Steps to take before turning on an original,stored Colecovision

[ragemage]

Hello!

I have received back from my brother our original Colecovision and expansion module #1. They are supposedly in playable shape according to my brother. However before I go and hook it up and turn it on I want to verify I am not about to blow the main board and/or destroy the unit. Is there any prep I need to do before applying power? It has not been turned on in over 10 years and has been sitting in a closet. It is dirty and dusty but otherwise looks to be in ok shape. Connectors seem to have the usual oxidation on them, need to be cleaned.

Second part to that...from reading the forums the best bet is a RCA to coax adapter for video/audio. I do not have an older tube TV anymore, only flat screens. I can get the adapter from my local Radioshack but want to verify if there is any issue attempting hookup to flat screen LCD TVs, ruining the screens, video/audio quality, etc?

Bonus question: Any way to get the audio/video to work with a VGA computer monitor and set of low end speakers?

Any tips or hints are appreciated.

Thank You.

[retroillucid]

Hi, and welcome!

 

Depending on your skills, you might want to open the system and clean it up

Deoxid parts where it's needed

 

You can buy that RF adapter, it works ok

You can also send your system to a member here to refurbish your system, even bullt in power supply if you want (send a message to Yurkie)

 

You can also hook up your system to a VGA monitor by modding it with a F18A adapter (VGA adapter)

A member here sold the kit (I will dig the thread and post it here for you)

 

You can also get a Colecovision SD multicart, it's called; Atarimax SD

 

 

Hope it get you started!

 

 

EDIT: here's the link for a VGA adapter (F81A) http://codehackcreate.com/store#!/~/product/category=0&id=14022176

Edited January 16, 2014 by retroillucid

[thecrypticodor]

Turned it over? It's not an engine. If something catastrophic is going to happen like a component toasting it most likely would happen in the power supply and not in the system itself.

The only thing you can really do is if you have a multimeter you can verify the voltages leaving PSU before you fire up the system. The supply should be outputting three voltages 5V 12V -5V. Sometimes though you can still get those voltages dead on and the supply still may not power the system correctly. This is usually caused by one or more of the electrolytic capacitors inside the supply being out of spec.

Edited January 16, 2014 by thecrypticodor

[Keatah]

Last time I turned my truck over I needed wrecker to get it rightside up again.

[NIAD]

You don't necessarily have to open up the system to clean everything, but that is always a good idea. At the least, clean all the connector ports (power, controller ports, RF, cartridge slot) with Ispropyhl Alcohol and make sure it is not that watered down 70% crap. If you have De-oxit, that is a very good product to use and should be available at Radio Shack. If you have a multimeter, it is worth the effort to test those voltages coming from the power supply and if not, then just wing it and hope for the best as I have done many a time without a problem... even with a bad power supply.

 

I would take things in increments as far as how you test the unit especially if you don't have testing equipment or the necessary skill set, for instance:

 

1) Plug in the power supply, RF cable with coaxial adapter and turn the system on. You should see the "ColecoVision" bios title screen that informs you to turn off the system and insert a game cartridge.

2) Plug in controller #1 and a game cartridge. Turn on and test things ous by playing the game.

3) Plug in the other controller (#2) as well and test by playing a 2-player game.

4) Plug in the Exp. Mod. #1 with a 2600 game and turn on. You should immediately see the 2600 game on screen.

 

Just take it in baby step increments so that you might be able to narrow down what problem(s) the system may have, but hopefully there won't be any. More than likely the grease used to lube the power switch has dried up and may cause some garbled or weird video corruption, but I have come across many systems that haven't been used in over 20 years that worked perfectly... although they should still be refurbished/serviced. Just think of that CV power switch like a car that needs an oil change every 3-5 months, except that the power switch schedule would be more like every 5 years or so depending on use.

 

The biggest issues everyone runs into, probably in order, are:

1) Defective power supply transformer.

2) On/Off power switch di-electric grease has dried up

3) Controller port Octal Buffer chips have gone bad

4) Bad RAM chip or chips.

 

There are others, but these are the most common.

[boxpressed]

I'm paranoid about #3 above. Had this happen to at least three units, including the one I played in 1983. I don't hotswap controllers at all on ColecoVisions.

[NIAD]

Indeed.

 

Turn off that ColecoVision before plugging/unplugging the controllers just like you turn off the system when changing the inserted cartridge.

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

Agreed! :-)

Also the capacitor right next the cart slot, if it gets bent over far enough to make contact with the edge of the cartridge and gets bent over and smashed by accident/over time, etc.. It can be a problem.

 

I experienced this a couple times and I'm not sure what to think of it, other than its part of a clock circuit from what I heard. Two out of three consoles I own have this issue but are fine, no problems yet. One console in particular acts really funny, like it's got turbo mode.. The cap is destroyed :-/ The sound and video is sped up, but put another cart in and got a normal response but corrupt graphics. Wish there was more discussion on the motherboard and such, I'm eager to learn how everything jives!

Edited January 17, 2014 by SiLic0ne t0aD85

[ragemage]

So I have verified the power supply has the correct voltages, cleaned the connectors on the unit.

Here is the what is happening:

Turn on unit with one controller connected, no cartridge inserted. Video goes to black, high pitched hum.

Tried both channel 3 and channel 4, same result.

Turned unit off, inserted a game cartridge, same result

tried a different video cable, same result

 

So is the unit defective or is there something else to try?

[thecrypticodor]

A very common problem with the CV is the dual pole power switch corroding internally and becoming non conductive. You can check for continuity across both poles of the switch and disassemble and clean if necessarily. Also like I said before the PSU can still be at fault even though the output voltage is correct You can try replacing the electrolytics in the supply.

Edited January 19, 2014 by thecrypticodor