Hobbyist or repairer
Stop Replacing NES 72-Pin Connectors - Refurbish & Revive Your Original!
A NES that blinks or will not load games gets its original 72-pin connector cleaned and refurbished rather than swapped for a replacement.
repair and restoration of retro games consoles and home computers
Retro console and computer repair videos, sorted by the job
318 videos on bringing old consoles and home computers back to life, sorted by the job in hand. Each one says what it goes through, who made it and what to take care with.
Start with the job. Cleaning and cartridge faults need the fewest tools. Recapping, corrosion and trace repair need a soldering iron and patience. Power supply and CRT work can injure you, and those pages say how.
Or start with the machine: Game Boy, NES, Commodore 64, Amiga or an old PC.
Picked to start with
All 318 videosHobbyist or repairer
Acorn RISC PC 600 battery damage repairs
What has a leaking battery done to an Acorn RISC PC 600? TheRetroChannel works through the damage it has left and sets about repairing it.
Hobbyist or repairer
5 Ways To Remove Surface-Mount Capacitors | One Is The Best!
Five ways to remove surface-mount electrolytic capacitors from ageing consoles are compared, before they can leak corrosive fluid onto the board.
Hobbyist or repairer
How to Test & Rejuvenate a Sony Trinitron CRT
Poor colour and white balance persist on a rebuilt Sony PVM 20M2MDU Trinitron, so the channel tests the tube with a B&K Precision 467 analyser and then rejuvenates it.
Hobbyist or repairer
How To Replace a Gameboy Cartridge Battery
How do you replace a Game Boy cartridge battery? The maker solders in a fresh CR2025 cell, using flux, a 3.8mm bit, tweezers and isopropyl alcohol for tidying the joints.
Hobbyist or repairer
Damaged PCB Trace Repair Tutorial
Damaged tracks on a circuit board can be bridged to restore continuity. The maker lists the tools needed and sets out one commonly used technique for the repair.
Hobbyist or repairer
Let's fix this ππππ ATX power supply!
Is an old, dead ATX power supply worth the time to repair? Tony359 puts one on the bench to find out what has failed and whether it can be saved.
Hobbyist or repairer
Atari 2600 X2 β Let's repair two Atari 2600s and do a composite video mod.
A Light Six and a 4-switch Woody Atari 2600 are cleaned and tested, with an RF fix on the Light Six and a composite video mod to finish.
Hobbyist or repairer
Troubleshooting An IBM PC 5150 - Down The Rabbit Hole We Go!
About a week of fault finding goes into an IBM PC 5150 motherboard pulled from e-waste, and the maker admits to almost giving up along the way.
Hobbyist or repairer
Fixing a Commodore 1541 Disk Drive
Out comes the oscilloscope for a dead Commodore 1541 disk drive, a short board model with an Alps mechanism, which the maker sets out to fix.
Hobbyist or repairer
Sony PlayStation Faulty Laser Repair (And voltage adjustment)
A PlayStation with a dead laser gets its pickup repaired in a short GadgetUK video that also covers a voltage adjustment.
Hobbyist or repairer
How to fix yellowed plastics on old computers!
Yellowed case plastic on old computers is the problem the 8-Bit Guy takes on, after reading about retr0bright results elsewhere and deciding to try the method and report back.
Newest
All by dateHobbyist or repairer
I Bought a BOXED Atari 2600. The Picture Was a Disaster.
A boxed early UK Atari 2600 Light Sixer, distributed by Ingersoll, arrives with a picture the maker calls a disaster, and the work sets out to put it right.
Hobbyist or repairer
1976 Sony Trinitron KV1215 No Power No High Voltage Diagnosis Resurrection Using Fnirsi 2C53T Scope
Several bad parts turn up in a 1976 Sony Trinitron KV1215 that has no power and no high voltage. The maker uses a Fnirsi 2C53T oscilloscope and traces what caused the failure.
Hobbyist or repairer
The world's LOUDEST CRT - Vectrex 3000
The channel puts a Vectrex on the bench, updating its capacitors and chasing down a short, with other repairs along the way.
Hobbyist or repairer
A NewJoisey Amiga 1200 and FNIRSI LCR ESD Tweezers
A leaking Amiga 1200 gets new capacitors, and the maker also tries out a pair of FNIRSI LCR meter tweezers for measuring components.
Hobbyist or repairer
ACID killed this Neo Geo arcade board. Can I bring it back to life with TOOLS and KNOWLEDGE?
Corrosion has killed a Neo Geo arcade board, by the maker's account, and 74XX Arcade Repair sets out to bring it back with tools and board knowledge.
Hobbyist or repairer
I Gave Atariβs Biggest Failure the Upgrades It Deserves
A filthy, neglected Atari Jaguar gets a full restoration and modern upgrades, and the maker then looks at newer accessories made for the console.
Start here
More for beginnersHobbyist or repairer
Replacing Worn-Out Nintendo 64 Controller Thumbsticks
Why does an N64 controller feel loose? Its thumbstick wears out, and this video fits a replacement stick from Hand Held Legend in its place.
Hobbyist or repairer
Sega Saturn Memory Backup Cart Teardown & Clean
A pair of Sega Saturn memory backup cartridges described as faulty are opened and cleaned, and the maker says both worked afterwards.
Hobbyist or repairer
How to Clean/Refurbish GCN controller, Part 1.
Sticky buttons and drifting sticks on a GameCube controller are the problem here, with the pad taken apart for cleaning. The maker says other game controllers follow the same process.
Hobbyist or repairer
How to Clean/Refurbish GCN controller, Part 2.
Part two of the GameCube controller clean and refurbishment, aimed at sticky or unresponsive buttons and drifting, slow or worn analogue sticks.
Sells parts or repairs
How to Repair NES Controller Sticky Buttons
NES controller buttons that stick are the fault here, and the maker links replacement rubber pads, so new pads look to be part of the repair.
Series and courses
All seriesHobbyist or repairer
Troubleshooting An IBM PC 5150 - Down The Rabbit Hole We Go!
Hobbyist or repairer
Amiga 1200 from where Forrest Gump lives.
Hobbyist or repairer
An Ebay Amiga 600, Single malt Scotch and FOOD!
Hobbyist or repairer
A NewJoisey Amiga 1200 and FNIRSI LCR ESD Tweezers
Publication or museum
Commodore SX-64 Restoration Finale | Trash to Treasure (pt3)
Hobbyist or repairer
Amiga 3000 "Flicker Fixer" repair strategies
