Adding clean RGB / component / S-video / composite output: RGB amps, bypasses and encoders.
16 repair logs
+84 photosSuccessful repairSega — Wondermega
Someone else's Victor RG-M1 Wondermega, JVC's branding of the Sega Wondermega, sent in for refurbishment and described as fully functional. It arrived with a blown supercapacitor and a loose capacitor rattling around inside the shell, later traced to a pad beside the DC input jack where the machine had taken a hard knock. Carts played happily but it would not read a single CD. A full recap followed, roughly 70 capacitors across every board, with white vinegar and isopropyl baths, flux and fresh solder over dodgy vias and the regulators, and DeoxIT through the karaoke pots and microphone jacks. The cart side came back fine, the CD side did not. A detour along the way cured the vertical jailbars on the composite and S-video outputs with an Oleg Endo RGB kit, tapping the Sony CXA1145M encoder and swapping the stock S-video port for a Saturn-style DIN. The supercapacitor was replaced and later superseded by an F-RAM install. The CD fault survived a complete chassis swap, a clean bill of health on every board and a working spindle motor, which left the laser. The owner sourced new old stock, and once it was fitted and its board recapped in turn, the machine read both originals and backups. Finished with UV protectant and packed up.
+26 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. Later fitted with an Oleg Endo RGB kit: a tap board on the Sony CXA1145M encoder, the factory bodge wire and stock S-video port removed, and a Saturn-style DIN in their place with audio, composite and power wired across. Clean RGB at last, without the artifacts and ringing of the stock composite and S-video outputs.
+20 photosNintendo — Super Famicom Jr.
Full refresh on this well-kept Nintendo Super Famicom Jr. (SHVC-101): recap, 7805 voltage regulator swap, shell clean, and a Borti4938 RGB bypass board install with brightness and ghosting fix component swaps.
+29 photosSuccessful repairSony — PVM-14L1
Helped a friend source this Sony PVM-14L1 Trinitron. RGB modded with Martin Hejnfelt's design from immerhax.com (mod PCB assembled myself), neck board reflowed and recapped, audio restored after a previous owner had disconnected the speaker.
+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.
+3 photosSega — Mega Drive II
My NTSC-J Sega Mega Drive II (second unit), brought up to spec with a self-assembled Triple Bypass V2 Plus mod by Zaxour for cleaner RGB and audio output, plus a 7805 voltage regulator replacement.
+25 photosSuccessful repairNintendo — Famicom
This Nintendo Famicom (HVC-001) was self-fixing and self-breaking. The fuse measured fine one day and dead the next; a replacement sorted it. It has since gained a composite video mod board and new factory-style stickers.
+7 photosSuccessful repairSega — Mega Drive II
Triple Bypass V2 Plus mod by Zaxour (self-assembled) installed on a Sega Mega Drive II (first unit), along with a 7805 voltage regulator replacement. The Triple Bypass mod cleans up the RGB and audio output paths.
+8 photosThree RGB amp boards assembled by hand, two Mega Drive 3BP boards and one simple N64 amp, as a first attempt at using the hot air station for most of the work instead of an iron. Pads tinned, flux applied, components placed and reflowed, with the larger parts finished by iron. The Mega Drive boards went into a PAL and an NTSC Mega Drive 2, the N64 board into an NTSC console.
+6 photosSuccessful repairNintendo — Nintendo 64
RGB mod on an early Nintendo 64 (NUS-001) NTSC-J. Used a self-assembled Borti4938-based RGB amp by TzorriMahm and the FT-N64-Buddy-Long-Board by FragolRoc. The early NTSC-J boards still have the RGB lines on the multi-out, making them the easiest N64 variant to RGB-mod.
+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.
+18 photosSuccessful repairNintendo — Sharp Twin Famicom
Recap and drive belt replacement on this Sharp Twin Famicom (AN-500B), the original belt completely hardened and broken, then the quality of life upgrades: an NESRGB board installed with a wireless mod, topped off with Jeff Chen's TwinDiamond accessory.
+4 photosSuccessful repairNintendo — Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)
Two mods on a Nintendo 1-chip PAL SNES (SNSP-001A): a self-assembled RGB bypass board by Borti4938 and the SuperCIC + UIGR + D4 patch switchless region mod kit from Consoles Unleashed.
+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.
+27 photosSuccessful repairNEC — PC Engine Duo
A second Duo with the same grime and leakage, but this one read discs poorly as well. Tuning the pots got original discs reading reliably yet left the disc audibly rubbing, so a new HOP-M3 optical pickup went in and the pots went back to their marked factory positions. A charred lid switch was replaced and the console was RGB modded.
+16 photosSuccessful repairNEC — PC Engine Duo
Leakage everywhere and audio to match, recorded before and after. The board was fully depopulated, the pads treated and then recapped with a Console5 kit including a new supercapacitor. Later given an early RGB mod, done by cutting the DIN pin rather than a trace on the board.
