Just recieved Turbo Chamelon 64 V2 and two buttons stuck

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.
  • So I just recieved the Turbo Chamelon 64 V2 in the mail today. However, when I took it out of the box and inspected it it turned out the black and the red buttons are stuck. The red button can be pressed down but needs to be pulled up again with pliers. The black button is totally stuck. white button works fine. Looks like the holes are just to small for the buttons so they get stuck. I have not plugged it in yet. Serial number is QTNdA


    So is it possible to open this and drill bigger holes for the buttons? I tried to unscrew the screw that should hold the cartridge together but it seems stuck and I don't want to use too much force on it. Maybe it's glued? Do I really have to send it back for this?!


    Also, it is beyond me why this was shipped out to me as a customer without the buttons being tested! It would take like 1 second to try and press the buttons to see if they work correctly prior to shipping this out to customers

  • Update. I have managed to opened the cartridge now. The screw was sitting insanely tight. I',m a fairly strong man as I am working as an electrician, and have been doing so for 25 years, but this screw was really tight. lol.


    Anyway, now I can widen the holes for the buttons. It seems they are not perfectly round so two of the buttons got stuck.


    My other problem now is that the Chameleon V2 will not read my Transcend 2GB SD cards. It will just hang when trying to initialize. Is the Chameleon very picky about SD cards?

  • We have had a few SD card related problems in the past... but i havent heard about any for quite some time - so just try another. Known problems are listed here. Would be great if you could tell what card exactly it is (including the info usually printed on the back of the card, see the wiki page for examples) so we can add it to the wiki.

  • We have had a few SD card related problems in the past... but i havent heard about any for quite some time - so just try another. Known problems are listed here. Would be great if you could tell what card exactly it is (including the info usually printed on the back of the card, see the wiki page for examples) so we can add it to the wiki.

    Transcend 2GB 9191AA 2G 07SM1 B846415901 Taiwan


    Was really hard to read the small text on the back of the card but I hope I got it right. I only have two of these for now. Have been using them for my SD2IEC where they have been working fine. So I guess I will have to buy some more.


    BTW, after widening the holes for the buttons on the Chameleon 64 V2 the reset button was fine but the black (disk swap button) was still stuck. Turned out the switch itself was not soldered level to the PCB on one of the sides. Making it not standing straight, which again caused it to lock against the plastic when the cartridge was closed. So I soldered it level on the PCB and everything was fine.


    I hope you inspect and test your hardware before you send it out to customers in the future. Thanks

  • I hope you inspect and test your hardware before you send it out to customers in the future.

    You are the second customer who has reported this. After the first one (from Germany) had such a problem, we have changed the diameter for the buttons (increased by 0.15mm),


    Before that, the QC procedure did include testing the buttons; if they were stuck, the caps would have been rotated by 90 degrees until they fit nicely with the upper part of the case.


    This was not taking into account that such a rotation can happen on every press of a button, so after a sufficient amount of presses or even just from vibration during transport, it may be in a rotation where it sticks, so we have given up this practise in favour of a more precise inspection of the mounting angle, which has been inserted before the caps are glued to the buttons.


    So your Chameleon was indeed tested-good before it was packed, but the QC procedure was not sophisticated enough for the first units. Good to hear that you've solved it on your own, so shipping it back is not requried.


    The screw was sitting insanely tight. I',m a fairly strong man as I am working as an electrician, and have been doing so for 25 years, but this screw was really tight. lol.

    It's a real thermoplast screw that drills it's own thread. The head is PZ1, which is often confused with PH1. The latter may also drive the screw, but requires increased pressure on the tool. Using a real Pozidriv bit or screw driver, this added pressure is not required.


    Cheap tools may cause yet another problem: If the tip of the tool is not hardened, the very first slip between screw and tool may cause damage to a non-hardened tip, resulting in even higher required pressure if you want to continue to use the damaged tool. However, I trust that you know that for a long time already, as what you're writing indicates quite some professional experience, likely to include the knowledge about proper tools :-)


    We'll add this PZ1<->PH1 info to the PDF manual.

  • Hi, Jens


    Good to hear that you have taken action in fixing the button thing :) I'm just happy it was an easy fix that I could easily fix myself.


    With regards to the screw holding the cartridge. I did not have the correct screwdriver but no harm was done.


    Other than this I have to say that the Turbo chameleon 64 V2 looks like an excellent piece of harware that will solve most of my problems with using C64s. One of these problems has been showing a 50Hz smooth picture with scanlines and no input lag on a modern LCD. And as a bonus I also bought the docking station from you and can use it with other cores to run other types of retro systems.


