Lynx Repair Question

[hollow5555]

I recently found my old Atari Lynx. I installed the power circuit refresh kit (replaced the MOSFET, etc) and the Lynx worked, though turning it on sometimes took a few presses of the button. I did the McWill screen mod next and that went well and seemed ok, but the issue with having to press the power button a few times remained. Next I did a recap of the board, thinking the issue was due to some old/bad capacitors. It appeared to work fine after that, but a day later it refused to turn on at all. I did some testing and I believe there is a short from 5v power to ground. I undid the recap (put the old caps back) and the issue still remains. I also verified the short is not related to the McWill mod. I don't see any obvious shorts, nothing wrong with any of the solder joints, etc. The only area of the board I haven't touched with the recap is under the shield under the cartridge connector. I guess I'll need to look there. In the meantime, I went back and lifted one leg of each of the caps I had worked on, but the short remains. Any advice on how to track down the short from here?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Most likely the issue is with the traces on the ribbon cable for the front panel buttons. The more times you pull it loose to do work, the more traces material scrapes off as a result.. Look at the ends of the ribbon cable and see and you most likely will notice some gaps at the ends. You can use a pair of scissors and cut off about a mm so that fresh traces is once again able to be used.