VectorGamer Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 I bought a 5200, 7 carts and a roller controller off eBay for $20 "as-is." I figured it wasn't a bad deal and if the 5200 didn't work I'd get 7 carts and perhaps a roller controller out of it. I had some problems getting the system powered on. Using my previous experiences with Colecovision power switches, I lubricated the power switch with WD-40, cleaned it with alcohol and I was able to get it powered on. However, the power switch is stubborn at times in either powering on or off (I have removed the cover when troubleshooting this). I think if I replace the power switch that this may fix the problem and perhaps others have run into this before with some pointers. If someone has worked on this before, can you point me to the right place in finding the replacement part and instructions on replacing it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Best Electronics is always the best place to start. Give Brad a call and he'll help you out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phuzzed Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Yes, Best Electronics is the place to get this kind of stuff. I have replaced one of the switches before and it's fairly easy to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Primus Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 I had some problems getting the system powered on. Using my previous experiences with Colecovision power switches, I lubricated the power switch with WD-40, cleaned it with alcohol and I was able to get it powered on. However, the power switch is stubborn at times in either powering on or off (I have removed the cover when troubleshooting this). I would avoid using WD-40 on electrical contacts. It's sort of oil, and makes things worse. Also, it dissolves some plastics. The alcohol is a good choice though. The 5200 switch controls a CMOS flip-flop on the board. Be sure that your problem is actually the switch. You can simply close the contacts on the back of the board manually, and see if it comes on. Or, desolder the switch and wire up a standard one, and see if you can reliably turn the console on and off. If so, then the switch is your only problem. If it's still weird, then you might need to replace the chip. I'll have to look at my notes, I forget which one it is. Also, there is a relay in the RF switch box. So, if the power light comes on, but you don't get a picture, then there could just be something wrong with the switch box. -Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 (edited) I had some problems getting the system powered on. Using my previous experiences with Colecovision power switches, I lubricated the power switch with WD-40, cleaned it with alcohol and I was able to get it powered on. However, the power switch is stubborn at times in either powering on or off (I have removed the cover when troubleshooting this). I would avoid using WD-40 on electrical contacts. It's sort of oil, and makes things worse. Also, it dissolves some plastics. The alcohol is a good choice though. Alcohol is always a good choice. It solves all problems. And used properly, it can make the people around you smarter, funnier, and better looking. (I'm sorry...I couldn't resist.) Edited March 17, 2009 by Ransom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Primus Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Alcohol is always a good choice. It solves all problems. And used properly, it can make the people around you smarter, funnier, and better looking. (I'm sorry...I couldn't resist.) To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems. -Ian 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Congrats on getting a real 5200. Once you spend all the money and effort to get it all working and take some time to set aside all that frustration, you won't regret it, seriously. Sounds like you didn't get a bad deal, especially if the Trak-Ball works. Best is the best place for parts and advice. Assuming you got joysticks with it, read the 5200 controller repair instructions on their website, and don't be afraid to take them apart to clean them -- they'll need at least that. They're not hard to clean or repair despite the bad reputation. Worst case scenario, if you break them, Best only gives $5 each for the cores, which isn't usually worth shipping them anyway. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 Well, I have attempted to clean every square inch of this 5200. I lubed the power switch and it appears to have fixed the "stickiness" problem. I had a broken OEM coax connector which I cutoff and replaced. The video cable connector was not making a taut connection to the TV switch box so I simply bent one of the "prongs" (for lack of the technical term that escapes me) inward a tad to fix that. I used air cans (plural) and alcohol to clean this thing up. These were obviously all easy fixes that a caveman could do. I was pleasantly surprised that I could get this thing working at all. Here are the outstanding issues I have: The system came without joysticks, so that is on my list. The metal covering around the motherboard has rusted. I have contacted Best Electronics to see if they have this part along with joysticks for this system. There is also a brown staining all around the inside and outside of the case which I believe has to be from cigarette smoke but coincidentally it is similar in color to the rust. I've never heard of "rust" spores making homes in plastic crevices so I have dismissed that. In any event, the rubbing alcohol did a fair job in getting rid of the brown staining in spots. Are there suggestions for any other cleaners that may do a better job? Incidentally, the track ball controller does not work. But, for 20 bucks, I have a working 5200 with 7 carts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 See if you can find one of the connectors to hook together the joysticks for Robotron and Space Dungeon. I saw someplace recently trying to sell them for $30 (maybe it was Best?) which I think is a bit steep, but I know they can be had for less. I got mine in a lot with other stuff, so paid a lot less. It's well worth having though, and really makes those games so much more special. Otherwise, just rubber band the two sticks together I guess (once you get them). I use regular Windex for most typical cleaning. I'm not sure what sort of staining you're talking about. If it's just typical smoker's gunk, the Windex usually does a good job, but if it's actually affected the plastic (stained in), then you'll need something stronger, not sure what. If you're lucky the Trak-Ball