maybe? I have an Amiga 1000 in US customs right now. Really odd, I bought it from someone in Canda, shipped with UPS. It hit Kentucky, and Ebay demanded extra fees, which I paid the same day, and it's sat in that warehouse for a week since. Not good Ebay :( ! I'm putting together a (KZbin) channel myself. So I look forward to finally getting an Amiga 1000 of my own, and sharing my exploration of it with others. A lovely machine, and the start of an amazing dynasty of machines. Much loved. Thanks Amiga team :) Looking forward to part2

[@retrobitstv]

I am going to take your advice and go back in and re-enforce some of the repairs that need more structural support. There's a fair amount of stress put on the top cover standoffs and I already broke one trying to tighten the screw in place. I may also experiment with using the superglue + bicarb to rebuild the broken tabs on the front panel in the future. Good luck with your A1000 (when it arrives) and your new channel!

[@ChrisThomas-lt8jd]

@@retrobitstv I have to say, I've not tried the bi-carb thing, but I have seen it done several times, and apparently it works. It looks pretty crusty, but if it's holding together structural parts, and is never seen, I think it's a decent trade off. The Amiga 1000 arrived yesterday. It has its keyboard (which is a miracle) it's yellowed to heck (the keyboard) but that's easy enough to fix. I've decided to take a hammer to it now, so I can emulate the success you have had with accetone...... joke... No, Im very happy. I will unbox it and test it in a video, just got to get my studio space in decent shape first :) BTW, have you noticed how many Amiga 1000s are sold WITHOUT a keyboard... its very odd, so many, no keyboard. Its almost like Ebay sellers are splitting them into two lots to gouge max $$$ out of us suckers. Luckily, my vendor seems to have been scrupulous!

[@retrobitstv]

@@ChrisThomas-lt8jd Yea, machines on eBay without their matching keyboard and/or mouse are an epidemic! In a lot of cases the keyboard alone can cost as much or more than the entire machine :( Alas.

[@aguiristante]

Bought mine for $10 from a store going out of business in the 90 s. could have bought 6 for $60. kind of useless back then after the a1200. Still have it

[@zap2002]

Those Hantek meters are pretty neat. Good video Matt.

[@DoubleTopHoneyCo]

The acetone technique is awesome since restoring requires retrobriting anyway. Thanks for teaching.

[@JamieOrlando]

I miss my 1000 so much. It was my first computer.

[@larrylee1412]

well i would love to see the operating system installed and upgraded

[@RacerX-]

Very nice case repair looks amazing. Looking forward to Part 2. Keep up the good work.

[@retrobitstv]

Thanks! I'm really happy with how it's coming along. It won't ever be perfect again but it will definitely tell a story.

[@TheSudsy]

i always wonder what happened to my A1000 that I had in 86. I sold it back to a shop to fund an A500+ with goodies.

[@tecnociclista5342]

Great work and video. The A1000 is still one of the best looking computers ever made imho...my first computer was an A500 which was in some ways better than the A1000, but I always lusted after a 1000 for its looks :)

[@mlongval]

Very interesting video. Had one of these 20+ years ago, gave it away for a song (much much regret). You are a brave man to undertake such a restoration. Very cool to watch. Thanks again. Cheers from Canada!

[@TheSulross]

very nicely done body repair work :-) looking forward to seeing this old classic getting back into the saddle once again

[@38kob]

just saved to my watch later, excited for this one

[@bryndaldwyre3099]

It's always great to see a classic piece of hardware be brought back to life.

[@meneerjansen00]

As a chemist (not an organic chemist though!) I'm stunned that the acetone worked to cement the plastic together. I'ts not well known as a cementing chemical (well, to me at least) and it is so extremely volatile that I thought it would evaporate before you can press the plastic parts together. Why it would "bleach" the plastic is a mystery to me too. Well done! :)

[@tetsujin_144]

It's typical in plastic model making these days to use liquid cements that evaporate quickly. If you give it a narrow gap to flow into (rather than applying it to each surface before sticking them together) capillary action helps it flow through and there's not a lot of exposed surface area for evaporation. (But sometimes you can get away with applying it to the mating surfaces if you're quick, or apply enough...) I used acetone to repair an Apple II monitor's plastics and it was pretty typical for welding/smoothing 3D prints back when people printed with ABS more.

