Tempest Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 After not using my Vectrex for several years I decided to hook it back up and discovered that it needs servicing. First the volume knob may need cleaning as I have to mess with it a bit to get the sound to play. Secondly button four on my controller has stopped working. Also there's a little jitter in the picture but I think that's normal (is it normally rock solid or is there always a little jitter?). How hard is it to clean the volume knob? I think I *might* be able to fix the controller if the contact is just dirty, but I worry about messing up the overlay. Does anyone do repairs? I wouldn't mind getting the buzz fixed either, but I'm not sure that shipping the Vectrex out to anyone is a wise idea as they seem fragile. Also, do Vectrex's ever need to be recapped? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awhite2600 Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 I can only comment about the volume knob. When I bought my Vectrex a couple of years ago the volume seemed to be stuck at full blast. A member here suggested that I pull the knob off and spray with electronics cleaner. I was hesitant at first as the knob seemed to be stuck. Sure enough, it did pull right off. Sprayed with some high end electronics wash that's safe for plastic. Problem solved. You may be able to do something similar with button four. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted April 25, 2017 Author Share Posted April 25, 2017 I can only comment about the volume knob. When I bought my Vectrex a couple of years ago the volume seemed to be stuck at full blast. A member here suggested that I pull the knob off and spray with electronics cleaner. I was hesitant at first as the knob seemed to be stuck. Sure enough, it did pull right off. Sprayed with some high end electronics wash that's safe for plastic. Problem solved. You may be able to do something similar with button four. The knob pulls right out? That's good to know. So do you spray the inside of the knob itself with the cleaner or do you spray the shaft it comes off of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awhite2600 Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 Is sprayed the cleaner onto the shaft and into the potentiometer within the Vectrex. I know that some people will recommend using spray designed for pots, I just used what I had available. It is a general "electronics wash" that was recommended by someone in an electronics supply store. I bought it when someone spilled coffee on a laptop keyboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted April 25, 2017 Author Share Posted April 25, 2017 I wonder if I can get some of that locally like at a hardware store? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 Standard contact cleaner like you can get at RadioShack will do the job. Just spray around the shaft and turn it back and forth a bunch of times to get it worked in there. As for the debuzz kit, there are two options. 1 is the kit that is sold through Console5.com but it won't completely eliminate it, just minimize it quite a bit. The second is a complete audio amp replacement kit that was designed and originally sold by a guy named Charles Tweety on the Vectrex Group FB page. I believe he is sold out currently, but will be making more and once he does, I believe he will be selling them through ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted April 25, 2017 Author Share Posted April 25, 2017 Standard contact cleaner like you can get at RadioShack will do the job. Just spray around the shaft and turn it back and forth a bunch of times to get it worked in there. As for the debuzz kit, there are two options. 1 is the kit that is sold through Console5.com but it won't completely eliminate it, just minimize it quite a bit. The second is a complete audio amp replacement kit that was designed and originally sold by a guy named Charles Tweety on the Vectrex Group FB page. I believe he is sold out currently, but will be making more and once he does, I believe he will be selling them through ebay. How hard are those to install? Also, is a little jitter normal for the picture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 Cap kit is kinda a pain because caps on every board need to be replaced as part of the kit. Two of them sit under the large heatsink assembly on the power board so it has to be completely removed to get to them. THe debuzz kits...ehh.. the one I got from Console5 works well but it was kinda a booger to get installed. Requires cutting some traces and rerouting things with replacement components plus the small perfboard for the audio to go through and back out. The one that Charles sells (Once they are available again), looked to be pretty easy. I think he may have even come up with a no solder required option in the kit, though still advised to solder everything in I'm sure. Basically you disconnect the speaker from the main pcb and plug into his replacement and I believe the original speaker connection on the main PCB he provides a new wire so you connect that to his new board. It totally filters everything out and provides a clean audio output through his replacement board. That is a simplification of it, but you get the idea. He is making another kit that will have a break out box you plug as needed that will make it easier to incorporate the VecVox and mix it with the audio to a new audio out. And he is developing that box to be near studio quality. Though I'm not sure why since we are just talking the vectrex here but still pretty darn cool. And yes some jitter is normal. Is the entire screen jittering, or just some of the vector lines? If just the vector lines, then you might consider getting the Integrator replacement caps from console5 as well. If the whole screen jitters a bit, that is pretty normal