Amstrad PC2286 Troubleshooting Guide
The faults below are those owners have reported and repaired on the Amstrad PC2286, cited as community experience. Amstrad's PC2286 service manual is held by the Centre for Computing History and has not been made available to owners; the PC2386's manual covers a supply with the same parts.[1] Procedures are in the Amstrad PC2286 Maintenance Guide.
Power supply
[edit | edit source]| Symptom | Findings | Suggested checks |
|---|---|---|
| Fan turns for about a second, then stops; the floppy LED flashes once | On a corroded supply from damp storage: resistor R658 (1 kΩ) and its track broken; C625 (3300 µF 35 V) leaking; wrong voltages on the inputs and output of the voltage detector IC602 (MB3761), which the owner took to mean the over-voltage protection was shutting the supply down through Q601. Replacing the large electrolytics, IC601 (STK7458), IC603, IC605, the −5 V and −12 V regulators and several transistors did not cure it, and the owner came to suspect the transformer[2] | Check whether a drive or the main board is loading the supply down; check R658 and the tracks; measure IC602's pins against a working supply; replace leaking capacitors from the capacitor list |
| Blown fuse reported by the seller | The fuse had not blown; the fault was the shutdown above[2] | Check the fuse before assuming a short |
Measure the cold-side voltages at the moment of switch-on: on the faulty supply above, the −12 V and −5 V winding rose briefly to about 55 V before collapsing, and the +5 V and +12 V windings barely rose.[2] GiGaBiTe, replying, pointed out that a shorted turn in the transformer raises the output of the other windings and that a continuity test does not prove a transformer good.[2]
The PC2386 service manual's supply schematic, page 48, prints the DC voltages at the STK7458's pins and shows the protection circuits; since the PC2286 supply uses the same parts, it is the nearest published reference. The voltages are tabled in the PC2386 troubleshooting guide.[3]
Black screen
[edit | edit source]- A black screen with only a brief flash of the keyboard LEDs and a click from the speaker at switch-off, on a main board run from an AT supply: the cause was not found in the 2022 report, after DRAM swaps, SIMMs, a separate VGA card with the built-in VGA disabled and several monitors.[2]
- A black screen with an occasional glimpse of the start-up screen: on a second machine, the owner removed all twelve DRAM chips and fitted two 1 MB SIMMs, with the jumpers set for SIMMs, and the machine started.[4] An ISA POST code card showed no codes on this machine.[4]
- After the boards have been out of the case: refit the expansion board firmly onto the main board and test with both boards installed in the case. A badly seated expansion board stops the machine starting.[2]
- With a separate display card fitted, disable the built-in VGA with its option link first.[2]
Keyboard error
[edit | edit source]"Please check keyboard" or "check keyboard", with beeps, has had two causes:
| Cause | Repair |
|---|---|
| Inside the keyboard: a loose Caps Lock LED and a dirty pressure-pad sheet | Refit the LED, clean the pad sheet and its ribbon edge connectors[5] |
| On the main board: electrolytics near the keyboard connector | Replace C408 and C409 (1 µF 50 V), C403 (100 µF 10 V), C404 and C405 (47 µF 16 V) and C406 (22 µF 50 V); the owner lifted some through-hole plating while removing them and repaired the tracks with wire[4] |
The key lock position changes the rate of the beeping while the machine waits for the keyboard.[5]
Hard disc and floppy
[edit | edit source]- Set the 40 MB hard disc as type 1 in the BIOS after the cells have been replaced.[4]
- Before replacing a supply, try the drives on a known good PC supply; a shorted drive can stop the supply starting.[2] See Hard Drive Maintenance and Repair and Floppy Drive Repair.
Monitors
[edit | edit source]The PC2286 was sold with the PC2000 series' 12- and 14-inch monitors, documented in the PC2086 service manual.[2][6] One owner's PC14HRCD showed only a dark red picture at full brightness and a green bar at the left for the first minute; it was tested on another computer and not repaired in the report.[2] See CRT Discharge Procedure.
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Amstrad PC2286 · Amstrad PC2286 Maintenance Guide · Amstrad PC2286 Capacitor Replacement Guide
- Amstrad PC2386 Troubleshooting Guide · Amstrad PC2086 Troubleshooting Guide
- Capacitor Failure Symptoms
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ Amstrad plc, PC2386-65 Personal Computer Service Manual. Hosted as File:Amstrad PC 2386 Service Manual.pdf, described at Amstrad PC 2386 Service Manual. Alignment instructions p. 3; electrical parts list pp. 44–45.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 VintageVic, acgs, GiGaBiTe, mR_Slug and others, "Amstrad PC 2286", Vintage Computer Federation Forums, April–October 2022. Retrieved 2026-10-02. Community repair of a dead PC2286 supply: R658, C625, IC602 voltages, parts replaced, transformer suspected; the main board then tested on an AT supply with a black screen.
- ↑ Amstrad plc, PC2386-65 Personal Computer Service Manual, power supply chassis schematic diagram, p. 48. Hosted as File:Amstrad PC 2386 Service Manual pages 47-48.pdf.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 VintageVic and acgs, "Fixing Amstrad PC2286 with black screen and keyboard issues", Vintage Computer Federation Forums, January 2026. Retrieved 2026-10-02. Community repair: black screen cured by replacing the DRAMs with SIMMs; "Please check keyboard" cured by replacing C403–C406, C408 and C409; an ISA POST card showing no codes; the hard disc set as type 1.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 pearce_jj and others, "Amstrad PC2286 'Check Keyboard'", Vintage Computer Federation Forums, September 2010. Retrieved 2026-10-02. Community repair: "check keyboard" with the key lock changing the beep rate; the fault inside the keyboard.
- ↑ Amstrad plc, PC2086 S/D/30 Personal Computer / PC12 MD / PC12 HRCD / PC14 CD / PC14 HRCD Monitors Service Manual. Hosted as File:Amstrad PC 2086 Service Manual.pdf, described at Amstrad PC 2086 Service Manual. Sections for the PC12 MD, PC12 HRCD, PC14 CD and PC14 HRCD monitors, pp. 19–60.