[@meneerjansen00]

@@tetsujin_144 Thanks for the details and added info! :)

[@retrobitstv]

I picked up the acetone trick from KZbin commenters in the past. As far as I know, it only works on certain types of plastic like ABS. Within a short time of contact, the acetone softens and slightly liquefies the plastic which allows the broken pieces to bond back together. With a little gentle force, some of that softened plastic also flows into the cracks and gaps of the damaged area and fills them in. You can see in the video that have to wipe away a little excess material that squeezed out of the gaps. Fortunately, the A1000's plastic is thick enough for this to work.

[@meneerjansen00]

@@retrobitstv Very good info for all of us who are trying to repair broken plastic on classic hardware. Making a bond that's strong enough for a screw hole is hard. I've tried it. The part always "cracks" off again at the glue.

[@retrobitstv]

@@meneerjansen00 That is a big concern for this repair as well. I plan to re-enforce the broken posts that are threaded for screws as I've already managed to break one again :/

[@boydpukalo8980]

Hopefully you are able to resuscitate the Amiga! Personally I am not a fan of the 1000, rather I like the 3000 & 4000 desktop systems (not the towers). It is amazing what is available these days thanks to the Amiga community. New motherboards, new cases, Zorro and accelerator cards. Fantastic stuff.

[@retrobitstv]

This is my first experience with the 1000 and upgrades for it do seem pretty limited compared to later systems. It won't be replacing my 3000 any time soon!

[@ChrisThomas-lt8jd]

@@retrobitstv I've bought an A1000 just to see HOW limited it was. I think Commodore REALLY botched the Amiga launch. It was too expensive, and too limited for the price and they managed to take a truly revolutionary machine, and release it with almost ZERO expandability, DESPITE it being in a desktop form factor. Ah... I remember wanting one dearly, but I knew if I sold my C64 + games, Id still be £800 short, a lot of money for a kid in the 80s. So I bided my time, and then the A500 was launched, and just as soon as I HAD sold my old kit, I had one + the ram expansion. That was a happy day I can tell you. These machines could/should have done better. They needed better vision, but two things held it back. Lack of non-flicker hi-res mode, even in mono, so it could take on a Mac, and win. And expansion slots, so it could take on IBM PCs. And of course, once it did do well, Commodore BADLY failed to update it as they should have, so it withered slowly on the vine.

[@retrobitstv]

@@ChrisThomas-lt8jd I am finding this out about the A1000. With only 512K it was really difficult to find anything interesting that would even run on it. There don't seem to be a lot of upgrades available either, unlike later systems. I went straight to a 386 PC from my C128 and bypassed the Amiga line entirely, so I'm only now coming back around to experience it for the first time.

[@CSIG1001]

Never owned one of these, however I feel mister core is good enough and even emulation .. or maybe it isnt?

[@tetsujin_144]

Generally emulation options are quite good. Getting actual classic hardware is more just a question of wanting that specific experience.

[@retrobitstv]

The MiSTer core is fully-featured and really all you need if you want to run Amiga software on a CRT or a modern display. It's no substitute if you want to be able to fiddle around with actual hardware upgrades, but that's true of all emulation.

[@ChrisThomas-lt8jd]

@@retrobitstv I bought a MiSTer during peak hype. And I never use it, though it certainly IS a marvel, which I intend to return to for specific us-cases, like making an arcade cabinet. In the meantime, I've bought £££ of actual hardware. It's the ACTUAL hardware I miss, not just the software. And TBH if you want to explain a machine like the Amiga, having the actual artifact in front of you is irreplaceable. However, real hardware costs a LOT. Im lucky, as I have decent disposable income, but I may have to sell some of my old kit at some point, as space in my house certainly is not infinite. Why do we buy these things, well, its a bit like being able to buy a Lamborghini Countache, or other super car from when we were kids, and try them out. I could not try manuy of these machines back then, but now I can. ANd its certainly fun!

[@retrobitstv]

@@ChrisThomas-lt8jd I also prefer playing around with real hardware (as evidenced by the videos on this channel and my growing collection of relics) but the MiSTer is super convenient for testing things out without having to set anything up first. Also for trying out games I don't have physical copies of. Shh, don't tell anyone! 😁

[@ChrisThomas-lt8jd]

@@retrobitstv Absolutely, I bought one because, ultimately, the hardware just wont be viable at ALL one day. And then that happens, perfect emulation is critical for future generations to enjoy the games, from the first blooms of gaming. But, its an emulator, is always going to be like driving a simulator vs driving say a REAL 1980s F1 car, the engine noise, the smell of oil and fuel, the flames, and the FEEL of acceleration. Sure, using a REAL C64 is quite as dramatic, but you get my gist :)

[@angrydove4067]

Awwwww, we wanted to see the 1000 restored to working order FIRST. Why bother with the case if the computer may not work? Yeah, I know it must have been fixed but still.................... I am in a lousy mood today.

