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.
Topic
cleaning
70 videos.
Dirt does a lot of the damage in old machines. Dust blocks fans, grime coats edge connectors and sticky residue sits on boards. A console that blinks, gives no picture or will not read a disc is often tried with a clean before anything gets replaced.
For a blinking NES, refurbishing the original 72-pin connector is one route, using dental picks and a toothbrush. For a console with real filth, the bug-infested PS2 asks whether a clean alone is enough. Disc read errors on a PlayStation 2 lead to a laser lens clean. Water or leak damage overlaps with corrosion.
Isopropyl alcohol is flammable, so work with the windows open and away from heat. The original, larger PlayStation 2 has its mains supply inside the case, and the capacitors there can hold a charge after unplugging. Never look into a powered laser.
Hobbyist 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
Atari 2600 X2 – 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
I Gave Atari’s 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.
Hobbyist or repairer
Fixing up the classic 1999 Hewlett-Packard Pavilion PC
What is broken or missing inside a 1999 HP Pavilion 6535? LGR opens the 466MHz Celeron desktop and works through what needs repair and cleaning.
Hobbyist or repairer
Apple 400k Single Sided Floppy Drive Refresh
An Apple 400K single sided floppy drive, taken from the Lisa 2/5 under restoration on Adrian's main channel, gets a refresh of its own, with a Sony drive service manual linked.
Hobbyist or repairer
Amiga 3000T Restoration Part 2: Removing Battery Corrosion
Neutralising and washing away battery leakage from the Amiga 3000T board and its expansion cards is the job in part 2 of a restoration series, with timestamps for each stage.
Hobbyist or repairer
Super Nintendo/Super Famicom Controller Refurb
Jan Beta refurbishes two Super Famicom controllers, fits replacement silicone pads and compares the regional variants. A separate video on retrobrighting is linked.
Hobbyist or repairer
Dreamcast Not Dead! Just Dirty | Local Score Repair
A Dreamcast sold as non-working turns out to run, just loud and filthy, so the maker deep cleans it, lubricates it and restores it.
Hobbyist or repairer
Richards Childhood Amiga 500 With Original Varta!
An Amiga 500 with original Varta battery damage gets a new CIA, ROM work, a resistor removed and an LS157N mouse controller chip, followed by a deep clean and repainted metal.
Hobbyist or repairer
Disgusting Bug INFESTED PS2 - Let's Clean It!
A PlayStation 2 packed with dead roaches arrived part cleaned, and the maker works through the rest to find out whether cleaning is enough.
Hobbyist or repairer
PlayStation 2 Not Reading Discs? Here's a Cheap and Easy Laser Fix!
PlayStation 2 disc read errors are tackled on two consoles by cleaning the lens on the laser, which the maker says was all these units needed.
Hobbyist or repairer
EXTREME Dumpster-Dive Xbox Find - Restored(ish)
An Xbox bought online with a story of a dumpster rescue will not power up, so the maker sets out to see if a thorough clean is all it needs.
Hobbyist or repairer
EXTREME Flood Damaged Game Boy Colors - Restored(ish)
Flood water has got into a batch of Game Boy Colors, and Restorish sets out to bring them back, with a result the maker only calls restored(ish).
Hobbyist or repairer
EXTREME Flood Damaged SEGA GENESIS CD - Restored(ish)
Can a Sega CD that has been through a flood be brought back? Restorish takes on a Genesis CD unit with extreme flood damage.
Hobbyist or repairer
Cleaning hurricane damaged Retro Computers & CRTs
After Hurricane Helene flooded a collection in Asheville, the first stage of cleanup surface-cleans mouldy retro computers and CRTs, leaving internal cleaning and testing for later parts.
Hobbyist or repairer
SNK MVS MV4F No Boot Fix
Neo Geo MV4 no boot repair begins here, with board cleaning, soldering a surface mount RAM chip and fault finding, plus talk of the custom chips, boot process and test methods.
Hobbyist or repairer
Rescuing this RARE Blue Game Boy
Yellowed blue plastic on a dead European Play It Loud Game Boy is the starting point, and the maker tries to restore as much of the handheld as possible.
