Hi all! If you didn’t see my previous post, I bought myself a Sega Game Gear that was…well…broken. Why? Because I’m cheap and needed something to fill my spare time with. Trust me, as much as we have a lot of content on our channel, I still manage to have days where I can’t find anything to do.
Here’s an update – The Game Gear works! So what I thought would be a good idea is to give you a few tips, and the steps I took to fix the issues with it.
Good tools and advice
Time to throw some shade. A lot of sites say you can cut off the capacitors, clean the old solder, and use the old solder to put the new capacitors on. You can, don’t. If you want a repair that can go wrong, go ahead and do it. The issue you can run into doing this is that the old solder might not wet (as in, flow and melt) properly. It’s best to desolder, clean, and resolder the components. Especially because if there’s an issue with the pad that means you need to scratch some of the board, you can fix that and make sure your repair lasts longer.
MG Chemicals, do a very specific desoldering braid called “Superwick.” It’s the only desoldering braid that I’ve found can consistently desolder any component I need. In face, I ran out of it during my Game Gear repair, and had to switch to my other braid. I had to use a lot more hot air, and just use the other braid to clean solder as opposed to take components off. Definitely get some Superwick if you’re going to work with consoles or other smaller electronics. I like it so much, I buy their solder, their flux, and even their isopropyl alcohol.
Specifically for this repair, make sure you have needle-nose pliers. These are necessary to get the capacitors on the main board off without breaking anything, and work wonders to bend the pins when you want to fit the new ones on. You’ll also want isopropyl alcohol (maybe get the MG Chemicals one, like I did :D) and some ESD safe brushes, so that you can really clean inside the console. Spent capacitors like to leak – cleaning it off makes sure nothing else gets damaged.
Most importantly, take your time. I spent just under 4 hours getting everything done. I would suggest leaving yourself with that time, especially if you’ve never modded or repaired a retro console before.
Sound Issues
One of the issues with the Game Gear was that the sound was quiet. It worked, I could definitely hear sound output, but it seemed a bit quieter than I thought. The way I could tell was by comparing it to my GameBoy Advances – both of those were noticeably louder than the Game Gear.
From research and by looking at the sound board, it seemed that the capacitors were likely to blame. Looking at the condition of some of my capacitors, it was clear they needed replacement. The most notable thing to look for are solder joints that look rusty or dusty. Generally, they should look quite smooth and clean.
Replacing them solved the issue – the speaker sounded a little bit noisy (as in, it sounded like there was a low fuzz in the background). As much as it’s a little bit annoying at max volume, you don’t notice it at normal levels. As long as it sounds OK, you should be good to go!
Difficulties
The second hardest bit of the capacitor replacement was getting the solder off. The hardest was getting the new ones on. All of them are “can-style” SMD Capacitors on the Audio Board. Now there are 2 ways you can approach replacement on the Audio Board.
The easiest is to replace all of the capacitors with radial ones, and bend the pins so they’ll sit on top of the board. This works well, and for the smaller ones is pretty much necessary (as I’ll get to) but means that you’ll have to really make sure you get small components that are as low as possible. If they’re not low enough, you run the risk of them not fitting, or possibly breaking the board. You know, more work.
The “best” way is to get new SMD components. Technically, this is possible. I replaced my 100uF 6.3V capacitors with SMD versions completely fine. The 47uF ones are the difficult ones. The capacitors I bought from Mouser that were audio grade might have fitted if I had a hot air rework station, but trying to solder it on with my tool (Dremel Versatip, with the hot air attachment) just left me with melted plastic.
What I did was a mix and match – SMD capacitors for the 100uF ones, and Radial capacitors which I bent with needle nose pliers for the 47uF caps. This likely is the best option, because you get a relatively easy job, but make sure you’re board will fit without having to worry about how big your 100uF caps are.
Screen Issues
The main issue with the Game Gear, however, was that the screen only showed a very dark screen with some lines when it was set to certain brightness levels. Screen issues can vary, however – if you’re thinking of buying a broken Game Gear, it’s worth noting that some screen issues are because of a damaged screen, rather than just bad power flow. Generally, if you’re getting a solid colour and the power LED is able to stay on, replacing the capacitors should fix it.
It’s worth checking before you open the Game Gear that the brightness wheel actually changes the screen. Even if it’s not fully working, the colours and brightness of the screen should change slightly when you adjust it. If it’s not, that might also be something you’ll need to investigate. Luckily, I didn’t, but I assume someone has some measurements out there to help you out.
Difficulties
BE CAREFUL WITH THE SCREEN! There we go, the only time I have to use all caps. Unlike repairs for something like a GameBoy, Colour or Advance, a Game Gear’s screen is taped down (with conductive tape) to the main board. That means being careful when you lift the board out, being careful when you put it down, and making sure not to bend the tape. Also, make sure you don’t put the screen on a screw. I have a blue ESD safe mat that I put my stuff on, and that has enough space for me to have the board and the screen on it.
I’ll say it again, be careful with the screen. Lay it out while you’re working on the main board. You don’t want to burn any part of it or put pressure on it. I don’t even want to imagine replacing it with an OEM one, and the LCD mod that exists by McWill usually recommends that you know the Game Gear works, as well as doing some measurements to make sure.
The capacitors on the board were a bit difficult to remove. Not necessarily from desoldering, more from lifting them up. They’re all glued to the main board itself, and if you pull too hard, you can break the board, the capacitor body (which isn’t bad) or the capacitor’s legs (which is.) Wiggling the capacitor back and forth loosens it up enough that it should just tilt up. I’d only tilt it up far enough that you can grab both sides when you desolder it. Not so much that it’s bolt upright from the board.
Some of these were really old, so getting the solder off was hard. Even with Superwick, you might find that putting some flux onto the board itself to help it flow better gets the capacitor off. I managed to do this using MG Chemicals’ No Clean Flux Pen, which you can get from Amazon, Mouser or Farnell. I basically put flux over most of the area, and used the desoldering braid with it, and that got it off. I don’t think a solder sucker would’ve been able to help me there in all honesty.
When you’re putting new caps on, the way I found worked was to tack one lead down to the board – put solder onto the pad, make sure it looks good, and then heat the pad while you’re putting the component on. Afterwards, take the soldering iron off. It should keep the capacitor in place well enough that you can solder the other leg into place, and then you can rework the first leg if you need to.
Would I do this again?
In all honesty, yes. I really enjoyed repairing the Game Gear. It’s a simple fix, but one that needs quite a bit of concentration. It’s also a really cool console in general. Fixing this one cost me a little bit over getting one that’s in good working condition, but at least I know how to re-fix it if it breaks. (I don’t think it will, I fixed it!)
If I got a few of these in, I think it would definitely be worthwhile. Getting the components to the UK isn’t the cheapest, with delivery (from Mouser) coming up to about £12. It’d be best to get enough components for a few Game Gears, or possibly to stack up some projects (or maybe get the assortment of capacitors) so that you’re not spending more on delivery than you are on components.
However, now all of that is done, all I need to do is fix that random GameBoy Color that I found in my toolbox…
