Intellivision 2609 having black screen issues

[MMarcoux66]

I have an Intellivision that seemed to be working fine for several years but has been in a cabinet unused for a year or so. Powered it up over the weekend and it was working for an hour and all of a sudden it went to a black screen. Tried powering off and back on, same black screen. Letting it sit unplugged for an hour would resolve the issue for 15 minutes or so of play then black screen. Pressing the reset button blanks the screen but has no effect on loading the cartridge. After a few days, it is not coming up at all, but the reset button still does momentarily blank the screen.

 

I took it apart and removed the controllers. Still nothing. Next, I opened the motherboard sarcophagus, reseated all the chips. Put it back together, then it powered up normally with game on the screen...  then the screen went black after about 15 minutes and now back to not showing anything on the screen.

 

I have a replacement cap and transistor kit from Console5 that I bought a few years ago. I tested voltages and they seem okay. I've looked at other threads and trying to decide what would be the best order to replace things.

 

Hate to get rid of the machine and I have an Intellivision III coming that will hopefully be here by the weekend. Still would like this one to work.

 

Any advice would be great. What should I be looking at.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Start with the 3906 transistors. It is possible one of both are on their way out and they get quite hot so I could see one being marginal and failing once it gets hot enough. After that, another thing that will cause this, is the extra voltage wire that plugs in next to the +12v regulator. That connection can get weak over time but also, the actual header pins can start to come loose due to dry/cracked solder joints. And if that wire isn't making a good connection or one forgets to plug it back up, that will also cause the black screen. Then you try replacing the the CPU itself. Beyond that, I've not had much luck in troubleshooting the black screen condition. 

 

I've got a model 2 that will play my MTE-201 test cart just fine. Although it will show errors because it is an early model MTE cart and not designed for the model 2. But, it will NOT play any actual games at all. And I replaced every single IC on it, power board swapped from a working one, and even replaced the cartridge port. Nothing... 

 

I had another 2609 model 1 arrive just giving the black screen condition as well. I wasn't able to resolve that one either but it wouldn't load up the MTE test cart either. I have to assume that some passive is prone to going out after a time on these that I've not been able to track down.

[HunterZero]

+1 try replacing the Q1 and Q2 transistors.

Or, possibly an IC socket going bad. Cleaning and resocketing the socketed chips carefully may help, look for corroded pins.

If that's not it, then it could be a thermal issue with one of the ICs (Intellivisions tend to run quite hot). Unfortunately, logic failures with the Intellivision GI chipsets are far too common.

The AY-8914 sound chip itself could be going bad - I've had a couple of units where this was the issue, but usually there are problems with the sound in some games before the problem progresses to black screen.

Next culprit is the RA-3-9600 RAM chip, these very often go bad. It could also be the AY-3-8900-1 STIC.

- HZ

[MMarcoux66]

Thanks for the advice. Will start wth the transistors then. I am hoping to work on it during the 3-day weekend here in the US. I just got an Intellivision III in from eBay. Of course, the seller said that it works but it has issues as well. When I turn this one on, screen turns black...  but if I push the reset button, the game comes up. So, something up with it. Other than that, the machine seems functional minus some shipping damage from how poorly it was packed. Working on a remedy with the seller.

 

I did flip the motherboard from my 2609 to the Intv III case and the problem followed the motherboard. So, at least I know with good confidence that it is not the power supply.

Edited August 29 by MMarcoux66

[+-^CrossBow^-]

22 minutes ago, MMarcoux66 said:

Thanks for the advice. Will start wth the transistors then. I am hoping to work on it during the 3-day weekend here in the US. I just got an Intellivision III in from eBay. Of course, the seller said that it works but it has issues as well. When I turn this one on, screen turns black...  but if I push the reset button, the game comes up. So, something up with it. Other than that, the machine seems functional minus some shipping damage from how poorly it was packed. Working on a remedy with the seller.

 

I did flip the motherboard from my 2609 to the Intv III case and the problem followed the motherboard. So, at least I know with good confidence that it is not the power supply.

The reset to get a game to come up is actually more common than you might think. The BBpro actually states that if you get a black screen when booting, to press the reset and sure enough, the BBpro then comes up. I had another model III unit that behaved in the same manner you specified. But it seemed to correct itself when I recapped the board. My guess is the reset cap itself might be at fault or, the reset dome is making just enough contact to keep it in a reset conditiion but then you when actually press it, it releases properly.

 

[MMarcoux66]

1 minute ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

The reset to get a game to come up is actually more common than you might think. The BBpro actually states that if you get a black screen when booting, to press the reset and sure enough, the BBpro then comes up. I had another model III unit that behaved in the same manner you specified. But it seemed to correct itself when I recapped the board. My guess is the reset cap itself might be at fault or, the reset dome is making just enough contact to keep it in a reset conditiion but then you when actually press it, it releases properly.

 

I was wondering on that one. Good to know that it is a common problem. The weird thing is that if you press anywhere on the silver trim around the reset and power switch, it resets the machine. It seems pretty solid functionality wise except for the reset issue. I have a PiRTO2 running on it right now running Burgertime to stress test it a little bit.

[mr_me]

Reset capacitor at C26.

Even the Intellivision instructions says if you don't see the titlescreen, press the rest button.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

2 hours ago, mr_me said:

Reset capacitor at C26.

Even the Intellivision instructions says if you don't see the titlescreen, press the rest button.

Yeap... I assume that to mean that sometimes the caps and other components might all come up at the right time to allow fully operation. So... by the time you see it do this, then everything is charged and ready so you press reset to get it to come up.