Game console repair services... anyone do this?

leaded solder · July 26

Oh that's so cool! I had no idea they did a factory bodge for ESD protection – none of mine have such a fix. Thanks for sharing. Nice short lead to a ground pour as well.

Edited July 26 by leaded solder

Ruggers Customs · July 26

6 hours ago, leaded solder said:

Oh that's so cool! I had no idea they did a factory bodge for ESD protection – none of mine have such a fix. Thanks for sharing. Nice short lead to a ground pour as well.

They were only done on consoles sent back for repairs. I've seen quite a few of the Colecovision zener diode factory bodges over the years. Atari even did this and has it stated in their field repair manual. The smd design however is universal and works with any console with a DB9 joystick port that doesn't have any type of ESD protection. For the Colecovision, Luke at C5 carries newer 74541 chip sets that have internal ESD so my boards aren't really necessary for that console anymore. I still use them because I have tons of them and a large stock of standard 74541 chips. Both methods work the same though.

https://console5.com/store/colecovision-controller-chip-repair-kit.html

Interesting back story of why I made these boards up. About 6 years ago, I had a customer who kept blowing out his 74541 chips. After 2 warranty repairs on my dime, I added a bunch of through hole zeners of the appropriate spec that I purchased from Amazon and his console is still going strong to this day. I've put a set of the esd boards on every Colecovision (and atari 2600s) since. All 74541 still work to this day to my knowledge. I've lost count of all the Colecos I've serviced that I've put these boards into but it's in the high hundreds. Since I have a lifetime labor warranty (free repairs for the life of the console, just cover parts and shipping charges), I'm sure I would have heard something by now.