(Sorta) Zoomer gets their 1st Intellivision! Help please!

[Snowbound1996]

Hey everyone! So, I never grew up with the Intellivision being born in the late 90s, but I love history, and growing up with channels like Classic Game Room and AVGN got me really interested in vintage consoles.

 

The Intellivision has always intrigued me especially, having odd controllers, controller overlays, game boxes that swing open, a unique and creative selection of games like Utopia and D&D, I just had to get it. 

 

The Intellivision is especially appealing to me collecting on a budget, I really cant name any other console from the same era where you can buy CIB games so affordably, it really makes me want to get a shelf full of Intellivision games with their nice artwork and all.

 

And to really put things in comparison, a guy is looking to sell me 27 CIB Intellivision games with the voice synthesiser for 85 Cad. When I went to a local retro store in 2018, they wanted 350 Cad for just Pockey & Rockey loose for the SNES.

 

So, if the Intellivision really intrigued me, why did I wait so long to get it? Well, I was hesitant about the controllers, and I had to get *just* the right kind of Intellivision to match my main tv.

 

And oh wow, do they ever look made for one another, just love the matching dark wood panels of my Hitachi and my Tandyvision <3

 

Now, I'd love to say this story has a happy ending, but sadly it does not. At first, all the games had a rolling title screen which cleared up, but none of the games will go past the title screen.

 

I did do a bunch of cleaning on the system and controllers since it all reeked of smoke, did I possibly damage the controllers? Help would be appreciated!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 18 by Snowbound1996

[mr_me]

Was it working before the cleaning? What cartridges do you have for testing, any with an animated titlescreen.

 

If there is a problem with one of the controllers you can troubleshoot by opening up the Intellivision, unplugging the controllers and testing them one at a time. It's possible someone plugged one in backwards.

[Snowbound1996]

19 minutes ago, mr_me said:

Was it working before the cleaning? What cartridges do you have for testing, any with an animated titlescreen.

 

If there is a problem with one of the controllers you can troubleshoot by opening up the Intellivision, unplugging the controllers and testing them one at a time. It's possible someone plugged one in backwards.

I personally didn't see it sorking or test it myself, but the seller did show a few videos of different games working on it before I bought it.

 

I only have golf, snafu, D&D and night stalker as of now, none seem to have an animated screen.

 

What sort of screwdriver does the Intellivision need to open it? 

[wolfy62]

Also clean the contacts on your cartridges with a qtip and Isopropyl alcohol. 

That usually does the trick for those!

[+fdr4prez]

1 hour ago, Snowbound1996 said:

What sort of screwdriver does the Intellivision need to open it? 

Phillips - take a flashlight and look down the hole. 

 

Probably #2 size

[+-^CrossBow^-]

@Snowbound1996

Yes a #2 philips is what is needed to take the console apart. There are 6 screws on the bottom plus you have to pull the power switch cover off to remove the top shell. But as you stated on FB that neither controller is working. It is possible that soapy water is in the controllers causing an issue and opening them to let them air dry might get you back in shape. But it is also possible that soapy water got inside the console and causing an issue there. 

 

You really should have taken it apart before cleaning it in this manner. Otherwise I advise the use of some plastic safe cleaner on a soft cloth to wipe down the console with. For deep cleaning, you need to tear it down so you can clean the plastics in a soapy water bath.

 

Since the console does appear to still be working to power on and reset, then it could just be the Sound IC chip having the issue since that is also what controls the controller logic on the console.

 

[Maztr_0n]

Gosh as a straight up Zoomer, i cant wait to be able to return to the wood-age, at least in a little corner with a tandyvision, 2600 and other woodgrained devices on a woodgrain CRT... the joy!