Repairs & Restorations
Step by step retro console and computer repairs: diagnosing faults, recapping, power supply repairs, cleaning up battery and fire damage, and restoring machines to working order.
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A spares or repairs ZX Spectrum 128K +2 gets a cheap buck regulator in place of its missing 7805, and its dead Datacorder turns out to need glue, not just belts.
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A pile of scrap Game Boy boards, a botched bivert mod and a torn ribbon cable. I undo the damage and rebuild it with a RetroSix IPS screen, clear shell and rechargeable battery pack.
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A dodgy cartridge bent the pins in this Atari Jaguar’s cartridge slot, a repair I was told was nine out of ten difficulty. I desolder the old slot pin by pin and fit a new Molex connector.
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Dead controller ports and a console that always asks for the date. I replace the Dreamcast’s one-shot controller fuse with a resettable polyswitch, fit a rechargeable battery holder, and swap the LED for fun.
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Our second look at the Amstrad CPC 464 found in the woods. I cut out rusted screws, remove every chip including the ULA, and fight corroded joints to see whether the board can be saved.