Jump to content
IGNORED

Recapped ZX Spectrum (Issue 3B) and now the Colors are wrong?


Recommended Posts

So I got a 48k Spectrum (Issue 3B) some years back and while for the most part, it works, it always had a lousy picture (noticeable vertical bars in the main field and diagonal wavy lines on the bottom). Basically, it needed a recap (also it was starting to randomly crash). So I recapped it. As near as I can tell, the system seems mostly good now. It boots more or less reliably (occasional glitch, but far less than before), no longer crashes, and the video artifacts from before the recap have more or less gone away. However, the colors are way off? 

 

In testing the machine (I used the BASIC Border command), blue is black, green and cyan are indistinguishable from one and other (as are red and magenta), and yellow is light pink?

 

For info, I am in the United States, so this has been composite modded with a 100µf capacitor bypass to the RF, and I have been using both a Sharp Aquos LCD and a TCL 41in 4k LED TV as a monitor. Both TVs worked perfectly with the spectrum before the recap, as well as my PAL C64. Both have been tested with my PAL C64 since and give a perfect picture. 

 

I've gone over this a dozen times. All caps appear to have the correct µf values (voltage ratings are rather high [some as high as 50v for what should be 10v], but I was told that shouldn't matter?) and are installed in the correct orientation (I don't think it would boot at all if they weren't). I used the kit from Console5 which is supposed to be correct for my revision. 

 

Any ideas as to what I'm obviously missing?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

50 volts is probably alright. Uf value is more important. A dud cap can slip by into new stock. Rare, but it does happen. Not to say that happened to you, but if you changed all caps before testing, it's now harder to know if there's a bad one in the batch you received and which one it might be.

 

Another angle, maybe try inspecting for solder bridges and resoldering anything that looks dicey. Any cap in the video lines might be where to start.

 

Just my random thoughts, I've never owned or dug into a Spectrum.

-Ed

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...