Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

[Fatal0E]

Was digging through old boxes and found my Nintendo!!!

But damn thing did not work!!!!!

Blown Nichicon VT cap. Panasonic saved the day.

[Topcat]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

lol.... what I'd give to find a NES classic and play Mario Bros 3 again........

[gdement]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

Heh, I never heard of cap problems on the NES before. Interesting. The most frequent problem of course is the cartridge connector, which can easily be replaced (no soldering required). Most people don't seem to realize that and throw the machines away.

Back in the olden days, I had an Atari 7800 which had been purchased in 1987. It sat unused for many months after I got a NES. Then in December '88 I was given a new game for the 7800, so I got it out, hooked it up, and hit the power switch. For a moment, nothing happened, then I heard a loud pop and smoke started billowing out from near the power connector. I now realize it must have blown the input capacitor. I wish I still had that machine to see if the cap was installed backwards or something.

[pentium]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

I still have mine but I have since lost all my games and accessories. Now I only have the box, the system which has a bad connector and two controllers.
I eyed that robot thing you need to play gyromite but I committed to another purchase and had to say goodbye to the boxed thing
I should go check to see if it's still there in the morning.
I might just be lucky.

[pentium]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!


Now i'm drooling!
I'm gonna get it!

[kewl1284]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

I have a nes that I'm attributing some malfunctions to that cap as well. 1. What is the cap rated 2. How hard was the install 3. What wattage soldering iron did you use? Thanks Aaron

[Fatal0E]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

Was a 25 volt, 2200uf cap. Was the 6 or 7 screws to get case off, 6 more to get a shield off, 6 more to get the board out, pop off a metal shield and remove cap. I used my usual $1.99 big lots iron . Had no problem melting solder.

[Tom41]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

The Sega Game Gear had an interesting design flaw with the cartridge connector. If the cartridge wasn't pushed in fully, the bottom row of cart pins would actually short the top row of connector pins. This frequently ended in a destroyed system - indeed, I blew up three Game Gears this way . I remember smoke pouring out of the mains power connector when it happened...

I've never heard of bad caps in a games console before though, and I have semi-recently checked mine - all still good. I always thought that the caps inside these games consoles are too small, and/or don't get put under enough stress to fail prematurely, unlike the ones in PC motherboards.

BTW, Duck Hunt won't work on that TV. The gun works by reading where the electron beam on a CRT is when you pull the trigger; since LCD and plasma sets use a completely different method, it'll just act like you're shooting off-screen all the time.

[kewl1284]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

If you don't mind my asking where did you get that cap on short notice? Do you think a local tv repair shop in town might have one?

[Fatal0E]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

I ordered the cap from Digikey I needed some others anyway. I cant find my gun or my Super Scope. I did find my Mario 3 but something is wrong with it. Cannot find my Mario 2, but somewhere I have all 3 games for my super nintendo, I am looking.


The Digikey part# is P10285-ND

[pentium]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

Same happened to me.
I remember I had a whole box brimming with NES games and parts and over a few years they just seem to go missing and fall off the face of the earth.
I finally find the box for my gold zelda cart and then I can't find the cart!

[willawake]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!



same here. looks like there are several good ones missing from the case

[kewl1284]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

So I got the cap from an electronics repair shop for free and I replaced the cap. Unfortunately it didn't fix my problem. When I turn the nes on everythings perfect for about 5-7 seconds and after that the colors go all funky. If I just hit reset the colors stay the same, but If I turn it off for about 5 seconds the colors will be right when I turn it back on for like another 5 to 7 seconds. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Fatal0E]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

My problem was when i turned on the NES it would just flicker on and off, had to let it get hot, took about 20 minutes, then it would work, but crashed often. Now it is working fine except for mario 3. But I did find my Super Mario Allstars for the SNES and it works perfect!!!!

[gdement]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

For whatever it's worth, I had severe instability problems on my Genesis, and it was completely fixed when I washed the board. I guess something semi-conductive was shorting some logic pins somewhere. I also noticed it uses Chhsi capacitors. Those are infamous around here but I guess the Genesis doesn't push them too hard.

[kewl1284]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

What do you wash the board with?

[pentium]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

Damn will, that's some serious yellowing!
I actually have the floppy adapter for my SNES. Sadly I don't have the floppy drive.

[pentium]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

Why worry about getting the branded drive when I was able to make one myself using a standard drive and a modified floppy cable.
Lookie!
The system O doom

[willawake]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

Damn will, that's some serious yellowing!

funny how the different plastics age.

[gdement]

Re: Nintendo Entertainment System!!!!!

What do you wash the board with?

Very belated reply, I just now noticed you had asked me this question. Sorry.

I washed it in the shower with water, and I might have also used "Simple Green" cleaning solution. Afterwards I scrubbed all the pins on the ICs and the cart connector with a toothbrush dipped in alcohol.
Just let it sit to dry for a couple days or more, preferably with some mild heat to make sure the hidden crevices get dried before you power it back up. There's no battery or other voltage sources to worry about.
====

It wouldn't hurt to clean the NES, but that's probably not what's wrong with it. I suggest that you should try replacing the cartridge connector. That's by far the most common problem on the NES, it probably fixes them about 95% of the time.
People sell them on ebay, but they're also available from MCM Electronics.
http://www.mcminone.com/product.asp?...5Fid=83%2D3785
MCM p/n 83-3785

I think they also sell the special bits required to open the NES cartridges, if you'd like to be able to do that. Cleaning the contacts on your old games with alcohol is a good idea to avoid dirtying the new connector.

Those replacement connectors are annoyingly tight compared to the original. As a result, it's harder to remove the cartridge from the console, which could be a problem if you have any little kids who use the machine.
You don't need to push the cartridge down with the new connector, doing so only overstresses the connector.

Some people like to refurbish the original connectors by bending the pins inward and cleaning them. You can also help the old one work a little better if you jam a 2nd cartridge on top of the one you're playing, thus increasing the contact pressure.