Controller issues

[burrito]

Hi all, I'm new here...

 

I dusted off the ole intellivision that had been laying dormant in the basement for many many years and sold it to a good friend. We are trying to get it working reliably. It powers up just fine but the controllers are flaky. So we took them apart and cleaned them as best as we could (we didn't use an solvents or chemicals.) But there is not much improvement. For example, I could move up and down but left and right wouldn't work very well. Also the number pad is hit and miss, sometimes pressing Enter produces a 6 for example, and pressing 6 does nothing.

 

Any tips on how we can get the controllers fixed?

 

Thanks!

[IntellivisionDude]

Surprised nobody has replied yet. First off, Welcome.

 

I'm not the most knowledgeable in this area, but take the controller apart and clean out the dirt if there is any. See if there is any damage to the mylar.

 

if you do a search here i bet you can find some posts about this topic with more info.

Edited April 13, 2014 by IntellivisionDude

[HunterZero]

If you swap the controllers over does the problem follow the controller?

[Games For Your Intellivision]

I find when you take controllers apart, and clean them and put them back together again, that you have to make sure that the screws near the cord on the upper right part of the controller are very tight. The mylar pad that connects to the wires use pressure. Make sure that you bend the six or so 'fingers' on the end of the cord up a bit so they make good contact with the mylar.

 

As well, I suggest unplugging the controllers from the motherboard, and plugging them in a few times, or clean the pins that the controllers plug into. Also, if you plug the controllers in backwards when re-assembling, the controllers will not work or respond.

[burrito]

Have not tried swapping controllers yet.

 

Thanks for the tips, will give it a try.

[+JasonlikesINTV]

I found this video very detailed and helpful:

 

http://youtu.be/yMnL-Ct0DTQ