Hobbyist or repairer
EXTREME Rust Damaged Special Edition Xbox - Restored(ish)
Rust has wrecked a special edition Xbox, and Restorish sets out to restore as much of it as possible, with 99% isopropyl alcohol among the products listed.
Hobbyist or repairer
Can We Rescue a Fire Damaged Game Cartridge from 1982? I don't know... #retrogaming #nostalgia #80s
Soot and heat have fused a ColecoVision Carnival cartridge after a house fire. The shell is opened, the board freed and the pitted contacts cleaned using isopropyl, and a printed replacement shell is planned.
Hobbyist or repairer
Restoring a 1997 Gateway PC! Windows 95 Pentium 2 Desktop
Gateway 2000 G6-233M from 1997 has a Pentium II MMX 233MHz inside, and the maker opens it up to find what is broken or missing before cleaning and repairing it.
Hobbyist or repairer
What is This GUNK - GameCube Controller Deep Clean
What is the gunk inside this GameCube controller? After a spill left the buttons sticky and the thumbstick gummy, the maker strips it completely for a deep clean.
Publication or museum
We Found a Rare Nintendo M82 Kiosk System Covered in ***** | Trash to Treasure Part 1
Heavy grime covers a Nintendo M82 kiosk unit that nearly ended up as scrap, and part one of the restoration starts bringing it back.
Hobbyist or repairer
Test and try: Macintosh Centris 610 (with a "sassy" recap)
Is a 1993 Macintosh Centris 610 still working? Adrian Black opens the pizza box case, recaps and cleans the board, then gives the machine a test run.
Hobbyist or repairer
Commodore 386SX-16 battery damage repairs feat. @MrLurchsThings
The Retro Channel works through battery damage on a Commodore 386SX-16 board, covering disassembly, cleaning and trace restoration, with the board described as needing minor repairs.
Hobbyist or repairer
The Bear-A-Byte PC: Pentium III Teddy Bear Computer
LGR spots a dirty Pentium III PC built into an IKEA teddy bear on Craigslist, then strips it down, cleans it and rebuilds it.
Hobbyist or repairer
$1,795 Luggable PC from 1985: Sharp PC-7000
Sharp's PC-7000, a lunchbox-style MS-DOS portable from 1985, is cleaned up, tested and then put to use by LGR.
Hobbyist or repairer
The Biggest CRTs still in use: The Sony XBR Trinitron Tube TV
Sony KV-32XBR45 Trinitron servicing starts with a look inside the set, then moves to cleaning, discharging the tube and testing, using a 240p test suite for the display.
Hobbyist or repairer
Launch Day Nintendo Restoration - Part 1!
Launch day NES restoration begins here with a breakdown, cleaning, parts pulled from a donor console, reassembly and a test, all in part one.
Hobbyist or repairer
A very used up (and broken) Sony Trinitron from 1976
Sony's 1976 KV-9200, a small early Trinitron, is worn out and broken, and the maker says it needed some repair before it would run again.
Sells parts or repairs
This SNES Game is Worth Around $400 IF I Can Fix It!
Several approaches are tried on a SNES cartridge with a badly damaged circuit board, sold on after someone else tried and failed to repair it. A linked article covers cartridge cleaning.
Hobbyist or repairer
RGR - 10 Minute Tips - XBOX Motherboard Acid Cleanup - #10minutetips
Corrosive damage on an original Xbox motherboard is cleaned up in one of RGR's ten minute tips, a short video with a single cleaning section after the intro.
Hobbyist or repairer
Disgusting Commodore 64 Restoration. Will It Work? (Part 1)
Will a badly weathered Commodore 64 work again? Part 1 opens it up, inspects and washes it, then moves on to the keyboard, retrobright treatment, springs and chip testing.
Hobbyist or repairer
Commodore 64 troubleshooting part 1 the basics - multimeters and alcohol
Armed with a multimeter, a toothbrush and alcohol, TheRetroChannel compares a healthy Commodore 64 board with a sick one and applies the same checks. It is part one of three.
