How did your ZX Spectrum die?

[PeteProdge]

I switched on my ZX Spectrum +2 one day in 1993. My faithful digital chum just emitted a small wisp of acrid black smoke from its backside (er, the I/O port at the back). Totally dead. Looking back, I suspect it had been fried by a power surge, I could be wrong.

I'll never forget that tiny wisp of black smoke though, floating upwards, you could almost touch it. That was it for my grey +2 (the BEST Speccy, of course). I didn't cry, I just shrugged my shoulders and accepted its defeat. I couldn't really afford a new one and in any case, they weren't being made any more. But my friend, also still using a Speccy (in between bouts of playing on his brother's Sega Mega Drive), showed me the best place in town to get a second hand one from, and for just £40 (and I still find that amazing), I got my hands on a decent condition black +2A!

Sure, not as good as the +2 - slightly muffled sound and a few games were incompatible, but it was a nice little extension of my Speccy-using life. I knew I'd be heading for Amiga ownership at some point, and I think that happened later that year (birthday or Christmas or something). I made that move as soon as I knew there was a decent Spectrum emulator for the Amiga, and gave my +2A away (with almost all my games) to a skint friend and his family, who loved playing Chaos.

Anyway, that's how my first Speccy died. What's your story?

[equinox]

I started using emulators and NEVER LOOKED BACK.
Sorry for your loss Pete

But: once I got really annoyed about losing a game or something, and literally tore the +D interface out of the back (uh oh!! that's really expensive).
Ironically the +D was fine but the Speccy +2 could never boot again. I'm so sorry.

[WhatHoSnorkers]

My +2 had an increasingly temperamental keyboard. Still played games and programmed on it.

The Datacorder got worse and worse. At one point you had to place a weight on it to get it to load.

Then it stopped working.

Used to program little games on it.

Then the keyboard stopped working completely. Must have been 1994 perhaps...

[equinox]

Then the keyboard stopped working completely.

You could have written a letter to request a new one, but unfortunately it became impossible to type.
(Did you have the cool thermal printer [Alphacom 32]? That's my single favourite bit of 1980s suckware.)

[worcestersource]

Brother plugged an Electron’s transformer into the back of a rubbery 48k. Turns out the Electron gets 19v and the Speccy went bang.

Steve

[TMD2003]

I know I've told a similar story before, but given this thread, it bears repeating...

My Spectrum +2 did not die. It had to go in for repairs a couple of times back in the day, but it was still a good "ran when parked" case in 1995, came out briefly in 2003-04 and then emerged again in 2017. I don't use it much, mainly because I have four further Spectrums these days - two +2Bs and two +3s in various states of repair - and one of the +2Bs works for 99% of what I need it to do. Plus, the RGB socket for the +2 is a bit dodgy and the picture moves all over the place if I'm using the Retro Computer Shack SCART cable, and the only other option is the RF modulator which looks utterly horrid on a modern 32" LCD TV. Still, the SCART cable works on all the black-case models, and all in all, that's not bad for a bunch of Amstrad-built products, is it?

My ZX81 was a different story; when you're four years old and get the bestest Christmas present ever ever ever in the form of a black-and-white-and-silent computer that'll plug into your grandparents' cast-off black-and-white TV (similar to the kind of thing Simon Ulyett brings to Spectrum events to show off Cronosoft's ZX81 games, with an analogue tuning dial), maybe that bestest Christmas present ever could be compromised by that precariously wiggling RAM pack that it requires to do anything remotely useful. It is especially vulnerable to the clumsy hands of a younger brother who has yet to reach his second birthday and has absolutely no sense of "things that should not be done". He was probably around three when the curiosity of those clumsy hands got the better of him, and tore the 16K RAM pack asunder from the ZX81.

The ZX81 survived, the RAM pack didn't, and in the later stages of 1985, who was still selling ZX81 RAM packs? Whatever my dad did to try to repair it, it never worked again, and I spent two years in the company of a 1K-only ZX81. What frustrated him the most was that he'd had a piece of paper - possibly which came with the RAM pack - with a one-line program that would have confirmed whether or not the RAM pack was working. I know now, and would probably have known in soon into my circa-2003 foray onto WOS, what was on that piece of paper; it was a calculation involving PEEKing RAMTOP. All I remember is that the program printed "1K" if there was no RAM pack attached and "16K" if it was. Even my dad, who was considered "good with computers" for the time*, didn't know where to look in the ZX81 manual for the information that was definitely there, nor how to use it. I remember he wrote simple programs to convert centigrade to fahrenheit, the kind that'd have been bare-bones fodder for "Teach Yourself ZX81 Programming" books or the pages of Sinclair Programs in 1982 - but this, which I've just written from a quick experiment with EightyOne, was beyond him:

PRINT (PEEK 16389-64)/4;"K"

I started with a full calculation of RAMTOP, but it only needs the high byte - PEEK 16388 is 0 on startup for both 1K and 16K. I know that now, but that's not a lot of use when it was required 38 years in the past.

