caps – Foxes Den

Modified Sega game gear 2110-50

You may wish to refer to this post: Sega game gear 2110-50 where I purchased a non working Sega Game gear and brought it back to life.

The (I thought it was repaired) Game gear

I’m now ready to do some modifications on this unit, and I will save the replaced items for use on later projects.

Pretty much every Game Gear that was ever produced (and that is approximately 10.6 million units) has suffered with the dreaded (Capacitor plague) that I have discussed in an older post. The first job that is recommended to be carried out when purchasing an old Game Gear is to replace the old capacitors, it’s quite an easy task and nine times out of ten will remedy any issues that you have and allow you to continue gaming for years to come.

However there are other issues.

The screen is an old tube powered system that is exceptionally power hungry, you can replace this with much superior LCD versions, I’m withholding from doing this at the moment as I want to get as much use out of the old screen, and to be honest my unit doesn’t require replacement just yet, there’s still life in the old girl. I’m sure that this will be a future project though.

Occasionally after doing the capacitor replacement on the power board, other components such as a small IC and three transistors that control voltages across the system, start to misbehave causing the unit to switch off after just a few seconds. This is currently occurring with mine and I am intending to replace these components to see if this sorts out my issue. I have also ordered a replacement power board from China that is a fraction of the cost of a European one, it may work, it may not but if the change out of components dosen’t work at least I’ll have an alternative option.

There are a few checks we can do prior to replacement of these components on the power board that will confirm the various voltages required by the system. It’s best that these tests are done prior to diving in head first to replace them. You could be just wasting time. You may need a new power board or maybe even consider converting to a rechargeable battery system. It’s all doable.

Expected voltages – photo courtesy Retrosix

Here are the results from my test of voltages on the power board, I’ve injected 9v via a bench power supply to the battery contacts on the board:

At the 34v pin I had 0v
At the 9v pin I had 8.9v
At the 1.28v pin I had 1.28v
The three ground pins read as ground
At the two 5v pins I had 0v

So as a result I obviously have an issue with the 5v rail and the 34v rail, I believe the 5v rail is the one that affects the boot sequence and the 34v is not an issue at the start up, however, it’s there for a reason and this simple test proves there is an issue. I will therefore only change the IC and three transistors as the capacitors were changed when I did a full recap.

For my modifications I am getting a new clean amp duo audio board with dual speakers instead of the single mono one that is standard. This is an upgrade on the original, extremely efficient and with better sound processing.

I am also replacing the shell with a new Blue case and glass to replace the scuffed old screen, this shell also has dual speaker outlets to compliment the audio board replacement. The shell is already prepped to accept a rechargeable battery system should I decide to install it at a later date.

I shall be getting these upgrades from Retrosix who specialise in supplies and modifications for gaming consoles.

All the items have now arrived and the first thing I’m going to do is sort out the replacement IC and transistors on the power board. The rest is fairly straightforward. However they have sent me the wrong shell, a single speaker one instead of a dual speaker one, so I’ve now got to await a replacement, annoying!

Scratch that, they are saying that they never did have any duo speaker ones even though they were advertising them on their site ( as per picture above..) and after a protracted discussion with the supplier / owner i’ve come to the conclusion that he might think he is a wizard at modding and designing circuitry but is totally and utterly inept at customer service, he wouldn’t know good service if it bit him in the ass. Hey ho on we go, it is what it is.

If you choose to use them in the future then just be aware. They have an uncanny knack of trying to pin their inadequacies and mistakes on you, the customer. Caveat Emptor – as they say.

So now the sound will be original mono, but hopefully improved. I have a spare speaker and mount as a result and I can use the new clean amp duo board in a mono configuration. Should I get a duo speaker shell sometime in the future I can always do a swap out.

Today I’ve taken the empty new shell and installed the new audio card and speaker, as well as the new buttons and silicon pads. I’ve then installed the main board minus the power board that still needs the new components.

I’ve also installed the new front lens on the unit and I must say it looks nice.

Let’s get to the difficult bit, replacing the components on the power board. I’m not joking when saying that some of these items are not much bigger than a grain of rice. I suspect a lot of bad language will be used here, as this is a new level of soldering for me. I’ve never replaced anything so small before. If I balls it up I’ll just have to await my cheap Chinese power board.

Ok, the power board from Ali Express got here really quick, to be honest even before I could set some time aside to change the components on the old board, so therefore I’ve decided to try this new board as a straight swap.

I will keep the the components and the old board to use at a later date.

First though I have used the bench power supply to test it is ok, and it’s a big tick on all voltages as per the test I did on the old board. All voltages are stable and consistent, so I have secured the board in place and put the required batteries inside. Works perfectly.

Back together, awaiting the big switch on

Working perfectly

I now have a perfectly good looking updated Game gear that I am exceptionally pleased with. The sound system is a good upgrade, it has a really loud volume (adjustable) and is crisp. The powerboard from China at a total cost of £10.80 is an absolute bargain, and works perfectly with good stable voltages. The case is good, fits well and the lens is clean easy to install and scratch free, the whole thing looks brand new.

I now have two perfectly good looking and working examples of 90’s retro rivalry in perfect working condition. The plan is to display these in the house, on a custom made display. I’ve really enjoyed working on this little project and I’m made up with the outcome.

