Mods, experiments, and other repairs
+13 photosWork in progressStarted by changing batteries on my partner's watches, which led to acquiring more tools than the job strictly required. This will inevitably expand.
+4 photosMy childhood walkie-talkies, dug out so my daughter could use them for her pretend calls. A recap, some Deoxit and a clean sorted out the reliability issues.
+15 photosSuccessful repairTwo very grotty PS4 controllers, one of them drifting. The drift was fixed with nothing more than a thorough cleaning of the potentiometer wiper, and the rusted rumble motors came up reasonably well after an Evaporust soak.
+1 photosA swollen battery had broken the battery door's retaining clip. A new door sorted it; a good reminder to check those old aftermarket cells regularly.
+8 photosSuccessful repairPurchased as 'good condition', arrived cracked. The seller didn't want to know, so I fixed it myself. The listing photo had the damage in it all along; lesson learned.
+7 photosBattery and cap replacements on Super Metroid and Zelda, with saves backed up and restored throughout. Initially used tabbed batteries as a stopgap, then swapped to coin cell holders once they arrived.
A few carts cleaned and serviced on a random Saturday.
+16 photosModded my classic OSSC to accept newer firmware, and experimented with a PC Engine-specific build that tries to emulate the composite colour palette on RGB.
+7 photosKeeping the momentum from the Yamaha job: the old acoustic and the electric got the same treatment. The old one is battered, but it was a gift from an uncle to my brother and, as such, is worth more than any of the others.
+17 photosBrought a used Yamaha FX370C up to a much better state with fret cleaning, lemon oil on the fretboard and a new set of strings. Was sceptical it would turn out well, but pleasantly surprised.
+5 photosSince I got some cheap ones for myself in Japan, a friend asked if I could import some Pro controllers for him too.
+15 photosWork in progressMy personal monitor. Skimped on maintenance for too long and ended up having to replace a fan and recap the mainboard.
+40 photosMaking Loopj's WavePhoenix boards so my WaveBird controllers could be used without OEM receivers. I had plenty of WaveBirds but only one OEM receiver to go around.
+3 photosFresh batteries in a couple of recently acquired Game Boy carts, saves backed up and restored using an Open Source Cartridge Reader.
+22 photosRefurbished a pair of BOSS MA-12AV speakers for myself, then later did the same for a friend.
+6 photosSuccessful repairA Totoro with missing gear teeth and no matching replacement in any kit I could source. Two gears cut, filed and glued into one that works. Totoro snores happily again.
+8 photosDug out some old tapes from my parents' house and cleaned them up enough to play. One of them had an album I'd recorded as a kid, a nice find.
+7 photosA working Sony TC-FX66 tape deck, picked up to complement the Victor. Documented the inside for the curious; it was remarkably clean in there.
+4 photosSuccessful repairA friend's PowerDot EMS device not charging. The USB port had every single pin disconnected from the board. Resoldering them was the entire fix.
+2 photosA look inside the Victor KD-A6 while it's running. A lot of capacitors in there that will need attention one day.
+3 photosFresh batteries for both. The iPod's back cover was not designed with future battery replacements in mind.
+24 photosThe MiniDisc rabbit hole starts here. A portable MZ-N920 in good shape, a deck that needed a new belt for its loading mechanism, and a Victor stereo that does cassette, MiniDisc and CD. An embarrassment of riches.
+3 photosSuccessful repairUSB port replacement on a friend's Nvidia Shield controller. Not a perfect cosmetic match but the footprint fits and the connection is now solid.
+2 photosSuccessful repairVirtua Racing Deluxe back in action after a recap and a clean. Whether the cap was actually the cause or the IPA did the real work is unclear, but it works now.
The Roland SC-88 MIDI device has a neat party trick on the inside.
+9 photosA fun little RPi Pico-based N64 flash cart. Upgraded to a Pico with 16MB flash shortly after for more headroom.
+11 photosFirst outing for the ultrasonic cleaner. Started cautiously with some PCBs, then got braver with controller shells. Very satisfying to watch the crud disappear.
+5 photosSMD cap replacement and a clean on both the GunCon and GunCon 2. Time Crisis and Virtua Cop passed the validation test.
+2 photosSuccessful repairSix Switch Pro controllers with half of them drifting. All fixed by cleaning the potentiometers, not a single soldering iron needed.
+6 photosJeff Chen's Famicoun assembled and added to the collection. Now I can enjoy the Famicom from a distance.
+3 photosTwo hours recapping all the 3DO controllers. Turned out to be less 'quick' than anticipated.
+41 photosA growing collection of Jeff Chen VGA dongles assembled over time: SNES, PlayStation family, Dreamcast, Saturn and Famicom all represented. Great designs.
Successful repairRandom button presses on the black controller turned out to just be dirt. Sometimes cleaning is the fix.
+2 photosCap replacement, cleaning and a freshly lubed joystick on the Dreamcast Arcade Stick. Marvel vs Capcom 2 confirmed operational.
+4 photosSuccessful repairA homemade FDSStick transfer cable to rewrite Famicom disks that didn't match their box art. Quick lunch project.
+2 photosSuccessful repairF-RAM upgrade across a couple of N64 Controller Paks. No more worrying about batteries quietly erasing your saves.
+15 photosSuccessful repairA batch session of retrobrighting various items: SG-1000 II controllers, PC Engine shell and assorted controllers among the beneficiaries.
+3 photosSuccessful repairMy SO accidentally tripped on the wire and sent it flying across the room, breaking the barrel jack in the process.
+4 photosSuccessful repairTrace repair on an N64 Rumble Pak that had suffered from leaking batteries. Short job, satisfying result.
+5 photosSuccessful repairThe very first boards I assembled: a Voultar MD RGB bypass and an NES expansion audio enabler. A steep learning curve, but you have to start somewhere.
