What repairs have you done recently?

Here's something I was thinking might be interesting! In this thread, we post stories about small repairs (i.e not the major kind to warrant starting a new thread) that we've done recently! So what repairs have you guys done recently?

Myself, I just fixed a SNES controller. For starters, it had a tear in the cable, so I chopped off the part past the tear and soldered it directly to the board. Looks as good as new! But I found the start button wasn't working, and when I looked at the board, I noticed there was a crack running across the trace to the start button, and upon testing with a multimeter, wasn't getting a current. So I scratched off the lacquer on the trace on either side of the crack and soldered a wire to bridge the crack! Worked like a charm!

 

Wel, today I fixed the reset switch in my MSX computer. it was not turning on anymore and discovered this switch was broken, replaced it with a new one. its a goldstar fc-200.
last week I found my 3com switch, easy fix, replaced the 1amp fuse with a new one. good as new
btw, need to fix some snes and other controllers aswell

 

Just fixed someone's RGH'd 360 , Added a coolrunner and fixed some soldering points and it's now good to go.

 

Im always fixing stuff, It just never stops... With my hobby, At my job, my friends call me to fix their stuff...

Today i repaired a Vantage Bass amplifier by reflowing the solder on the potentiometers pins.

 

I fix Mac laptops as a side job.
My repairs are normally extremely cheap too- EG- $5 or a Starbucks drink for an OS reinstall/new hard drive.

 

A few weeks ago I fixed the Turbo CD gear problem on my unit with some gorilla glue. I'd explain the fix if anyone wants details but it is a fix of very limited usefulness.

 

This last 2 weeks for Game Traders.



Game Cube 1 - Stuck reset switch=dis-assemble clean, re-assemble
Game Cube 2 - Not reading discs=adjust laser pot, clean, re-assemble
Mega Drive 2 - Not working=DC socket re-soldered
SNES Arcade stick-Sticky Buttons=This is a dodgy designed thing the buttons are about 0.5mm to small for the hole so the buttons go wonky when you press down, also the rubber contact pads are tiny vs the size of the button so the pressure isn't carried over a wide area. I applied a very small amount of Tamiya ceramic grease on the wall of the hole and it works fine now, ie buttons don't get stuck.
Game Boy games - Change out batteries
DSlite - Terminal liquid spilled in it.....
SNES control Pad - Broken shoulder button and D-pad rubber contact split = replaced broken shoulder button, used a modified/trimmed down N64 D-pad rubber contact to replace D-pad rubber from my controller parts bin (I throw NOTHING out that maybe useful).
Mega Drive control pad - no up/down = clean contacts and overall clean
European N64 power supply - fit Australian power lead, used 2nd hand Australian N64 power lead.
Modified SNES/N64 AV cables - Generic SNES/N64 AV cables with bit's in it to solve washed out picture via composite
Aftermarket N64 power supplies - replaced US style power cord with Australian lead and plug (use std fig 8 cable with rubber cord grip)

 

Man I hate Game Traders, if that's what they really do and then charge +$50 more for everything they get in, then that just seals my wallet.
Most shit they get in is junk really. How much do get for doing all that work for them? The cleaning part I could easily do, really needing an income Only one in Victoria at the moment I believe.

 

Don't charge them much, as it is a "hobby" job. I don't charge them anywhere near $50 though, at the MOST 1/5th of that for a console. But I do have to factor in me driving in/out, parts etc. Most of that stuff is traded in and unfortunately the staff sometimes don't test stuff properly. I do agree they get some junk in, but remember some of these consoles aren't exactly new and it is just maintenance. If you have a look at the other thread (the one about the Saturn controller belonging to Cheech and Chong) I posted up some pics of how some shit is.

The above pic was an easy box of stuff to do occasionally it can get more challenging.

I just approached the local store one day, did a repair for free to show I wasn't full of shit and I think I have been doing this for about 3 or 4 years. Go in at the christmas 24 hr sale and help out as it is mayhem. This one maybe closing down though as it is slow. Game Traders as a whole isn't doing well, at 1 stage there were 50 odd shops, now there is less than 20. I was talking to the owner of this one and he said another store that had shut down on a sad day did $65 sale for the WHOLE DAY!

 

Do you use those batteries with the tabs spot-welded onto them or do you do something different?

 

I reinstalled Windows for somebody for pizza money and a bacon sandwich while I was there.

That's really all I do all these days

 

Fixed a DVT4
Fixed (someone elses work!) N64 RGB mod
Changed VEN/DEV ID on a generic PCI USB card so it works on an Amiga. (official ones are $90 - generic is $4)

That was today..

 

Since you're based in the UK, was it on a PAL console?

 

You actually should, they shouldn't be attempting to sell junk anyway... It's the only reason they're doing it tough, they over charge on all their items. Even the figures they got, $114 and they're worth RRP of $60... Horrible chain of stores. If they reviewed their stock and prices they might find themselves in the green again...
I know I keep hitting up on them, but they really get me pissed off.

 

yes it was a pal console. But I do more NTSC consoles than pal - so me being in the uk doesn't mean anything about region consoles I get to mod/fix

Why do you ask?

 

I was wondering if you're knowledgeable about RGB modding PAL N64s. I hear rumblings that it's possible, but there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of information on it.

 

All N64's are RGB moddable if you build an additional DAC.

Early NTSC models (Jap and US) are easily RGB moddable without the extra DAC

Early PAL consoles sold in France (model beginning with FRA, rather than EUR) are also easily RGB moddable without the extra DAC

 

The main issue is subjective. With few PAL N64 exclusives, an NTSC RGB mod is arguably more useful.

 

Depends on your situation. For example I have a PAL everdrive which lets me run NTSC roms. Plus all games i can find easily are PAL as i am in PAL region. Plus RGB has no color encoding as PAL or NTSC.

So if you live in europe, a PAL RGB mod is arguably more useful than a NTSC RGB mod.

 

Ah yes, that DAC. Last I checked, this was an absurdly complex little gizmo, with resistors up the wazoo. That's still the case? There woulden't happen to be someone who's made a "ready-to-solder" version would there?

What would be even more useful is a mod to make an N64 play games from any region