The only things left to be done would be to change the power supplies to rechargeable and to change the screens to new IPS/LCD screens, but I don’t think I’m going to do that on these two, I’m keeping them original or as close as possible to original, I want to keep these as they are, to cherish in this condition for as long as I can.

I love them. And they are fantastic.

Sega game gear 2110-50

What the listing stated:

SEGA GAME GEAR Console FAULTY

Ebay

And that was it. Faulty. What’s faulty? I’ll not know until it arrives as i didn’t ask. Foolish perhaps, but I was looking for a challenge and something I could later mod. I think I’ve found it.

I must admit I was looking for a cheap way into a retro gaming repair and I believe this was it. Most damaged game gear units seem to be averaging around the £42GBP price but I managed to get this 2110-50 version at a lower price of £28GBP (and I may have got a game with it, let’s see what arrives!). However I don’t know what the heck is wrong with it but I suspect it’s the usual issue that has plagued these 90s retro units since their inception where the capacitors fail catastrophically.

There is probably not a single one of these units out there that has not suffered this issue or is certainly guaranteed to do so sometime in the not too distant future. Imagine how many of these units have just been discarded as junk considering that 10.62 Million units were sold up to and including its discontinuation date in April 1997….scary!

The first recommendation from anyone in the know is to change the caps before they start popping and corroding everything. I have a set of replacement caps ready in anticipation.

My hope is that this unit has not yet reached that corrosion stage….fingers crossed 🤞

Hurry along now Mr.Postman….

Both Game gear and replacement Caps have arrived. And I’m really happy as there is a game in the unit as well “Columns” Sega’s answer to Nintendos Tetris. A nice bonus.

The unit turns on, there is no sound, and only a very feint green glow when the unit is held at an angle. It’s looking very much like it is the old Capacitor problem.

The unit is in surprisingly good order with scuffs and minor scratches as you expect from a game that’s around 30yrs old. The lens scuffs aren’t an issue as a new lens is relatively cheap. But that isn’t the problem as it stands. Let’s get it working and I can worry about that later in the repair process.

There are no signs of any corrosion in the battery compartments and this pleases me. I only hope that when the unit is opened there are no obvious signs of corrosion on the boards.

Wish me luck, I’m going in….

Overall I’m happy with the condition inside, no bad corrosion, however it’s noticeable that a few capacitors have leaked. The worst seems to be C39 on the main board, it’s easy to see the residue.

This unit separates into three boards. An audio board, a power board and the main board. This is a twin asic board, I have removed the audio and power boards as these are the first and possibly the easiest for me to be working on.

The audio board has 5 capacitors that require replacing, I can see some leakage on the rear of board but not in the area of the capacitors. I suspect that this is factory flux though I could be wrong. When I remove the caps I’ll clean all the pads and use IPA to clean so this should sort that issue out.

The power board only has three Capacitors that require changing, however it’s clear to see here that C5 has been leaking.

Let’s get on with the removal and replacement of these 8 components. The other 11 are on the main board.

Well that didn’t go too bad. A few minor position changes due to the capacitor types being a different size on the board compared to the 1990s version.

It was obvious that there had been leakage on these two boards due to the fishy smell that arose when the soldering iron was used. That said, the old capacitors came off without too much problem. I used solder braid to remove the old solder and then gave a good clean of the board with IPA prior to re tinning the pads prior to putting the caps back in place.

I knew there wasn’t a big issue with the power board as this was sort of working prior to this project. This was the easiest board to solder as it had through the board components, pretty much a straight swap but for better components.

The audio board was different as I had to reposition these pots so the case could close properly and the shielding could go back into place with no issues. Again I used the same process of unsoldering, cleaning thoroughly and then tinning the pads.

These two boards are now complete. As a test I thought I’d reassemble the unit and see if there was any improvement. Power came on and the red led lit, this was a good sign that there was power and I’d not messed anything up. Secondly there was sound, we didn’t have that before so this is a definite improvement on what we originally had. Volume works with just a couple of occasional crackles so I may have to use some more contact cleaner here.

We have sound

So far, so good. No real improvement to the picture even though you can see something is trying to come through. That said I’m hoping the replacement of the caps on the main board will help this. So with no further a do, let’s get the main board finished.

Just got home from work, now time to get these last 11 caps done. All the old ones removed, all the pads wicked to remove the old solder and what a stink of old fish, these capacitors had definitely died.

All cleaned with some IPA to rid of all the debris and then fluxed and tinned the pads ready for the new capacitors to go into place, I’ve got this off to a tee now and these went on a lot quicker, easier and tidier than the last lot. I’m a lot more competent now, and feel more confident with this process.

Had a little trouble getting it all back together, a couple of the new caps had to be tweaked slightly as they were in the way of a screw post, the earth shield was also causing issues and shorting the system, again a bit of captain tape helped shield an exposed component. All this done I put the strap back on and loaded up the batteries. Switched on and red light, all looking good…

All working

Very happy with the fix, that was my first Cap replacement and I’m happy with my first attempt. Again you learn from these attempts and the reluctance I initially experienced was just nerves. I’d be more than happy to do more of these fixes, maybe using the modern surface mount components next time.