Game Gear: Repair with two left hands
28.8.2018
Translation: machine translated
Will I succeed in repairing my Game Gear or will I fail miserably? I asked myself this question during the last Game Gear retro after the display stopped working properly. Here you can find out whether my dodgy soldering skills put a smile on my face or brought tears to my eyes.
Yay, they're finally here! All the parts I need to repair my beloved handheld. I can hardly wait to get started.
A reminder: last time I looked for and found my old Game Gear. Unfortunately, the picture was totally faded and the sound didn't work. This is due to the capacitors on the mainboard and soundboard, which I am now trying to replace.
In addition to capacitors and a special screwdriver, I also got a refurbished soundboard following a tip from user Mihoshi. Because the soundboard is the most difficult to solder. As the last time I soldered was in sixth form - almost 20 years ago - I consider this a wise decision on my part. I can use the soundboard from my Game Gear for practising and I'll install the refurbished one.
Preparations
Unfortunately, my capacitor set does not come with instructions. But I have the YouTube tutorials - or so I think. On closer inspection, I notice that some of the game gears in the videos don't have the same mainboard as my model. User Mihoshi also pointed this out to me (thanks for your tips, by the way).
After a quick search, I find my model on the Console5 Tech Wiki. Practical: I print out the diagram of my mainboard on A4 paper and sort the capacitors on it. Now I know exactly what goes where. Fortunately, my capacitor set contains all the necessary parts. But there are six capacitors left over. I need five of them for the soundboard and three for the powerboard.
Calculating has never been my strong point, but even I realise that something can't be right. Since I bought a refurbished soundboard, I don't really need at least five of the six remaining components. However, I realise that I'm missing a special capacitor for the power board. Shoot, what do I do now?
Despite the faded picture and no sound, my Game Gear is (still) running. I conclude from this that - at least for the time being - the power board is still OK. Incidentally, Game Gears have three different boards: Mainboard with graphics unit, soundboard and powerboard. The power board is responsible for energy management. I decide to start by only replacing the capacitors on the mainboard and the soundboard.
I can simply unscrew the soundboard and screw in the refurbished one. The mainboard is a bit more complicated. First I have to desolder the capacitors, clean the solder joints and then solder on the new capacitors.
Now it's time: Watch YouTube tutorials and practise soldering. You can see how I managed the repair in the video. You can find out whether it worked or not below, but beware: SPOILER ALERT!
NO!!! Nothing is happening. Absolutely nothing! I'll spare you the bitter tears I cried in the episode.
But I wouldn't be me if I gave up so easily. I don't know why nothing is happening. It's probably my fault. But it could also be because I couldn't replace the capacitors on the power board. As you know, I was missing one of them. There are many possible causes.
No matter what it is, I'm not giving up, I'm having too much fun. Now I'm going to order the capacitor set that matches my Game Gear and try again. I'll keep you up to date. <p
Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.