Hobbyist or repairer
Commodore Amiga A1200 Controller Port Repair / FDD Service / ExpMem Error
An Amiga 1200 owned by William has one joystick direction not working, so GadgetUK164 repairs the controller port, services the floppy drive and cleans an expansion card.
Hobbyist or repairer
BBC Micro - Part Two: Full Refurbishment
A BBC Micro is refurbished and detailed back towards factory condition in part two of a series, which also reaches the machine's Ashtray and finds problems in its power supply.
Sells parts or repairs
This N64 Zelda Game was LIQUID DAMAGED - Let's Try to Save it!
A liquid damaged Ocarina of Time cartridge for the Nintendo 64, sent in by a viewer, looks fine outside, and TronicsFix opens it to try to bring it back.
Hobbyist or repairer
Acid Test!! Chemicals for cleaning up after leaking alkaline batteries.
The video compares several chemicals for cleaning a board after alkaline batteries have leaked, and explains why the electrolyte is corrosive.
Hobbyist or repairer
Electrohome G07 Monitor Chassis Cleanup and Recapping 10-17-20
An Electrohome G07 arcade monitor chassis gets a clean-up and a recap from Classic Arcade Repairs, who link the oscilloscope and desoldering tool they use.
Hobbyist or repairer
Commodore 1351 Mouse Repair
The Commodore 1351 mouse for the C64 and C128 is worked through in stages: taking it apart, checking the mechanics, cleaning the LEDs and sensors, then testing the cable.
Hobbyist or repairer
Resistance is futile Rejuvenating vintage computer keyboard key contacts
Amiga 500 keys that no longer register are the starting point for a method of reviving key contacts with too high a resistance. The video reports what failed and what worked.
Hobbyist or repairer
Commodore 1541 Disk Drive Repair - Bringing it Back to Life
Several faults turn up in a Commodore 1541 disk drive, and the repair includes mistakes along the way, with DeoxIT D5 and Tri-Flow lubricant among the products the maker mentions.
Hobbyist or repairer
Commodore 64 Case Repair and Full Keyboard Service ⌨
A brittle Commodore 64 case that no longer holds screws is fixed with a case saver kit, before the keyboard is stripped, cleaned and serviced.
Hobbyist or repairer
Sony PlayStation 2 Restoration
After years of early 2000s dust, a fat PlayStation 2 is stripped down. Its DVD drive is cleaned, lubricated and fixed, case parts get a bath and a controller is cleaned.
Hobbyist or repairer
I Restored This $5 Ebay Junk Gameboy Advance. It Used to be Blue – Retro Console Repair
A Game Boy Advance sold as junk does not work and has turned deep yellow from its original see-through Glacier blue. Odd Tinkering sets out to restore it.
Hobbyist or repairer
Restoring the original PlayStation (PS1) - Vintage Console restoration & repair
A PlayStation 1 that started having issues and was then stored in a shed collecting dirt and dust is cleaned up and repaired by Odd Tinkering.
Hobbyist or repairer
Repairing a Commodore Amiga A501 Memory Expansion battery leak. Removal, clean up and games testing!
Mark Fixes Stuff takes the leaking battery out of an A501 memory expansion for the Amiga 500, treats the alkaline leakage with vinegar, cleans the board, then checks SysInfo and tries cover disc demos.
Hobbyist or repairer
Tutorial: Cleaning, lubricating and fixing an Apple 800k 3.5" floppy drive
An Apple 800k 3.5 inch floppy drive, a Sony MFD-51W-03, is stripped down and cleaned after years of gumming up, then its eject mechanism is put right, in a long tutorial.
Hobbyist or repairer
Gameboy Color Power Switch and Corrosion Repair
Cleaning the battery terminals and the power switch revives a yellow Game Boy Color that would not start, make sound or show a picture, according to the maker.
Hobbyist or repairer
N64 Game Won't Boot - Trace Repair - Mario Party 2 - Fixing eBay Junk
Why does a Mario Party 2 N64 cartridge give no sign of life, not even a blank screen? The maker finds a bad trace, repairs it and cleans up the board.
