Vince's Repair Thread - (Console Repairs & Mods)

Webzta said:
@Vince friends sons Gigabyte 3070 has had a small part fall of it, is this something you would potentially be able to help with?

iCloud Photos - Apple iCloud

View, organize, and share photos and videos with iCloud Photos on the web. Changes will sync across your devices with iCloud.
share.icloud.com share.icloud.com

Images in the link, let me know if doesn’t work.

Thanks ok advance
Click to expand...

Pretty easy fix that is!
 
Nice 270uf 16v alloy electro. If I don't have one I'll get one in!

Edit: purchased the caps, can't really have too many caps.
 
Last edited:
Little update in the lynx! So last night I popped on a new dc port, plugged it all in and was still getting a shocking bright unusable screen and sporadic boot plus a unhealthily high power draw. With the help of a schematic and a friend on discord to bounce off we managed to isolate the issues and the power circuit is still at fault after replacing all the common failure points.

So what I did is measured vin at the regulator and noted that it was around 8v when it should be 5v, I then isolated the entire power circuit and fed 5v directly to vin on the power board and voilla bad lynx screen became very nice lynx screen... but this suggests the brand new fet I put on is in fact faulty and passing what is essentially input voltage directly to VIN on the reg. Ordered in some modern replacement but pin compatible parts to have a go over on the power circuit plus found that the diode that should stop dc voltage backing into the batteries is open both ways... not a good look and could be rather dangerous.

Anyway here she is running with the power circuit bypassed:





I think once I manage to get the power circuit not feeding massive voltage directly in we will not mod this board but will build this one into just a working OG lynx that this person can sell on instead I sort of shuffled the guy to another broken one on ebay that is in lovely condition, he bought it sent it directly my way and that will be the one that we mod :) It just felt a bit wrong putting such work into such a rough console. Didn't feel right, it deserves to live and work, but it doesn't deserve to be modernised.
 
Last edited:
Couple of random finished builds...













Needed to clear some space on my bench so started at about 9:30 last night and this lot plus another GG were the fruits of my labour before I finally called it a night at about 2am... Time flies when you are having fun :D

What really took the time is the GG that isn't in these pictures, it would corrupt on the sega licensing screen! so I modded i thinking at first it was the screen at fault but after the mod it was still sketchy. I then spent nearly 2 hours bending pins and checking data lines with my oscilloscope when i finally tracked down an issue with the vram. Ended up replacing both the vram and main memory and it finally lived!

Here is a little vid of the issue:


And here is where I left it:



Oh and a GPU turned up - Still waiting on a charge IC for the laptop so hopefully we see that soon.
 
Last edited:
kakarott said:
How do you even have the energy to do all this with a full-time job?
Click to expand...

I get bored easily, I cant stand just sitting watching television and would rather be trying my hand at something that taxes my brain a little :) I also sorted your console last night just didn't throw the pics up :) @LuckyBenski - Dunno about that mate, I still look at loads of things and have no idea where to start :D
 
Well the rog laptop is finally fixed!!!





I've got an additional £85 into the charger and £40 into the battery and a tenner into a charge chip. Plugged it in and have been measuring charge and its looking sweet. I don't expect its owner to necessarily cover everything I put in as they already sent me a bit to cover the first repair. One half of the old battery was shorted which I think also fried the old charger. It cost nearly 200 to put water damage right but I still think its worth it. Need to remove all my jumpers and I think a few charge cycles is smart also. Also I asked the question previously is the charger a smart charger? The answer is yes, the laptop has full charger protection and detection from its onboard max chip which I suspect has only blown a fuse or something in the old power brick because of the shorted battery. Id have to get proper destructive to take it apart mind as its a fully sealed unit. See what the owner says and ill happily break into the old unit and have a look.

On fire these last 24hours. Right whats next :D
 
Last edited:
@Vince - I can’t believe I only stumbled across this thread the other day! It is simply outstanding, full of really interesting things, helpful advice and very detailed images.

I’ve just spent hours engrossed in it, reading every post on the thread!

Your talent is incredible. What you’ve been able to achieve with some of these devices is amazing, and I’m in complete awe of your work, most notably some of the micro soldering - the jumper cable work you do is mind blowing at times!

I’ve bodged a few things with the soldering iron over the years, and mangled a few items as well (have to learn somehow I guess), but I’d love to learn more!

I’d be really keen to know how to solder/desolder and troubleshoot in this way. Don’t think for a second I’ll develop the skills you have, but I’d love to at least become a little more competent at it, and not have that constant worry of mangling anything I touch.

On that note, do you have any advice / videos / equipment recommendations for soldering, and how specifically desoldering?

It seems to me that it’s during desoldering is when things are more likely to be damaged, rather than when soldering them back on. I’ve struggled with a charge port or two (especially the solder points for holding the component in place) and also with some controller pots, which has resulted in pads coming off the boards more often than not. Also seems to take me an absolute age to remove them, so clearly either my technique or kit isn’t good…

As for kit, I’ve got the following;

Antex irons - 15w and 25w
Irodo gas iron - 60w I think
MG chemicals desoldering braid and tub or roisin flux

Recently got an electric desoldering pump thingy, but haven’t even switched it on yet!

I’ve also got some very low melt solder and different flux as well, but not sure how good it is.

I’d like to get a hot air reworking station and probably a microscope too. I have a cheap handheld digital one, but it’s mighty awkward to use!

I’m guessing my main issue with desoldering is the type of flux I’m using, or the amount of it perhaps…or maybe it’s just that I’d be better using a hot air station?

Would love some tips if possible.
Thanks for this thread, and keep on posting please - this is now without a doubt my favourite thread on any forum :)
 
Last edited:
Diggsy said:
@Vince - I can’t believe I only stumbled across this thread the other day! It is simply outstanding, full of really interesting things, helpful advice and very detailed images.

