Game Gear Cap Kit

[Guntz]

Ever since I got my Game Gear a while back, I noticed the screen was unusually bad. It had noticeable problems with the video. The sound was ok though. I had heard something about Game Gear's suffering from bad capacitors before, but I didn't find out until later which video problems are caused by bad caps.

So I got myself a GG cap kit from consoleworld.co.uk and am going to install it soon enough. Wish me luck!

Also feel free to talk about your Game Gear, or if you've successfully fixed your Game Gear.

[16-bit]

My game gear has a weird motherboard, so before I can fix it I have to go over to SMSpower and post pictures of it to see what other caps I should get for it. I should stop being lazy and do that today!

http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9387

[Guntz]

My GG is clearly a Model 2, since it has the TMSS screen. Hopefully it has a more common board.

[Nick16]

The Game Gear screen(mine at least) is terribly hard to look at, if you hold it like you would a modern console like a DS/GBA SP the colors look inverted. The only way you can see the colors properly is to hold the system literally horizontally, 90 degrees! Even when you hold it uncomfortably like that the screen is still hard to look at, it's very faded and has a yellow tint to it. I am greatly disappointed with my Game Gear, why couldn't it have an option to turn of the backlight, like the Atari Lynx...

[17daysolderthannes]

consoleworld.co.uk is a placeholder spam-ish site, could you link to the exact page? I've been looking for a pre-assembled game gear capacitor kit for a while seeing as buying individual caps is both expensive and a PITA to find and match so that they will fit.

[chessage]

consoleworld.co.uk is a placeholder spam-ish site, could you link to the exact page? I've been looking for a pre-assembled game gear capacitor kit for a while seeing as buying individual caps is both expensive and a PITA to find and match so that they will fit.

The website was written wrong. It's actually "console-world.co.uk". Here's the kit page: http://clearance.console-world.co.uk...roducts_id=158

[Deo]

The website was written wrong. It's actually "console-world.co.uk". Here's the kit page: http://clearance.console-world.co.uk...roducts_id=158

Wow thats just what I need, thanks alot!

[Nick16]

How do you install that?

[Guntz]

Crap, I can't believe I got the link wrong. Sorry 17days. :[

Cheesage covered the situation though. I highly recommend buying from console-world.co.uk.

I didn't manage to try fixing my GG, I had company over. Maybe tomorrow!

[omp]

How do you install that?

One at a time

I have done HEAPS of these thiings and detest them, the smell is awful.

I have some small pliers that I use to "pop" the old cap off the board and then use methylated spirits on a cotton bud to clean as much of the yellow-green muck off as I can. Then strategically place each cap and solder in place.

While you are at it, replace the sound board ones. The power supply caps are generally ok.

I have also modified a dead screened GG (black stripe down the middle) to be less portable. It has the cart slot moved so it is now a top loader, 2 control ports fitted, all the screen items removed and has standard (composite) AV out. I have modifed it using the Sega Master System pause trick so that I can use my modified control pad so that it operates the start button. I am more than happy with the way it plays

[TmEE]

just write down all the cap values, order what you need... then open the GG up, and this is the procedure :

*Look for a cap
*pull it off
*try cleaning up the surroundings with some alcohol and cotton sticks (as it will smell when you touch it with soldering iron)
*get new cap, have it there with right polarity, solder in
*repeat until all caps(all but power ones, those are ok as said before) are replaced.

one at time... :P

[Guntz]

Oh yeah, the guide I have says to just pull up the caps as you heat the pads. You can only heat one pad at a time, yet there's two pins on every cap. So how do you remove the caps properly? Or do you just clip them and solder the new cap in place.

Now, if you can just pull caps off the board, do the pins on the new cap go through holes or do the legs sit on top of the board? Dumb questions I know, I just don't wanna wreck my Game Gear.

[TmEE]

The caps are all surface mounted... only danger with just pulling off is chance of ripping off the solder pad also, but I've yet to experience it...

[17daysolderthannes]

hmmm, will this kit work on all revisions of game gears? I have 2 and both could probably use a refurb. I've been meaning to do it forever, but couldn't find a good place to track down the capacitors.

[Guntz]

The caps are all surface mounted... only danger with just pulling off is chance of ripping off the solder pad also, but I've yet to experience it...

Soooooooo... Does this mean I should bend the ends of the legs on the caps a tiny bit so there's more for the solder to contact?

hmmm, will this kit work on all revisions of game gears? I have 2 and both could probably use a refurb. I've been meaning to do it forever, but couldn't find a good place to track down the capacitors.

The guide for my cap kit (still talking about the console-world one here) says it works with both. I think it says the Model 2 board needs one less capacitor than the model 1. However, if you count up all the caps on both sides of the board on the screen/button side of the GG, there isn't enough caps to do them all. I'm thinking I'll replace the ones that have leaked, as well as every other one I have a replacement for, then for any caps I can't cover I'll try to locate them. I think console-world can cover you if you need any extra caps or if you're clearly missing some from the included chart.