Sega Megadrive : black/grey screen problem

Hello all,

I was searching for this problem and even though I thought I've seen it discussed somewhere on the forum I couldn't find it, so I'm posting it here... Perhaps not for the first time.

The problem is on a Model 1 European Megadrive, the console itself powers up, sound works fine, but the image is another problem. The background is completely black, and at first I thought there was no image, but when you look closer at the screen, you can see kind of the outline of the pixels in a really fine dimly lit grey line.

I've seen the problem before on LCD/Plasma monitors, but this is on a normal Sony CRT tv, on which I've played the console fine before. I thought it might have been the cable, or the AC adapter, so I tried with a couple of others and got the same result.

The console was very dusty on the inside and so I cleaned it a bit (I had a problem with my Saturn which was resolved the same way, by cleaning the inside) but again, same outcome.

Is that a common problem ? I could swear I've seen it addressed somewhere on there but I can't find it.

All the best,
A.

 

Bad capacitors at the video section are a good guess. I would replace all of them if I were you. ALL.