will just need to have the bearings cleaned. Try that, and see that they're moving properly. If you're unlucky, like me, it will be a harder problem to fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 (edited) Incidentally, the track ball controller does not work. Does nothing work on it -- that is, none of the buttons, plus the trak-ball itself? If the problem is the trak-ball itself, then you may want to take the controller apart and see what the problem is. Sometimes it's just the ball bearings, sometimes it's the optical sensors. In either case, cleaning may help. Once you have some idea of what might be wrong, you may wish to contact Best again. They sell lots of parts, including "gold" upgraded keypads. They also sell new trak-balls, but they're a bit pricey at $80 apiece. Having a trak-ball controller, though, is a huge benefit to a 5200 owner who enjoys any of the games that support it (Space Invaders, Galaxian, Super Breakout, Missile Command, etc.). That's why I bought a brand new one, plus I'm fixing up my old one to work like new. That way I should hopefully have a working trak-ball for many years to come. Good luck! Edited March 18, 2009 by Ransom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 Thanks guys. I actually did a spot test of using ArmorAll on the underside of the case. You know how ArmorAll looks - glossy. It was late at night and the light I had wasn't very good so I'm going to revisit this tonight - I couldn't tell if it was glossy black over top of a smoke stain. I used to smoke, so I know ArmorAll does a good job of cleaning the crud off the dash to make it pleasing to the naked eye. But, this is a different type of material I'm working with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 There's been quite a rift here at AA regarding the use of Armor All on consoles etc. I'm on the side of hating Armor All. Great for cars, not great for consoles. That reminds me of the worst use of Armor All I've ever seen, relevant to this topic. The gold 5200 controllers I got from Best a couple weeks ago were absolutely doused in Armor All. I went through a lot of paper towels trying to get them dry enough to even play with them at all. And even then, my hands got all slippery and greasy from them. YUCK! Most of it's worn off now, but took awhile. While I was using them, I just kept thinking how horrible it is to put Armor All on a car's brake pedal... and this was similar. That's my only and sole complaint with the Best stuff though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 (edited) For cleaning hard plastic, I usually use Goo Gone. And if it's shiny plastic, I usually use the Novus products to remove scratches and to give it a nice polish. I'd honestly never heard of using Armor All on consoles and controllers until just now. Edited March 18, 2009 by Ransom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 For cleaning hard plastic, I usually use Goo Gone. And if it's shiny plastic, I usually use the Novus products to remove scratches and to give it a nice polish. I'd honestly never heard of using Armor All on consoles and controllers until just now. There's been a few semi-heated discussions over it in the past few years on AA. Pretty funny stuff. Fortunately, some Windex removes most of it, but it stays in all the little crevasses and leaks out, which is what drives me nuts about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 For cleaning hard plastic, I usually use Goo Gone. And if it's shiny plastic, I usually use the Novus products to remove scratches and to give it a nice polish. I'd honestly never heard of using Armor All on consoles and controllers until just now. Yeah, AA on joysticks is like AA on your steering wheel. I made that mistake once... I have thought of Goo Gone and was curious if someone else would recommend using it. I actually could not find the Goo Gone last night and resorted to AA at least to do a spot test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 For cleaning hard plastic, I usually use Goo Gone. And if it's shiny plastic, I usually use the Novus products to remove scratches and to give it a nice polish. I'd honestly never heard of using Armor All on consoles and controllers until just now. There's been a few semi-heated discussions over it in the past few years on AA. Pretty funny stuff. Fortunately, some Windex removes most of it, but it stays in all the little crevasses and leaks out, which is what drives me nuts about it. I'll have to examine my controllers tonight and see if they got the same treatment. I hadn't noticed, but then I may have been too excited. For cleaning hard plastic, I usually use Goo Gone. And if it's shiny plastic, I usually use the Novus products to remove scratches and to give it a nice polish. I'd honestly never heard of using Armor All on consoles and controllers until just now. Yeah, AA on joysticks is like AA on your steering wheel. I made that mistake once... I have thought of Goo Gone and was curious if someone else would recommend using it. I actually could not find the Goo Gone last night and resorted to AA at least to do a spot test. I've used Goo Gone to remove gunky stuff from hard surfaces, and had good results. I've also had good results using it to get some writing off of a Genesis cart label. I have not, however, had success using it to remove price stickers from cardboard boxes (I ruined a box that way -- never again!). I've had much better results by using a hair dryer and tweezers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahsMyBro Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 This is somewhat offtopic, but last summer I was given a broken PS2. I managed to fix it and have been enjoying it ever since. BUT, I'm compulsive about the aesthetic appearance of my electronics, and the PS2 has the previous owner's name written in large, sloppy letters, across the top of the console, in some sort of silver ink or paint. I haven't tried to remove it yet, but have been considering using GooGone ever since I was given the system. (I'm compulsive, but I also procrastinate. The end result is I spend a very long time fixated and obsessed on an issue before I actually do anything about it!