[@tetsujin_144]

For me personally: one of the problems with breaking plastics is that they're likely to get worse if you don't take the time to fix them. Like a part that's broken halfway off could wind up breaking the rest of the way off, or a part that's broken off could get lost. Solvent-welding it all back together is a good way to keep things from getting worse.

[@retrobitstv]

So I may have cheated and shown some of the segments out of order from how they were filmed 😉 This was originally going to be a single episode but it was getting to be too long so I broke it up which necessitated re-arranging things to make sense in the new context. Hope you're feeling better!

[@curiousottman]

The rear parallel and serial ports are NOT standard. They are actually gender reversed from the standard of the day with a few extra power and non standard pins in there. I sold the a1000 in high school and many a customer made the mistake of plugging in a standard centronics or rs232c cable into the back only to find out not only was the gender wrong but power and grounds were very non standard on some pins which sometimes damaged their equipment.

[@retrobitstv]

Good to know, thanks! Is that true only of the A1000 or do later Amigas also follow the same pattern? I would guess at least the serial port is standard on my A3000 since I've used RS232 modems in the past with no problem. I don't think I've ever used the parallel port.

[@curiousottman]

@@retrobitstv : all amigas after the 1000 thankfully use the standard gender and pin configurations of other computers of the era. Only the a1000 had it all wonky and backwards. Imagine plugging in a printer cable to the back of the a1000 only to realize you just plugged into the serial port. We sold a lot of “a1000 only” cables back in the day.

[@retrobitstv]

@@curiousottman Cool, thanks for the info. It never came up in my research, but I will admit this was not a subject I got too deep into!

[@WinrichNaujoks]

nice video, but the music is distracting and not needed

[@tarkhan15]

look how they massacred my boy!

[@IkarusKommt]

Commodore must've been feeling so smart coming with their 320x200x5 video mode, but I could imagine their faces when first SuperEGA and VGA took them out in just 2 years, and later multiple SVGA cards coming out for PC, while they failed to upgrade for the next FIVE years. And Intel start producing 386s next year, which had the support for real multitasking, unlike cooperative pseudo-multitasking on Amiga. What an exemplary, spectacular failure.

[@necronom]

PCs didn't have proper multi-tasking, they had co-operative multitasking, unlike the Amiga, which had proper pre-emptive multitasking. It took PCs 10 years to catch up when Win 95 came out.

[@IkarusKommt]

@@necronom Amiga didn't have preemptive multitasking because it used Motorola 68000, which doesn't have any provisions for multitasking. Each task had to call a specific API to be switched out.

[@necronom]

@@IkarusKommt No, it's VERY well known that the Amiga had pre-emptive multitasking 10 years before Windows got it. Search for Amiga multitasking, and you'll find info about it, e.g. "Exec is the kernel of AmigaOS. It is a 13 KB multitasking microkernel which enabled pre-emptive multitasking in as little as 256 KB of memory (as supplied with the first Amiga 1000s)."

[@IkarusKommt]

@@necronom It is marketing BS. Read the dev docs, they detail what you should put in your program for it to be able to multitask, concurrently. Windows, however, used the real preemptive multitasking since version 2/386. It allowed multitasking for applications that had no concept of task switching and did not call any API to be switched out.

[@necronom]

@@IkarusKommt Sorry, but you have it all backwards. Windows 3.1 uses cooperative multi-tasking - meaning that each application that is in the process of running is instructed to periodically check a message queue to find out if any other application is asking for use of the CPU and, if so, to yield control to that application. However, many Windows 3.1 applications would check the message queue only infrequently, or not at all, and monopolize control of the CPU for as much time as they required. On an Amiga your task gets pre-empted automatically. You have to use a specific API to prevent it if you want to avoid multitasking. Perhaps you are confusing the Amiga with the Archimedes, or early classic Macs? Or are you thinking of memory protection, which Amiga OS didn't have. All this is extremely well known. If you look it up you will see.