I’ve just spent hours engrossed in it, reading every post on the thread!

Your talent is incredible. What you’ve been able to achieve with some of these devices is amazing, and I’m in complete awe of your work, most notably some of the micro soldering - the jumper cable work you do is mind blowing at times!

I’ve bodged a few things with the soldering iron over the years, and mangled a few items as well (have to learn somehow I guess), but I’d love to learn more!

I’d be really keen to know how to solder/desolder and troubleshoot in this way. Don’t think for a second I’ll develop the skills you have, but I’d love to at least become a little more competent at it, and not have that constant worry of mangling anything I touch.

On that note, do you have any advice / videos / equipment recommendations for soldering, and how specifically desoldering?

It seems to me that it’s during desoldering is when things are more likely to be damaged, rather than when soldering them back on. I’ve struggled with a charge port or two (especially the solder points for holding the component in place) and also with some controller pots, which has resulted in pads coming off the boards more often than not. Also seems to take me an absolute age to remove them, so clearly either my technique or kit isn’t good…

As for kit, I’ve got the following;

Antex irons - 15w and 25w
Irodo gas iron - 60w I think
MG chemicals desoldering braid and tub or roisin flux

Recently got an electric desoldering pump thingy, but haven’t even switched it on yet!

I’ve also got some very low melt solder and different flux as well, but not sure how good it is.

I’d like to get a hot air reworking station and probably a microscope too. I have a cheap handheld digital one, but it’s mighty awkward to use!

I’m guessing my main issue with desoldering is the type of flux I’m using, or the amount of it perhaps…or maybe it’s just that I’d be better using a hot air station?

Would love some tips if possible.
Thanks for this thread, and keep on posting please - this is now without a doubt my favourite thread on any forum :)
Click to expand...

I echo this. I’ve really enjoyed reading through this thread, keep up the great work @Vince!
 
Diggsy said:
@Vince - I can’t believe I only stumbled across this thread the other day! It is simply outstanding, full of really interesting things, helpful advice and very detailed images.

I’ve just spent hours engrossed in it, reading every post on the thread!

Your talent is incredible. What you’ve been able to achieve with some of these devices is amazing, and I’m in complete awe of your work, most notably some of the micro soldering - the jumper cable work you do is mind blowing at times!

I’ve bodged a few things with the soldering iron over the years, and mangled a few items as well (have to learn somehow I guess), but I’d love to learn more!

I’d be really keen to know how to solder/desolder and troubleshoot in this way. Don’t think for a second I’ll develop the skills you have, but I’d love to at least become a little more competent at it, and not have that constant worry of mangling anything I touch.

On that note, do you have any advice / videos / equipment recommendations for soldering, and how specifically desoldering?

It seems to me that it’s during desoldering is when things are more likely to be damaged, rather than when soldering them back on. I’ve struggled with a charge port or two (especially the solder points for holding the component in place) and also with some controller pots, which has resulted in pads coming off the boards more often than not. Also seems to take me an absolute age to remove them, so clearly either my technique or kit isn’t good…

As for kit, I’ve got the following;

Antex irons - 15w and 25w
Irodo gas iron - 60w I think
MG chemicals desoldering braid and tub or roisin flux

Recently got an electric desoldering pump thingy, but haven’t even switched it on yet!

I’ve also got some very low melt solder and different flux as well, but not sure how good it is.

I’d like to get a hot air reworking station and probably a microscope too. I have a cheap handheld digital one, but it’s mighty awkward to use!

I’m guessing my main issue with desoldering is the type of flux I’m using, or the amount of it perhaps…or maybe it’s just that I’d be better using a hot air station?

Would love some tips if possible.
Thanks for this thread, and keep on posting please - this is now without a doubt my favourite thread on any forum :)
Click to expand...

I promise I'll have a little sit down amd properly answer some of your questions a little later tonight. Perhaps I'll do a little video or something and go over all the kit I use and what works and what doesn't work for me. There is absolutely a technique depending on of course what you are working on.

Newer stuff/BGA like a switch for example you absolutely need a rework station and a temp controlled iron. I don't personally have a desolder gun or anything like that and most desoldering I do with an old desolder pump and my iron. When I desolder I tend to always flood whatever I'm desoldering with a load of new solder before I then remove it all. As I say I'll put together something a little more coherent and thought out over the next few days :)
 
Diggsy said:
@Vince - you sir are a legend! Thank you very much. Can’t wait for the next instalment of tips…and repairs of course!!
Click to expand...

I might attack my ps3 thats been siting on the floor in pieces a little later :cry: - There are officially only like 7 things in my queue right now which is the smallest its been since I can remember... I think that buys me some fixing my own stuff time :)
 
Vince said:
I might attack my ps3 thats been siting on the floor in pieces a little later :cry: - There are officially only like 7 things in my queue right now which is the smallest its been since I can remember... I think that buys me some fixing my own stuff time :)
Click to expand...
Always need some time for your own stuff! Good luck with the next repair - look forward to seeing its progress
 
sneaked in a cheeky wonderswan mod on my standard swan, going to do my colour next but am holding back on the spend, massive auction coming up and we need to clear back and keep the cash in the pocket! I'm basically only working on things right now that are already in my queue and that I have parts for, or have been sent in and are awaiting repair. :)

 
Looking good! Can’t believe how many different consoles and handhelds you either own or have worked on!

Don’t think I’ve got any treasures lurking around…although I have a box of DS bits in the garage and I did find an Adman Grandstand 2600 lying in my mum’s loft, along with a tatty box! No idea if it works, but I’m sure that thing must be ancient
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom