No Picture on Recapped Sega Game Gear

[mmbe]

11 hours ago, icer22x said:

You're not going to believe this.

 

I was thinking the static I was getting was strange... esp. with no game in. I took out the soundboard and reflowed everything on it.

 

Now I am getting picture AND perfect sound...

 

Edit: So I think my cart slot was corroded because games are iffy. Any tips on the best way to clean this?

Wish the solution to my system was the sound board. I tried swapping it out with another I know works fine and still no picture.

[Conn]

can i enjoy the topic? I have a similar problem.

[gamegrid2084]

Sure, I'm happy to try to help. Post whatever info you can (anyone).

[gamegrid2084]

14 hours ago, icer22x said:

You're not going to believe this.

 

I was thinking the static I was getting was strange... esp. with no game in. I took out the soundboard and reflowed everything on it.

 

Now I am getting picture AND perfect sound...

 

Edit: So I think my cart slot was corroded because games are iffy. Any tips on the best way to clean this?

Re: cleaning the cart slot. I use some special foam swabs that I put DeoxIt on and then slide the swabs into the cart slot (they are large and flat swabs from Amazon). If you think it's corrosion (and not just a loose cart slot), you might be able to use a credit card or something, wrap it in some very fine cloth (or paper towel) and use that like a cart slot cleaner (with DeoxIt or maybe alcohol). If you use a paper towel, though, some fibers may get caught in the cart slot and that wouldn't be good.

 

On the other hand, it may be a loose cart slot. I have a GG with perfect pins in the cart slot, but it takes a few times for some games to be recognized because the pins don't always make good contact with them. Putting in and taking out a cart is noticeably "easier" on this particular GG than on most others where I feel a lot more resistance putting in/taking out a cart. I don't know any easy way to make the cart slot "tighter."

 

I'm guessing that you've already cleaned the games...

[Conn]

I bought a gg missing some capacitors. I did the recap and he turn on again. Now it looks like this, I'm using the pcb power of another GG of the VA1 version, because his is still damaged. The image threatens to appear and then disappears and the screen goes white. I noticed that to give an image I have to put the cartridge in a specific position, could it be the cartridge entrance?

 

The C39 track was also broken, so I soldered the negative on the ground, did I correct?

 

Could you confirm the capacitors of the pcb power of the VA5 version? because besides being damaged I think his has the wrong capacitor (33uf 35v).

 

Edited March 14, 2021 by Conn

[gamegrid2084]

Thanks for the pics!

 

Note #1 - Don't mix VA0/VA1 boards with VA4/VA5 boards. In fact, you cannot connect VA4/5 main boards to VA0/1 power or sound boards unless you break or modify the connector/port. The same goes the other direction, you cannot connect VA0/1 main boards to VA4/5 power or sound boards. The connectors & ports have plastic rails that are different (and they are different for a reason).

 

C39 negative does go to ground, you are correct.

 

A question:

 

1) You say that you have to "put the cartridge in a specific position" for the game to work. I'm not sure what you mean. The cartridge can only go in one position. Can you explain exactly what you mean? If you mean that sometimes the cart works and sometimes it does not, then that is pretty normal for a GG system that has trouble reading carts. Many GG users know that you sometimes have to put a cart in and take it out a few times for it to work. This is not normal (usually dirty pins on the cart or dirty cart slot on the GG), but it's common.

 

Regarding the power board, no GG has a 33uf 35v in that position. So, you are correct that it is wrong. There are also many other components missing.

 

Here is a working VA5 power board and the cap values:

 

 

You are missing a few things:

 

 

My first suggestion would be to get your VA5 power board working (or find a replacement VA4/5 power board). But, I see that you are missing some specific components that may make fixing it very difficult.

 

If you're using a VA0/1 power board with a VA5 main board, then it would probably be too difficult to debug over the forums. Although the VA0/1 power board probably delivers the same power from the same pins, there are some differences (otherwise Sega would not have made the connectors/ports different).

 

I have encountered some GGs that have started up fine and then the screen gets more and more white. In some cases, replacing the sound board worked out. In others, the issue was with bad power. Other cases were unique...

 

Try disconnecting the sound board completely (see what happens and if that changes anything).

 

[Conn]

Tks for your help.

 

Note #1: yes, I had to adapt the fitting. but I had no choice because the other board is missing some components. although the other pcb power has the appearance of VA5, its fit also seems to have been adapted as it is cut. Which makes me think that she doesn't belong to this GG.

 

A question:

 

1) The cartridge enters normal, but to work I have to fit it in a specific position. so sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. but it is not a matter of strip and put. Has to adjust to an exact position.

 

I will try to disconect sound board

[icer22x]

I hate SMD/SMT caps. I really enjoyed doing the power board caps since they were through-pin type! I hope this thread helps people out in the future. You don't really think to go looking around the sound board for problems... of course this is assuming that the sound board was the problem. I see you mentioned that my system should be booting to a blue license screen... even without a game in it. This really destroys my hypothesis that I might have had corroded cartridge reader pins. If I was supposed to be seeing something on screen anyway... I guess the sound board was the cause.

 

When in doubt, reflow!

 

PS - I did reflow the cart pins (the ones accessible WITHOUT removing the reflector), however I cannot remember if I tested that before I reflowed the sound board too. So anyone in the future reading this - try reflowing the sound board and cart pins if you are getting symptoms like mine.

----

 

I read the post you were going to send... and to answer your curiosity, yes, there is a chunk missing from EM4. That was my stupid self getting the soldering iron too close to it. ?

[gamegrid2084]

10 hours ago, icer22x said:

I see you mentioned that my system should be booting to a blue license screen... even without a game in it.

Actually if I said that, I was wrong. If no game is in the system, then you would not see the blue screen, you would only see a blank screen (white, black, depending on the brightness setting). What I meant was that you potentially can see a blue screen even if a game is bad. That would indicate some pins connecting/working and some not. So, using an unreadable game as an example, you might boot up to see the blue screen, but then a blank or solid color screen after that ( = bad game/pins/etc...).

 

10 hours ago, icer22x said:

When in doubt, reflow!

 

Actually, this is great advice. I had a SegaCD Model 1 doing some crazy wacky things. It turned out to be a cold solder joint somewhere on the power board (50+ components, mostly small SMD caps and resistors). After reflowing every component on the board, everything worked fine. Cold solder joints can look perfectly fine from the outside, but still be bad on the inside (those are the worst).

[Ruchi]

Hi,

I appreciate your tips and advices.

I have a different problem but any of your solution can be useful to me as well. 

My problem is after recap every board,GG turns off 1 sec after I turn ot on. White screen with horizontal black stripes for 1 sec.

Power and sound boards are ok (tested with other main board).

I recapped twice the main board, to test each cap is in good condition with the multimeter.

On my power board voltages are 5,5,gnd...,1.2,8.6,34. After it turns off no voltage, I think it is a kind of security system because of the problem found on the main board (bridge, short circuit?). It's a V0, 2 chips model. 837-7996.

Thanks in advance

[Elva]

I just got a sega game gear from a friend. It was stored for many, many years with a game inserted. I put in new batteries and the power light turned on but nothing on the screen. I raised it to full volume, put it on my ear and can barely hear the game. I have the bright button on full brightness but nothing comes on the screen. Any suggestions?