in most cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted April 25, 2017 Author Share Posted April 25, 2017 No the whole screen kind of jitters a little bit. Also, the bottom line of text on the Sean Kelly multicart (where the up/down/run/bank select options are) seems slanted a bit. I don't know if this is normal behavior for the multicart or not. I didn't notice anything strange on the games I tried so I'm guess that either this is normal or no game displays down far enough to run into the problem. If there's a plug in option on the horizon (or one with minimal soldering) I'll wait for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 No the whole screen kind of jitters a little bit. Also, the bottom line of text on the Sean Kelly multicart (where the up/down/run/bank select options are) seems slanted a bit. I don't know if this is normal behavior for the multicart or not. I didn't notice anything strange on the games I tried so I'm guess that either this is normal or no game displays down far enough to run into the problem. If there's a plug in option on the horizon (or one with minimal soldering) I'll wait for that. Yeah he already has a minimal kit with little to no soldering required he just is out of them at the moment. I thought about picking one up, but since I've already modded mine with the older debuzz kit from console5, the installation would be trickier for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted April 25, 2017 Author Share Posted April 25, 2017 I put in a request to join the group. I'll have to look for it once I'm approved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vectrexer Posted April 26, 2017 Share Posted April 26, 2017 If looking for someone to accomplish the repairs for you have a look at the current list on www.Vectrex.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vectrexer Posted April 26, 2017 Share Posted April 26, 2017 If you are going to open your Vectrex anyway. You may want to debuzz and clean the volume pot using the "Vectrex BUZZ OFF Mod Kit Pre Soldered. NEW 2017. Volume Rejuvenate Kit Included" You can normally find them here: http://www.ebay.com/sch/obtanium-gaming/m.html Some other kits will be made soon. It's a quality kit all around with instructions and videos for usage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted April 27, 2017 Share Posted April 27, 2017 If you are going to open your Vectrex anyway. You may want to debuzz and clean the volume pot using the "Vectrex BUZZ OFF Mod Kit Pre Soldered. NEW 2017. Volume Rejuvenate Kit Included" You can normally find them here: http://www.ebay.com/sch/obtanium-gaming/m.html Some other kits will be made soon. It's a quality kit all around with instructions and videos for usage. That is the kit I was referring Tempest to in regards to the new one done by Charles Tweety. But he is sold out at the moment. I'm waiting for his new one that includes the break out on it for easier mixing of the atariVox+ to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vectrexer Posted April 27, 2017 Share Posted April 27, 2017 Charles offers two products Vectrex BUZZ OFF Kit is for Vectrex Audio Tap (VAT) is the one with the audio I/O for use with AtariVOX+ input and headphones / stereo output connections. When ordering VAT you can also optionally order BUZZ OFF. I recommend both if you have not yet de-buzzed your Vectrex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neuronic Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 (edited) How hard are those to install? Also, is a little jitter normal for the picture? Regarding the Charles Tweety Buzz-Off kit I just purchased on on eBay. He has a great document including a full size color picture printout of the circuit board with the actual wires taped to the actual points you'll attach them to on your system. He also has some good videos on you-tube, after watching the videos, I decided to purchase one and install it. The process is not to complex, you must - pull off your volume knob, - open your Vectrex (5 screws), - use wire cutters to permanently remove a small yellow/braided shielding cable, - disconnect 4 simple cable connections (two are on a cable you will not re-attach, - remove the mounted plastic base with the circuit board on it (5 screws), - solder 2 wires to large existing solder points for sound out and ground on the front edge, - and then insert the last orange wire into an open unused component pad/hole and solder that, ...all solder points pretty easy to identify and get to. - then if necessary, you can cleanup your volume/power knob with contact cleaner and inject some dielectric gel to make it as good as new, - connect two of original connectors and plug the speaker into the new amp, - button it back up and you're done (20 minutes). The tricky part is putting the back back on and getting the brightness pot to poke back through the hole, he has a great trick where you use a straw to guide it back through. It's obvious he took great pains to make it as easy as possible and thought through the entire process end-to-end. You can tell he understands how much we love our systems and I absolutely appreciate the care he has taken in developing this kit and process! Edited July 2, 2017 by Neuronic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted July 3, 2017 Author Share Posted July 3, 2017 Thank you for the in-depth write up, that really helps. I'll have to get one the next time they show up on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 Thank you for the in-depth write up, that really helps. I'll have to get one the next time they show up on ebay. Just in... http://www.ebay.com/itm/152615390458 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted July 12, 2017 Author Share Posted July 12, 2017 Yeah I've got that on the watch list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.