PCB traces or pads corroded by leaked electrolyte.
5 repair logs
+41 photosWork in progressSharp — X68000 XVI Compact
Won at auction with its mains cord cut clean off the PSU, taken as a gamble at a below-market price. A replacement lead was spliced in from another Japanese cord using solder-ring heatshrink sleeves, with extra insulation over the joint. It powered on once, then refused entirely, so the PSU came out for a recap: fully decapped, scrubbed with white vinegar and isopropyl, new capacitors fitted and marked, and every joint on the solder side reflowed. That brought it back reliably and it booted Human68k from disk. The rest of the machine was worse, with electrolyte contamination on every capacitor pad on every board. SMDs came off the mainboard and the expansion card, the pads were reworked with fresh solder, flux and braid until all were clean and none lost, then the through-hole electrolytics followed. The floppy drives had leaked internally and were recapped with their motor shafts cleaned and lubricated, and the peripheral input board's single capacitor was replaced. Still powers on after reassembly, pending fuller testing.
+34 photosSuccessful repairNEC — PC Engine LT
An epic of strife, perseverance and adaptation. The NEC PC Engine LT is the 1991 laptop-format PC Engine with a built-in colour LCD. Almost always dead from cap leakage. This one needed a full recap, a new voltage regulator, and an off-the-shelf voltage inverter module to replace the T500 LCD bias transformer, killed by the electrolyte. Without that, the screen stays dark.
+135 photosPartial fixSega — Wondermega
Absolute labour of love on this Sega Wondermega HWM-5010 from Japan: corrosion, missing components, broken traces and a RAM package with broken legs. The Mega Drive side eventually came back to life; the Mega-CD side continues to freeze on the BIOS animation, defying everything thrown at it.
+15 photosPartial fixSega — Game Gear
Two heavily contaminated Sega Game Gears, so badly that components were falling off the boards from the electrolyte. Many hours in, one has a partially defective screen and the other boots and plays audio with no picture. A partial result after a massive effort.
+6 photosSuccessful repairNEC — PC Engine GT
Every single capacitor on this NEC PC Engine GT handheld had leaked. A careful removal technique preserved all the pads and it came out the other end clean and happy.