    I have bought quite a few devices from you and are very happy with them. Keep up the great work :)

  • btw, at first I widened the holes using a 6mm drill. Which made the red button work. The black was still stuck so I widened to 6.5mm. Discovered later, as mentioned earlier in this thread, that the switch for the black button was not soldered level to the PCB. It was sticking up on one side so I had to resolder it to get it flush on the PCB. So this means that 6mm would have been enough. But I guess having a small room around the buttons don't affect anything.

  • Update. I have managed to opened the cartridge now. The screw was sitting insanely tight. I',m a fairly strong man as I am working as an electrician, and have been doing so for 25 years, but this screw was really tight. lol.


    Anyway, now I can widen the holes for the buttons. It seems they are not perfectly round so two of the buttons got stuck.


    My other problem now is that the Chameleon V2 will not read my Transcend 2GB SD cards. It will just hang when trying to initialize. Is the Chameleon very picky about SD cards?

    I have the same issue with mine. The left button is almost stuck. But it works. Also my bottom screw was so tight that I had problems unloosening it. Not a problems really, I just related to the tight screw-story.

  • I have the same issue with mine. The left button is almost stuck. But it works. Also my bottom screw was so tight that I had problems unloosening it. Not a problems really, I just related to the tight screw-story.

    My left and far right buttons was totally stuck until I fixed it. I tested the screw on my Epyx Fastloader cartridge and had no problems unscrewing it. Now the screw on the TC 64 V2 is not that bad after loosening and screwing it on a few times.

  • My left and far right buttons was totally stuck until I fixed it. I tested the screw on my Epyx Fastloader cartridge and had no problems unscrewing it. Now the screw on the TC 64 V2 is not that bad after loosening and screwing it on a few times.

    Yep. I found it easier to handle after I had loosened the threads a little as well. Maybe it's just the plastic that is a big harder on this case so that the screw really digs into it. Anyway -- I am very happy there is a screw there, as on the V1 it had no screw. So this makes opening and closing much more convenient. :)

  • As a side note, been playing around with the Turbo Chameleon 64 V2 pretty much all weekend and have to say I'm totally in love with this little thing. What a fantastic little piece of hardware it is. Now it's fun using my C64s again. Haven't touched my Amigas in quite some time. lol

  • Yep. I found it easier to handle after I had loosened the threads a little as well. Maybe it's just the plastic that is a big harder on this case so that the screw really digs into it.

    The plastic of the Chameleon case is PC (polycarbonate). That's the same plastic as used for making CDs and car headlights. It is made from Makrolon granulate, which is confirmed to be made without Chlorine. PC is even food safe.


    PC is much more sturdy than ABS, which is the cheapest plastic kind out there. The huge drawback of ABS is that there's lots of chlorine waste involved in producing the granulate (source: a customer who works for Greenpeace told me about 15 years ago). I'd rather pay a slightly higher price and have two advantages - and I gladly take the screw sitting a bit tight over a case that gets brittle after a few years of use.

  • Is this plastic less prone to cracking ?

    PC is really hard to break - take an old CD and bend it over - you'll need lots of force to really break it (caution: wear glasses and gloves!). Then again, nothing is really indestructable. On the other hand, ABS is only good while there's enough flexibilizer in it. Such flexibilizers evaporate over the years, which is the prime cause of ABS to age and get brittle. PC does not need that, as flexibility and precision of dimensions over a wide temperature range are a property of the base material, and not a material compound of plastic+softener.


    Also, these flexibilizers are said to be confused with hormons by the human body, leading to hard-to-diagnose medical conditions (which is the reason why I prefer drinking water from glass containers).

  • While I do see the smily on your post, there's an important detail that makes it "not so funny": Chemicals don't only enter the human body as food. Mere skin contact may cause health trouble, so it's always a better idea if such complex molecules are "not there at all".

  • So I am thinking about ordering one more Turbo Chameleon 64 V2 because I think it's so awesome. So this time I am guaranteed that the buttons will work properly and not need modification, based on post #5 by Jens?


    Also, interesting to hear about the plastic used in these. Very nice

  • While I do see the smily on your post, there's an important detail that makes it "not so funny": Chemicals don't only enter the human body as food. Mere skin contact may cause health trouble, so it's always a better idea if such complex molecules are "not there at all".

    I hear you, and thankful for putting you adding this health aspect to your product. This is Retro eHealth Compliance at its best. Thumbs up!

  • So I am thinking about ordering one more Turbo Chameleon 64 V2 because I think it's so awesome.

    That's great to hear - thanks.


    So this time I am guaranteed that the buttons will work properly and not need modification, based on post #5 by Jens?

    Yes, you will most likely see the difference on the added clearance between buttons and case. Then again - I need my reading glasses to really see that gap :-)

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