* As a frame of reference for how long ago my dad's "good with computers" reputation was, let alone that he's been dead for 30 years, take this comment I remember from him when he saw a woman in an absurdly wide-brimmed hat, the kind that would have had her thrown out of the Great Dunmow Amateur Dramatic Society's production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" for blocking the view two rows behind her:

"Look at that hat! It's ridiculous. It looks like a one-megabyte disc."

One megabyte! On something that's more than two feet wide! Even 64 working ZX81 RAM packs didn't take up that much space!

Brother plugged an Electron’s transformer into the back of a rubbery 48k. Turns out the Electron gets 19v and the Speccy went bang.

Brothers, eh? What are we going to do with them?

Once my ZX81-wrecking brother had been fobbed off with a Dragon 32, at least he didn't try to plug the power supply into the joystick port on my +2. Yes, they are the same connector.

[Oloturia]

My original 48K had the notorious keyboard problems. Keys weren't typed properly and the rubber became brittle, with many keys falling off. After changing the keyboard once -my father's friends were quite expert in computer repairing- my parents bought the +2. I tried to power the 48K up recently, but it seems that something is corrupted, as garbage appears when you hit a key, often crashing after some time. I tried to solder an de-solder some components following some on-line guides but my fixing eventually made a mess.

The +2 was working until recent years, when I noticed that wasn't working. Black screen, the power LED turned off, no power in the Datacorder. I opened the case and I noticed that the +5v regulator was blown. Changed it with a new one and the thing lived again! The machine is still working, but the Datacorder has the frame of the switch that turns on the motor broken, so I pulled it out the case and, when I need to load a cassette, I keep it pressed with a clip.

[Swainy]

My original grey +2 that my parents bought me is still going strong.

[Alessandro]

In 1993, after nine years of honorable service, the voltage regulator failed and fried the RAM.

On a side note, all Spectrums in my collection were purchased on Ebay in the 2010s.

(Edited: nine years instead of eight)

[stupidget]

My Bas**rd cousins threw it in the bin!!!! In the early 90's, out the goodness of my heart, I gave my then 5 and 7 yr old cousins ALL my speccy stuff including my +2, huge box of games, Genius Mouse and portable TV. I asked them about 15 years ago if they still had it and they said 'Oh god no, we took all that to the tip years ago'!!!! Suffice to say I punched both of them squarely in the face and have had nothing to do with them since

[Vampyre]

My Speccy 48K just simply died one day in 1986/7 - can't recall the exact details of it though. I do remember going out with my mum to purchase a (original) 128K a few weeks later, after I'd badgered my parents constantly.

In about 1990, after using an ST for a couple of years and hardly using the Speccy, I gave everything away to my 14 year old next door neighbour. Skip time to about 2016 and I find that neighbour on Facebook. One of the first things he mentions to me is that Speccy and how it had been in storage in his parents loft for two decades. A few weeks earlier he'd asked his dad if he could fetch the Speccy and all the games out of the loft to be told that literally days earlier they'd cleared the loft and binned it all...

We were both fuming about that!

I've got a +2A in the loft (one with the lightgun) that I really must get around to donating. @stupidget if you fancy it, it's yours mate. I just haven't got the room to set it up anywhere and with getting a Next any time soon there will be even less. It'll probably need some TLC though...

[worcestersource]

My Bas**rd cousins threw it in the bin!!!! In the early 90's, out the goodness of my heart, I gave my then 5 and 7 yr old cousins ALL my speccy stuff including my +2, huge box of games, Genius Mouse and portable TV. I asked them about 15 years ago if they still had it and they said 'Oh god no, we took all that to the tip years ago'!!!! Suffice to say I punched both of them squarely in the face and have had nothing to do with them since

When I left my parents in my early 20s, I carefully packed up my 48k+, tape recorder and games. Many of the games were original classics from back in the day and all well looked after. I can still see the green and blue boxes everything was lovingly tucked away in. I had the original set of Imagine and Gremlin Graphics titles, quite a few Hit Squads and so on. I even had the receipt from Boots! It was safely put away at the top left corner on a shelf in a wardrobe in my old bedroom. Needless to say, it had been much loved and a major part of my childhood.

Many years later, I wanted to retrieve it so I could show my son what a Speccy was like.

Turns out my kid brother, who moved back home not long after I moved out, had found it and sold it for a couple of quid because he was perpetually desperate for cash.

I've still not forgiven him.

[Waldroid]

It never did, it just quietly retired after a very active life.

It can still be seen sitting on a bench at the sea front with its tartan-patterned Thermos and packet of meat paste sandwiches.

[spider]

If I recall, the original rubbery keyed one from too many interface connections oops, that and an accidental soaking with a whole bottle of bath bubble concentrate. Not my doing.

The grey plus2 I'm not sure although it always crashed a lot anyway.

The first plus 3 the ASIC chip died, ironically a couple of months outside the warranty.

Interestingly the black plus2 I have now and have had for about 3 or 4 years maybe a bit more, seems quite hardy aside from a small tape deck concern its been a paragon of excellence.

