Oxidised or cracked solder joints causing intermittent or permanent faults.
10 repair logs
+23 photosSuccessful repairSony — PlayStation
Late PU-8 PlayStation, the one that gave up its xStation to a PU-18, now getting a new xStation of its own and going to a friend. It came up with random green speckles in the video output, traced to cracked, dull solder joints on the PSU. Reflowing them and swapping two capacitors cleared it. Then a full mainboard recap, with the areas around the old capacitors treated with white vinegar and cleaned with isopropyl, the old X-Reset replaced with a cleaner one on a Consoles Unleashed QSB, and finally a full recap of the power supply as well.
+33 photosSuccessful repairBang & Olufsen (B&O) — Beovision 1
This Bang & Olufsen Beovision 1 CRT TV had the audacity to emit smoke and then carry on displaying a perfect picture. A lengthy investigation eventually uncovered an X2 safety cap that had met a truly spectacular end. Came away with a cleaner TV and a great story.
+26 photosSony — PVM-6041Q
Removed copious dust from this Sony PVM-6041Q 6-inch professional video monitor, the smallest PVM in the collection. Reflowed solder joints and recapped the neck board, deflection board and PSU.
+40 photosSony — PVM-9045QD
Multi-stage restoration of this Sony PVM-9045QD Trinitron spread over several sessions. PSU, neck board and deflection board all had their turn. The solder on the back of these boards really does turn to dust.
+31 photosSony — PVM-9041Q
9-inch Sony PVM-9041Q Trinitron that arrived in a flight case. PSU recapped, colour trimmer pots replaced, deflection board done alongside its 9045QD sibling.
+3 photosSony — PlayStation
Preemptive PSU recap on this Sony PlayStation PAL backup unit. The solder joints on the power jack were already starting to crack so it was only a matter of time.
+41 photosSuccessful repairSony — BVM-9045QD
Sony BVM-9045QD that arrived from Japan with an entire colour missing, the same broken neckboard solder joint that had plagued the PVM-14M4J. Full restoration followed: PSU, deflection board, colour board and anode cap all seen to.
+45 photosSuccessful repairSony — PVM-9040
Three 9-inch Sony PVM-9040s that arrived from Japan with customs drama. Monitors were fine inside, bar a known colour issue fixed by replacing the trim pots (which fixes the black-and-white-only fault). Full restoration across all three followed.
+42 photosSuccessful repairSony — PVM-14M4J
Sony PVM-14M4J Trinitron with the common retrace lines issue, arrived with one colour completely missing. I made a mistake along the way but got there in the end. Trash to treasure.
+12 photosSega — Game Gear
The first Game Gear, bought in 2020 as working and arriving with a black screen: it powered on and did nothing else. The solder had gone dull, which was the capacitors leaking rather than anyone's bad workmanship. A recap brought the picture back, but it was done with a RetroSix ceramic cap kit, a mistake corrected years later. Audio stayed dead until a break in continuity between two capacitors on the audio board was bridged with a snipped capacitor leg. It was later fitted with rechargeable cells charged over USB-C, and a Syf audio board with improved grounding. In 2025 the ceramics finally came out for proper electrolytics, and both of those mods moved across to an IPS-screen unit so this one could go back to stock.