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 This is somewhat offtopic, but last summer I was given a broken PS2. I managed to fix it and have been enjoying it ever since. BUT, I'm compulsive about the aesthetic appearance of my electronics, and the PS2 has the previous owner's name written in large, sloppy letters, across the top of the console, in some sort of silver ink or paint. I haven't tried to remove it yet, but have been considering using GooGone ever since I was given the system. (I'm compulsive, but I also procrastinate. The end result is I spend a very long time fixated and obsessed on an issue before I actually do anything about it!) That silver ink you describe sounds like the pens that they banned from my school in 1980. The ink was actually silver paint...the name of the product escapes me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Primus Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 That silver ink you describe sounds like the pens that they banned from my school in 1980. The ink was actually silver paint...the name of the product escapes me... They banned paint pens? That seems odd. Did they have a grafitti problem? I used to work at a school. We would use those pens (in gold, usually), to write the name of the school on all the computers and various school property. I spent many hours writing the school name on the sides of brand new computers. It _does_ come off, if you give it enough elbow grease. I used to rescue some of the obsolete equipment from said school, because I collect old computers. So I scavenged VT220 terminals and very old Macs and stuff like that. I was able to get the paint pen off by using the Goo Gone - put it on and let it soak for a minute, then scrub, then clean with alcohol, and repeat. I could get all the paint off pretty reliably, but you could still read the writing on some equipment because it had yellowed. The paint pen blocked the light, so when it was removed, there was clean, unyellowed plastic... on the side of a yellowed old terminal. It still looked better than the paint pen though. -Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahsMyBro Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I'll have to give that a shot then, thanks. BTW, I've got an old school-issue all-in-one Mac that we don't use for anything anymore. ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/61383932@N00/...57606632761920/ ) I'd have to clear it with my wife, but I'm pretty sure I can dispose of it. Let me know if you'd like it for your collection. I'm in NJ, so depending on where you are in NY, maybe we could meet and you could take it off my hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted March 20, 2009 Author Share Posted March 20, 2009 That silver ink you describe sounds like the pens that they banned from my school in 1980. The ink was actually silver paint...the name of the product escapes me... They banned paint pens? That seems odd. Did they have a grafitti problem? I used to work at a school. We would use those pens (in gold, usually), to write the name of the school on all the computers and various school property. I spent many hours writing the school name on the sides of brand new computers. At the time those pens were new on the market and somehow it got all over someone's clothes which instituted the ban. A lot of kids brought them into the school for whatever reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted March 27, 2009 Author Share Posted March 27, 2009 Well, an update that I won 5 joysticks at auction for $24. One that is in good condition and four that are missing one key per. So, if the good joystick is valued at $12 according to a price guide, the remaining joysticks costs $3 a pop. If you think I got screwed, one joystick from Best Electronics with the gold contacts costs $38 without trade-in. And, I have a 5200 that has been sitting for weeks doing nothing because I do not have controllers for it. I've never used a 5200 before so it will be interesting to see if the controllers are as bad as they say. From there I will decide if I want to invest an additional $15 to replace the rusted metal that covers the top and sensitive underside of the mobo. A few questions: I have not yet held one of these controllers, so maybe someone can tell me if the individual keys can be replaced or will the entire keypad have to be replaced? Is it even worth it? Has anyone replaced the metal mobo cover, which Best calls the "Internal RF Shield Set," and is there instructions for replacement? I have an idea, I just want to be certain. Someone uploaded a 2600 field manual online somewhere. Does one exist for the 5200? The reason I purchased this thing was to fix it up, so maybe I answered my own question of worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Best only gives you $5 each for them for use as a core (but then you have to pay shipping to them), so I've always considered a 5200 stick to be worth about that (-shipping, so therefore near valueless). When I was considering whether to rebuild mine with their parts or just buy their Gold ones outright, I added up all the parts I'd have to buy, and it was only a few $ more to just buy one outright, which is why I kept my old controllers. But, if you can somehow get by without replacing all of the parts, then you may come out cheaper. Of course, you won't know if you need all the parts until you try using some, then you'll incur more shipping costs for more parts, driving the total cost up even more. The Best Gold sticks work amazingly well, so honestly, I'd have just bought them and skipped trying to get the parts units since it's not only the sticks, but the keypads and fire buttons that are problematic until repaired/upgraded. But maybe you'll get lucky and can make some working ones cheaper, who knows. If you just want the experience of fixing it up as I think you're implying, then all of the above is moot, and it won't matter that you'll spend more $ now. I don't recall about individual keys on the keypads offhand, but I would think you could maybe tell from the parts list on the Best website? Or of course just take one apart once you get them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahsMyBro Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 The entire numeric keypad is one rubber membrane keypad - i.e., it's one single part for all 12 buttons. The Start/Pause/Reset strip is a separate rubber strip, but again, the three buttons are all one single part. The left two fire buttons are one part, and the right two fire buttons are one part (but they are identical - you don't need to order 1 left, and 1 right). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted March 30, 2009 Author Share Posted March 30, 2009 I received the joysticks today and here's something odd - Centipede and Ms. Pac-Man controls work fine. Two different Pac-Man carts and a Dig Dug cart I am not able to turn right or do down. What do you make of this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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