I have a C64 breadbin, which I am going to replace all capacitors because when I switch it on, it does not always booth, and when it does not both, I get a black screen without flashing the TV screen, the red led always turns on and I've tried 2 PS. It acts as there is no power, and when I try again it boths normaly. I am not into electroncs but i can solder and with a multimeter i can do a few thinngs. I am wondering if someone would be kind to advice me which resistor should I use to discharge all capacitors? so I can desloder them and replace with new capacitors.

I don't think it's a capacitor problem.

is it possibile that the VIC chip (graphics chip) is damaged. should i try to reseat it because it's socketed?

I agree, the electrolytic capacitors on a C64 motherboard discharge pretty fast, just try and measure them after having it turned off for a few minutes, you'll see.

Doesn't hurt to replace these if you're used to soldering. Could be the 9VAC having a hard time to get through the power-button, it may need to be cleaned or replaced.
You could try and measure it on the user port when you turn your C64 on and see if it dips below 9V (measured in AC mode).

When I opened it for the first time I had raised my eyebrows because it had plenty of dust on the pcb. I'll try to give a good clean to the switch and maybee i can use contact cleaner to make sure all dust has been removed. if this does not work I'll try to measure it on the user port when the C64 is on and see if it dips below 9V. this part I am a bit scared from because I do not want to damage everything. I have to be careful from shorting every thing. So I have to chech the voltage of the switch leads I mean these http://members.home.nl/e.de.vugt/1.jpg ?


If this does not work i'll replace all capacitors this will take longer you can understand me if you click on the link below

this the same motherboard http://ist.uwaterloo.ca/~schep...4pcbva.jpg

Thanks dabbler, e5frog and Fröhn for your help

Some things can be good to swap before they break, tires of your car, cables on the Golden Gate bridge, electrolytic capacitors - especially those for voltage regulation...

Measuring them with an ESR meter before starting to solder wildly could be a good idea though.

I used a contact cleaner (kontakt chemie tuner 600) on the switch and after that It dried well. I switched on and off 10 times and it functioned properly Tomorrow I'll check it again,so I'll be able to confirm that the problem was dirt. I heard that that contact cleaners can damage plastic components. I do not know if this is true, on a forum i read that kontakt chemie tuner 600 will not damage plastic components. some info here http://www.dact.com/Tuner_600_data_sheet.pdf