I'm new here... and i must fix my gamegear!

[evilgenius31]

Hello, everyone - I've been working on consoles, and other electronics for a while now. I come to you today with a DIRE situation. I bought 2 gamegears on ebay (for $20 after shipping )
Unfortunately, only one of them works . The other had a battery leak - but it still turns on! I can get sound occasionally, but the screen stays black. I'm just wondering if this board can be saved:
(I've already cleaned it up a bit)

[lovablechevy]

your best bet would be to replace all the caps. esp since they look rather corroded.

if after doing that, you still don't get a picture, but the sound still works, then it's just the screen that is dead. the screen is a pain to replace. but, you can use the board and a rgb/svideo/composite converter board to play on your tv.

[hailrazer]

Or just buy any of the thousands of GameGears off Ebay that work for $10.

[Kumimono]

Or just buy any of the thousands of GameGears off Ebay that work for $10.

What's the point in buying something you don't need to tinker with?

[hailrazer]

Or just buy any of the thousands of GameGears off Ebay that work for $10.

What's the point in buying something you don't need to tinker with?

Great point. !!!!

What the heck was I thinking..... LOL

[Tibia]

I can sit down and do a full cap replacement on a GG in about thirty minutes. It's not all that difficult, just repetitive. Caps are cheap, if you buy from an electronics supplier and not just Radio Shack. For the time/parts, it's usually worth it to repair a GG.

[evilgenius31]

Yeah, I've been slacking lately - haven't done any soldering in 6 months Hopefully this will get me out of the slump. I went ahead and ordererd enough caps for 4 game gears... And a game-bit for my screwdriver. (my working game gear needs it's caps done too)

Seems like most people use radial, but is there any reason not to use surface mount caps?

[lovablechevy]

just generally easier to solder radial. and super easy to get ahold of. :yes:

[Tibia]

With the surface mount, I found that I had to add wire anyway to make some of the caps fit to the contacts. The radial caps already have the long legs on them. It's just a matter of convenience, I think.