[Crafty88]

Think my first Spectrum died after the jack plug for the mike side of the cassette cable shorted out part of the rear edge connector. After that kept both jack plugs plugged in on the spectrum side and changed at the tape deck side. Parents took it to shop where they bought it and it was changed for a new one.
Not sure how that one died but took it to a local computer shop to get repaired. Came back un-repairable with a warranty void if broken sticker on it. Took it out of the box a while back and had a look at it. Issue 2 model and the keyboard ribbons had been cut short so could not be plugged in. I may try and see if can repair it sometime.

[1024MAK]

Brother plugged an Electron’s transformer into the back of a rubbery 48k. Turns out the Electron gets 19v and the Speccy went bang.

Steve

That’s guaranteed to kill a Speccy, as it’s 19V AC, and the incorrect polarity or an AC input will kill the on board power circuitry…

Mark

[worcestersource]

That’s guaranteed to kill a Speccy, as it’s 19V AC, and the incorrect polarity or an AC input will kill the on board power circuitry…

Mark

Yes, he was rather good at getting rid of Speccies. One blew up and the other sold for three beans.

Still, I have much to be proud of him now.

[R-Tape]

...and an accidental soaking with a whole bottle of bath bubble concentrate.

The mind boggles! Nothing to do with this I hope...

[spider]

The mind boggles! Nothing to do with this I hope...

Oh no. It was a long time ago. Quite why the bottle was on a shelf above the speccy remains a mystery but it had a crack in it (the bottle not the speccy) and it sort of oozed out overnight ( ! ) , true story.

My ham fisted attempts at a cleanup after powering it on first (oops) did not assist.

[Spud]

Mine went into the loft fully functional around the time I move to the Amiga I suppose (1991) and then it came back down again in about 2007 fully disfunctional. That was a bit of a bum.

[Nitrowing]

Yourger brother spilt his drink on mine when I was 15. Didn't touch another computer for 5 years.
Start collecting again a few years ago but they're just on display!

[Juan F. Ramirez]

At the beginning of the 90s the keyboard membrane of my Spectrum + failed again (the first time was less than one year of purchasing but it was replaced). It was during the MSDOS years, and the first Spectrum emulators, so I forgot my beloved Speccy till only 2-3 years ago, when I buy a new membrane, a TZX-Duino and a DivMMC device. The result is the old buddy works like the first day!(*)



(*) well, the SPACE key had a little broken piece so, even I could glue it, I always avoid it when defining keys...

[PeteProdge]

Ooh, now I've told you how my treasured +2 died, and that I gave away my +2A.

I've just remembered I owned a third Speccy. Come to think of it, I still own it, but it's dead!

Around 1996 (while still being an Amiga 1200 owner), a friend offered me his brother's Spectrum 128, for 50 quid! Bargain! I never did own one of those, so paid him for it, and he brought it round in a carrier bag. Just one problem though, no power supply! He said you could pick up a power supply cheaply for it.

I can't remember where I went to get hold of a power supply, but I remember it being a variable one. It came with a few plugs for different voltages. Alas, none of them matched EXACTLY the Spectrum 128's voltage (I forget what that is now), but two were close. I gave the first one a go, and yeah, it powered up and the picture on my portable telly had some annoying moving scanline things going on, probably because of the incorrect voltage. (Experts! Do step in here and tell me what this was!)

I tried the other one, and again, the Speccy worked, but the moving scanline things were there but moving about it in a different way. After about half an hour switching between the two, it just dies at some point. That's it. Fried!

Didn't even get to load anything. I kept it, it's sitting on a shelf in my home. It's a bit grotty, but it's the only Speccy I own.

[evilpaul]

The LOAD and " keys on my Speccy+ stoped working. I took it apart and, as expected, the membrane was cracked for those keys. Damn.

So.. I realised that I could type those two keys by just poking a wire into the keyboard connector to make the connection. This worked. Yay. I can load games and, since the other keys still work, even play them!



Until the fateful fay that I slipped when inserting the wire...

[Bubu]

I will never forget this scene: It was the year 84, I was 12. An uncle of mine invited me to his house to play with my Spectrum (he was 21 years old). I was very addicted to the Spectrum, and I took it with me so that he would stay freaking out. There at his house I put several tapes, my uncle and I played while my aunt drank a gin and coke, and accidentally hit the glass, and knocked it over. The liquid entered through the expansion bus, and smoke began to come out.

[here tons of tears]

I felt like a loved one had died, I cried for hours. My uncle saw me in such bad shape that he lent me his ZX81 for the days that the repair lasted.
The repair took about 2 weeks. During that time I was analyzing the ZX81 BASIC ROM, and trying to make programs, and I noticed how different the two computers were. But I was already looking forward to seeing colors and hearing beeps. In the end the Spectrum had the following repairs: DC/DC stage, all transistors, and all low memory.

After 7 or 8 years I started drinking Cubatas with friends, I remembered this episode and I hated gin to death, so I always drank whiskey or rum


So we could say that my Spectrum died of alcoholism, but he was resurrected. I still have that computer and it still works.