Electrolyte visible on the PCB; corrosion or fishy smell present.
13 repair logs
+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.
+15 photosSega — Wondermega
A pig to take apart and put back together, but the end result speaks for itself. Both the Mega Drive and Mega-CD sides of this Sega Wondermega HWM-5010 are fully operational.
+4 photosSega — Game Gear
Cautionary tale and full recap redo on a Sega Game Gear: do not recap Game Gears with ceramic capacitors. Replaced ceramics with proper electrolytics throughout.
+4 photosNintendo — Game Boy Player
The first time I've actually encountered genuinely leaking capacitors in Nintendo Game Boy Player (DOL-017) units. These were memorable for that alone.
+55 photosCould not fixSharp — X68000
A proper exercise in stubbornness on this Sharp X68000. Two rounds of repair, a full recap, FDD surgery (one of the floppy drives had clear signs of a blown capacitor with charring on the PCB), a new oscillator, and still no picture. The X68000 remains on the 'future date' pile.
+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.
+40 photosPartial fixSharp — X68000 Pro II
Proper saga on this Sharp X68000 Pro II. Magic smoke from a reversed capacitor, an accidental probe short, and enough replaced components to fill a parts drawer before a single faulty transistor finally gave the game away. Got it booting and running R-Type, which was a hard-earned win. Video output later stopped working, so the story isn't entirely over.
+21 photosSuccessful repair3DO Company — Panasonic FZ-1
This is the Panasonic FZ-1 3DO whose laser went to save its sibling. With the drive dead anyway, a full recap and an ODE installation was the logical conclusion.
+32 photosSuccessful repairSega — Nomad
Sega Nomad with a broken aftermarket screen, brought back to life. Plus physical mods to restore CD audio mixing and add Master System game compatibility, both omitted from the original Nomad's design.
+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.
+4 photosSuccessful repairSega — Game Gear
Should have been binned, but wasn't. This Sega Game Gear required replacing every capacitor and reflowing every solder joint before it became reliable, but it got there. Gift for a friend.
+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.
+11 photosSuccessful repairNEC — PC Engine Super CD-ROM2
This NEC PC Engine Super CD-ROM² gave me a scare mid-recap when it lost the picture entirely. Turned out to be a resistor knocked off during SMD cap removal; found it on the paper towel and put it back. Also gained a new transport gear and an RGB amp.