Hobbyist or repairer
Game Gear - No Power - Fixing eBay Junk
Old batteries left inside a Game Gear have corroded its terminals, and the console will not power up. The maker opens it, cleans the damage and gets it working.
Hobbyist or repairer
Tearing Down & Cleaning a PC Engine Controller - PI-PD6 Core Grafx Gamepad
A grubby NEC CoreGrafx PI-PD6 gamepad loses its five cross-head screws, then the buttons, rubbers and carbon pads are washed in soapy water, without alcohol, before contact cleaner goes on.
Hobbyist or repairer
Apple IIc Repair, Cleaning and Retrobright
An Apple IIc is cleaned, whitened with Retrobright and given a keyboard repair, using a 12% hydrogen peroxide solution and replacement rubber feet.
Hobbyist or repairer
Fixing eBay Junk - Dreamcast Restoration - Part 1 - Smoke Damaged Sega Dreamcast
Smoke damage and stains cover the Dreamcast in part 1 of this restoration, which the maker warns runs long because of the amount of work involved.
Hobbyist or repairer
0x001B.1 - Macintosh Classic II Repair
After a Macintosh Classic II turned unreliable, Tech Tangents opens the case and cleans leaked electrolytic fluid off the board, calling it a stopgap until the capacitors are replaced.
Hobbyist or repairer
Commodore PET Repair and Restore
A Commodore PET from the late 1970s gets its keyboard repaired, its screen brightened and its case cleaned by The 8-Bit Guy, who goes through each job in turn.
Hobbyist or repairer
Get Your Old NES Games Working Again - Tutorial - How to Clean NES Games
Most NES games that will not start only need cleaning, according to this video, which opens a cartridge and works through getting it going again.
Hobbyist or repairer
Tuning up a Dell M992 CRT monitor
A free 19 inch Dell M992 CRT monitor, built by Samsung in 2002, arrives filthy and beaten up, and Adrian's Digital Basement sets about tuning it up.
Hobbyist or repairer
Cleaning and fixing a C64C Keyboard
Crusty, unresponsive keys on a Commodore 64C keyboard are tackled by cleaning the keyboard and the contacts of the keys that failed, after an earlier repair of the machine.
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.
Sells parts or repairs
Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP Restoration
A Game Boy Advance SP in poor shape gets a replacement battery, a new case and a fresh top screen protector, while the motherboard is cleaned of dust and liquid damage.
Hobbyist or repairer
C64 Keyboard restoration. Revive key response
Why do some Commodore 64 keys stay dead after an isopropyl clean? The maker argues that over-cleaning the rubber pad and contacts does harm, and adds a further step to revive them.
Hobbyist or repairer
Sega Dreamcast Reboots / Cuts Out / Resets Problem - Quick & Easy Fix
Resets in the middle of a game on a Sega Dreamcast are traced to the power supply socket, whose pins are cleaned after the supply is lifted out of the console.
Hobbyist or repairer
How to clean a 5 1/4" diskette
A diskette that has sat in an attic or basement tends to grow something, the maker says, and the video sets out a way of cleaning a 5.25 inch one.
Sells parts or repairs
Dirty and Dead PC Engine Duo! Soldering Repair with Restoration!
Voultar strips down a Japanese PC Engine Duo that has never been serviced, and spends most of the time on cleaning leaked electrolytic fluid off the board.
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
NES Game Battery Replacement and Cleaning
NES save battery replacement is the job here, along with cleaning the cartridge contacts. The channel also mentions cells with solder tabs for anyone who prefers to solder the battery in.
Sells parts or repairs
How to Clean/Repair Nintendo N64 Games
How do you clean and repair N64 game cartridges? Retro Video Game Repair goes through the job in a guide from a channel whose shop sells a cartridge cleaning kit.
Sells parts or repairs
How to Clean/Repair NES Games
NES game cartridges are opened, cleaned and repaired in a guide from Retro Video Game Repair, whose shop also sells a game cleaning kit.
